Co-motherhood will be confirmed after the birth of the child, but the Family Law Administration must, at the latest 20 weeks after the conception, have received documentation confirming that

• the woman has undergone assisted reproduction treatment by healthcare professionals or under supervision of healthcare personnel,
• her female partner or spouse has consented to the treatment, and
• both women in the relationship are to be parents of the child.

This confirmation is called Registration of Intended Co-motherhood and can be provided to you from the Family Law Administration upon request.

After birth, the Family Law Administration must have confirmation that

• the child is likely to have been conceived using the previously confirmed treatment, and
• the mother and her spouse or life partner confirm that they together are responsible for the child and its care, and that they understand the legal implications of confirming co-motherhood.

The form is called Attestation of co-motherhood and can be provided to you from the Family Law Administration upon request.

When applying to register for co-motherhood, there is a difference whether you have used an unknown or known sperm donor. In the case of assisted reproduction with a specific known sperm donor, the sperm donor has rights and responsibilities as the father of the child. For co-motherhood to be registered in cases where the sperm donor is known, the donor must formally waive his rights and responsibilities as the father of the child.

Once the Family Law Administration assesses that the requirements for co-motherhood are met, co-motherhood will be confirmed.

When co-motherhood is confirmed, it means, among other things, that

• the co-mother is obligated to support the child.
• the co-mother can share custody of the child.
• the co-mother may obtain full custody by agreement or court order.
• the child may have the co-mother’s surname.
• the child and co-mother inherit each other.
• the co-mother may have visitation rights with the child if not living with the child's mother.
• the child may obtain the same citizenship as the co-mother if requirements for this are met.

If the mother and the co-mother are married, they will share custody once co-motherhood is confirmed. If they are not married, the confirmation of co-motherhood does not automatically grant them shared custody. Mothers can agree to shared custody by filling out the form Declaration of Joint Care and Responsibility which is available upon request from the Family Law Administration. If the mothers disagree on the matter of custody, the matter can be brought before the court.

If one of the parents fails to fulfil their obligation of supporting the child, the other parent can apply to have the other parent obligated to pay child support maintenance. Read more about maintenance here.