BRAZIL Law and Practice Contributed by: Mauricio Ejchel, MF Ejchel International Family Law
1.4 Requirements for Non-Genetic Parents A person without a genetic connection to a child does not acquire parental authority merely by providing care or by marrying or living with one of the child’s parents. Legal parenthood must first be established through a recognised route, principally adoption, assisted repro - duction, or judicial or voluntary recognition of socio- affective parenthood. In assisted-reproduction cases, parentage is based on the documented parental project and consent rather than genetics alone. The National Justice Council’s National Code of Rules governs registration, including cases involving donated genetic material, same-sex parents and gestational surrogacy. Once registered as a parent, the non-genetic parent holds the same parental authority as a genetic parent, while the donor of genetic material acquires no parental status. Socio-affective parenthood requires a stable, public and demonstrably parental relationship. Affection, cohabitation or financial support alone is insufficient. Voluntary recognition before a civil registrar is avail - able only where the person to be recognised is over 12 and remains subject to requirements concerning age difference, consent, evidence and review by the Public Prosecutor’s Office. Cases involving younger children, disputed consent, complex evidence or more than one additional socio-affective parent require judi - cial proceedings. Supreme Federal Court Theme 622 confirms that biological and socio-affective parent - hood may coexist. A step-parent or long-term carer may seek step-parent adoption or recognition of socio-affective parenthood where the legal requirements are satisfied. Custody or guardianship may confer substantial authority to care for, represent and make decisions for a child, but nei - ther makes the carer a legal parent. The person’s pow - ers depend on the applicable legislation and the terms of the judicial order; full parental authority arises only when legal parenthood has been formally established. 1.5 Relevance of Marriage at Point of Conception or Birth Marriage affects the establishment and registration of fatherhood, but not the nature or extent of the child’s rights. Article 1,597 of the Civil Code creates
is not, by itself, sufficient for loss or suspension. Sepa - ration from the other parent, or the fact that the mother is not the child’s principal daily carer, likewise does not remove her parental authority. 1.3 Requirements for Fathers A father acquires parental authority once his legal fatherhood has been established. Where the moth - er is married, Article 1,597 of the Civil Code applies presumptions of paternity in defined circumstances, including certain forms of assisted reproduction. These presumptions ordinarily allow the father to be identified in the child’s civil registration without sepa - rate recognition proceedings. Where the parents are not married, paternity may be acknowledged in the birth record or subsequently by a declaration before the civil registrar, a public or pri - vate instrument, a will or a statement made before a court, as provided by Article 1,609 of the Civil Code and Law 8,560/1992. If paternity is disputed or the alleged father refuses recognition, judicial proceed - ings may be brought to establish it. DNA evidence is commonly used, and an unjustified refusal to undergo testing may create a presumption of paternity when considered together with the remaining evidence. Once legal fatherhood is established, an unmarried father has the same parental status as a married father. He is not required to obtain a custody order or apply separately for parental authority. A court may regulate custody, residence and contact, but those arrangements do not, by themselves, remove his parental authority. The relevant distinction is therefore between a bio - logical father whose paternity has not yet been legally established and a legally recognised father. A biologi - cal connection may provide the basis for a paternity claim, but it does not ordinarily produce the official status or documentation upon which schools, health - care providers, public authorities and courts can rely. Once paternity is registered or judicially declared, the father acquires the corresponding parental rights and duties.
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