Egypt

In Egypt, there is a requirement to produce a marriage certificate to register a child. The law theoretically permits other forms of proof of relationship, but in practice civil registration officials require a marriage certificate, even in the case of children born of rape. Only with legal assistance can this form of social bordering be overcome. A CSO submission to CEDAW raised the issue of birth registration for children born to parents with unregistered or unofficial marriages, including secret Urfi marriages which are gaining popularity among youth in Egypt due to high costs of marriage and premarital sex being forbidden. The CSO reported some men would refuse to register the child or the marriage. In such cases, women must seek a judiciary intervention to prove the paternity of the child. In 2024 the CRC recommended Egypt remove the requirement to submit a marriage certificate under the Civil Status Act for the registration of a child.