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Part II .

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Birth Registration Regulations

made under

Section 51 of the

Vital Statistics Act

R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 494

O.I.C. 2007-498 (effective September 20, 2007), N.S. Reg. 390/2007

amended to O.I.C. 2024-76 (effective February 20, 2024), N.S. Reg. 51/2024

Table of Contents

Please note: this table of contents is provided for convenience of reference and does not form part of the regulations.

Click here to go to the text of the regulations .

Citation

Definitions

Birth mother of child

Court may make declaratory order

Parentage—non-surrogacy

Intended parent is parent

Parentage—surrogacy

Intended parent is parent

Court may waive consent requirement

Death of intended parent

Surrogacy agreement not consent

Citation

1 These regulations may be cited as the Birth Registration Regulations .

Definitions

2 In these regulations,

“Act” means the Vital Statistics Act ;

“assisted conception” means conception that occurs as a result of artificial

reproductive technology;

“birth mother” means a person who gives birth to a child, regardless of whether the

person’s human reproductive material is used in the child’s conception;

“intended parent” means a person who intends to be a parent of a child conceived

through assisted conception and, for that purpose, makes an agreement with

another person before the child is conceived that

(

i) the other person will be the birth mother of a child conceived through

assisted conception, and

(ii) the person will be the child’s parent on the child’s birth, regardless of

whether that person’s human reproductive material is used in the

child’s conception;

“known donor” means a person whose identity is known to the birth mother or

intended parent who provides human reproductive material to be used for the

assisted conception of a child, and who, at the time of the child’s conception,

intends to relinquish the child to the birth mother and any intended parent;

“surrogate” means a birth mother of a child conceived as a result of assisted

conception and who, at the time of the child’s conception, intends to relinquish that

child to an intended parent or intended parents.

3 [repealed]

Birth mother of child

4 A person who gives birth to a child must be recorded as the birth mother of the child.

Court may make declaratory order

(1) In this Section, “court” means the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia (Family

Division).

(2) On application by the intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement, the court may

make a declaratory order with respect to the parentage of the child if all of the

following apply:

(

a) the surrogacy arrangement was initiated by the intended parents;

(

b) the surrogacy arrangement was planned before conception;

(

c) the woman who is to carry and give birth to the child does not intend to be

the child’s parent;

(

d) the intended parents intend to be the child’s parents;

(

e) one of the intended parents has a genetic link to the child.

(3) If the court makes a declaratory order under subsection (2), the court may order

that

(

a) the name and particulars of the parents be registered and the name and

particulars of a surrogate mother be removed; and

(

b) the surname of the child be registered in accordance with the surname

chosen by the intended parents.

(4) An order made under subsection (3) must contain all of the following:

(

a) the full names of the parents of the child;

(

b) the date and place of the birth of the parents of the child;

(

c) sufficient particulars of the birth of the child to identify the birth record that

is to be changed.

(5) On receipt of an order made under subsection (3), the Registrar must amend the

child’s birth registration as required by the order.

(6) If a child’s birth registration is amended in accordance with subsection (5), every

birth certificate subsequently issued for the child must reflect the amended birth

registration.

Parentage—non-surrogacy

(1) This

Section and

Section 7 apply if a child is conceived through assisted

conception without surrogacy, regardless of who provided the human reproductive

material used for the assisted conception.

(2) Before a child is conceived through a non-surrogacy means of assisted conception

with a donor or donors of human reproductive material, a written agreement must

be made between all of the following people:

(

a) the person who will be the child’s birth mother;

(

b) any other person who will be the intended parent;

(

c) the donor or donors, if known.

(3) The written agreement in subsection (2) must include all of the following

information:

(

a) the name of the person who will be the child’s birth mother;

(

b) the name of any intended parent;

(

c) the name of any donor or donors of human reproductive material, if known;

(

d) if applicable, a statement that the known donor or donors agree to relinquish

the child to the child’s birth mother and any intended parent;

(

e) a statement that the child’s birth mother and any intended parent will be the

child’s parents.

(4) On the birth of a child born as a result of assisted conception without surrogacy,

the child’s birth mother is the child’s parent.

(5) The child’s birth mother, any intended parent and, if applicable, any known donor

or donors must file a statutory declaration with the Registrar in the form approved

by the Registrar, affirming all of the following:

(

a) that the child’s birth mother, any intended parent and, if applicable, any

known donor or donors have entered into a written agreement as specified

in subsections (2) and (3);

(

b) that the parties to the written agreement have received independent legal

advice respecting their rights and obligations under the agreement and the

legal effect of the child being relinquished to the child’s birth mother and

any intended parent.

(6) After receiving the statutory declaration described in subsection (5), the Registrar

may amend the child’s birth registration accordingly.

