Amendments in Part 3 of Schedule 6
Legitimacy Act (Northern Ireland) 1928
234.Paragraph 57 of Schedule 6 amends section 1 of the Legitimacy Act (Northern Ireland) 1928 to provide for the legitimation of a person born to a woman as a result of assisted conception if the woman had a parenthood agreement in place with a second female parent at the time of the effective treatment in a licensed clinic, and she was not, at the time the child was born, in a civil partnership with that woman, but subsequently enters a civil partnership with her, provided that the second female parent is domiciled in Northern Ireland. The legitimation takes effect from the date of the formation of the civil partnership.
235.Paragraph 58 amends section 8 of the Legitimacy Act (Northern Ireland) 1928 so that where a child is born as a result of assisted conception in a licensed clinic and a parenthood agreement is in place between the child's mother and a second female parent, and the couple are not civil partners at the time of the child's birth, but subsequently enter a civil partnership, and the second female parent who becomes a civil partner is domiciled outside Northern Ireland, and the law of her country of domicile legitimises that child, the child, if living, shall, in Northern Ireland, be legitimated from the date of the formation of the civil partnership.
Births and Deaths Registration (Northern Ireland) Order 1976
236.Paragraph 60 of Schedule 6 amends Article 10 of the Birth and Deaths Registration (Northern Ireland) Order 1976 to provide that the references to 'father' in Article 10(3) and (4) apply when a child who was conceived by assisted conception has a parent who is the civil partner of her mother, or has a second female parent because a parenthood agreement was in place at the time of the effective assisted conception treatment.
237.Paragraph 61 makes provision for the various ways in which a birth may be registered, where a mother and second female parent under section 43 have a child through assisted conception in a licensed clinic, are not civil partners but a parenthood agreement is in place. The registration may be made either by the couple together or separately, with appropriate formal declarations if the other party is not present, including as appropriate the provision of the parenthood agreement.
238.Paragraph 62 provides for the registration of a birth where a civil partner or intended female parent with a parenthood agreement in place dies before the fertility treatment which results in the birth of a child.
239.Paragraphs 63 and 64 provide for the re-registration of births where a child is born as a result of assisted conception to female civil partners, or to a female couple where a parenthood agreement is in place, and there is no other person who is, in law, the father or parent of the child.
240.
Paragraph 66 amends Article 37 of the 1976 Order by extending the definition of “qualified applicant” to include a second female parent in cases where the second female parent has parental responsibility for the child whether or not she is the civil partner of the child’s mother.
Family Law Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 1977
241.Paragraph 67 amends Article 13 of the Family Law Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 1977 to ensure that it is clear that a person will not be excluded as the legal parent of a child following DNA tests if they are a parent by virtue of sections 33 to 47 of the Act.
Adoption (Northern Ireland) Order 1987
242.Paragraph 68 amends paragraph 3 of Article 15 of the 1987 Order to extend the reference in that provision to cases where by virtue of section 28 of the 1990 Act (disregarding subsections (5A) to (5I) of that section) the child has no parent other than the mother, to include those where there is no other parent of the child by virtue of sections 34 to 47 of the Act (disregarding sections 39, 40 and 46).
Child Support (Northern Ireland) Order 1991
243.Paragraph 69 of Schedule 6 amends Article 27 of the Child Support (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 to include a reference to parenthood acquired via the new provisions for parental orders in section 54 of the Act; and also to the other parenthood provisions in Part 2 of the Act.
Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995
244.Paragraph 71 amends Article 5 of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 to provide that a mother and a second female parent who are civil partners shall have parental responsibility for a child born through assisted conception. Where the second female parent of a child is not the civil partner of the child’s mother that person shall have parental responsibility for the child if she has acquired it under Article 7 of the 1995 Order.
245.Paragraph 72 amends Article 7 of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 to provide for the means whereby a second female parent under section 43 of a child conceived through assisted conception who does not become a civil partner of the child's mother, acquires parental responsibility; if she is registered as a parent of that child, or makes a parental responsibility agreement with the child's mother, or is given parental responsibility by a court.
246.Paragraph 73 replaces a reference in Article 8(4)(g) of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 to section 30 of the 1990 Act (which is repealed by the Act) with a reference to section 54 (parental orders) of the Act.
247.
Paragraph 74 amends Article 12 of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 and provides for a court which makes a residence order in favour of a second female parent of a child conceived through assisted conception to also give parental responsibility to that parent.
248.Paragraph 75 amends Article 155(3) of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 to include as legitimate someone conceived through assisted conception at a time when their mother was in a civil partnership, or who was born at a time when their mother was in a civil partnership, or whose mother and second female parent were civil partners at any time between the treatment and the child’s birth. The amendment takes account of civil partnerships which are void.
249.Paragraph 77 amends Schedule 1 to the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 so that references to a child's father can be read as including references to a child's second female parent.
250.Paragraph 78 amends paragraph 1 of Schedule 6 to the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, in relation to succession in cases of intestacy where parents are not married to each other, so that references to “father” include a second female parent.
Family Homes and Domestic Violence (Northern Ireland) Order 1998
251.Article 2(3) lists recognised “family proceedings” for the purpose of the Order. Paragraph 79 of Schedule 6 replaces the reference in Article 2(3)(f) of the Order to section 30 of the 1990 Act (which is repealed by the Act) with a reference to section 54 (parental orders) of the Act.