Intended parent is parent

7 For the purposes of

Section 4 of the Act, “parent” includes an intended parent upon the

birth of a child born as a result of assisted conception without surrogacy if all of the

following conditions are met:

(

a) the written agreement in subsections 6(2) and (3) provides that the intended

parent, in addition to the child’s birth mother, will be the child’s parent;

(

b) the intended parent has filed a statutory declaration as required under

subsection 6(5).

Parentage—surrogacy

(1) This

Section and Sections 9 to 12 apply if, before a child is conceived through

assisted conception, a surrogacy and parentage agreement is made between a

potential surrogate and the intended parent or parents.

(2) A surrogacy and parentage agreement must meet all of the following requirements:

(

a) it must be in writing;

(

b) it must state that the potential surrogate will be the birth mother of a child

conceived through assisted conception;

(

c) it must confirm that on the child’s birth all of the following will apply:

(

i) the surrogate will not be a parent of the child,

(ii) the surrogate will relinquish the child to the intended parent or

parents,

(iii) the intended parent or parents will be the child’s parent or parents.

(3) The potential surrogate and the intended parent or parents must file a statutory

declaration with the Registrar in the form approved by the Registrar, affirming all

of the following:

(

a) that the person has entered into a surrogacy and parentage agreement as

specified in subsection (2);

(

b) that the person has received independent legal advice respecting the

person’s rights and obligations under the agreement and the legal effect of

the child being relinquished to the intended parent or parents;

(

c) that one of the intended parents has a genetic link to the child.

Intended parent is parent

(1) For the purpose of

Section 4 of the Act, “parent” includes an intended parent on

the birth of a child born as a result of assisted conception with surrogacy if all of

the following conditions are met:

(

a) the surrogacy and parentage agreement in subsection 8(2) provides that the

intended parent will be the child’s parent;

(

b) the intended parent provides a statutory declaration as required in subsection

8(3);

(

c) no party to the agreement withdraws before the child is conceived;

(

d) after the child’s birth, the surrogate gives written consent to relinquish the

child to the intended parent or parents.

(2) After confirming that all of the conditions set out in subsection (1) are met, the

Registrar may amend the child’s birth registration accordingly.

Court may waive consent requirement

10 For the purpose of the written consent under clause 9(1)(d), the court may waive the

requirement for consent if it is satisfied that one of the following applies:

(

a) the surrogate is deceased or incapable of giving consent;

(

b) after reasonable efforts by the intended parent or parents to locate the

surrogate have been made, the surrogate cannot be located.

Death of intended parent

11 An intended parent who dies after a child is conceived is the child’s parent if the

surrogate gives written consent to relinquish the child to the personal representative or

another person acting in the place of the deceased intended parent.

Surrogacy agreement not consent

12 Consent in an agreement under subsection 8(2) to act as a surrogate or to relinquish a

child is not consent for the purposes of clause 9(1)(

d) or

Section 11, but may be used as

evidence of the parties’ intentions for the child’s parentage if a dispute arises after the

child’s birth.

Legislative History

Reference Tables

Birth Registration Regulations

N.S. Reg.

390/2007

Vital Statistics Act

Note: The

information in these tables does not form part of the regulations and is

compiled by the Office of the Registrar of Regulations for reference only.

Source Law

The current consolidation of the Birth Registration Regulations made under the Vital Statistics Act includes all of the following regulations:

N.S.

Regulation

In force

date*

How in force

Royal Gazette

Part II Issue

390/2007

Sep 20, 2007

date specified

Oct 12, 2007

51/2024

Feb 20, 2024

date specified

Mar 8, 2024

The following regulations are not

yet in force and are not included in the current consolidation:

N.S.

Regulation

In force

date*

How in force

Royal Gazette

Part II Issue

*See subsection 3(6) of the Regulations Act for

rules about in force dates of regulations.

Amendments by Provision

ad. = added

am. = amended

fc. = fee change

ra. = reassigned

rep. = repealed

rs . = repealed and substituted

Provision affected

How affected

2 ........................................................

am. 51/2024 (clause lettering removed)

2, defn . of “assisted

conception” .

am. 51/2024

2, defn . of “birth mother” ............

ad. 51/2024

2, defn . of “intended

parent” .......

ad. 51/2024

2, defn . of “known donor” ..........

ad. 51/2024

2, defn . of “spouse” .....................

rep. 51/2024

2, defn . of “surrogate” .................

ad. 51/2024

3 ........................................................

rep. 51/2024

4 ........................................................

am. 51/2024

5(1) ...................................................

am. 51/2024

6-12 ...................................................

ad. 51/2024

Note that changes to headings are not

included in the above table.

Editorial Notes and Corrections

Note

Effective

date

Repealed and Superseded

N.S.

Regulation

Title

In force

date

Repealed

date

Note: Only

regulations that are specifically repealed and replaced appear in this

table. It may not reflect the entire

history of regulations on this subject matter.