Joy gave birth to her eldest daughter before she turned 17 years old. Since she was too young to care for her infant, her parents decided to claim Joy’s daughter as their own. The baby was named Mia and Joy’s parents were listed as the baby’s parents in her birth certificate.
Ten years later, Joy married Mia’s biological father. A few months into their marriage, both decided that it is time they took over the parental responsibilities for their one and only child. This includes changing Mia’s last name to the last name of her biological father. A lawyer friend explained that in order to achieve this, they need to adopt Mia.
Why do you need to adopt your own child?
Mia’s parents could have just easily filed for her Legitimation after they got married however, since Mia’s birth certificate shows her grandparents as her parents, they now need to adopt Mia so she can be legally recognized as their child.
What is the process of adopting your own child?
- The husband and wife must file a joint petition for adoption of Mia, with respect to Section 7 of R.A. 8552. This must be filed at the Family Court of the province or city where the adopting parties reside.
- The petition should include the couple’s application for the change of surname of Mia. Since Mia is already 16 years old at the time of adoption, her consent on the adoption is also needed. She should be made aware that should she agree to the adoption, her last name will change to that of her biological father’s and custody will be transferred to her biological parents.
How will this kind of adoption be treated by the Family Court?
There are three kinds of adoption in the Philippines:
- Agency Adoptions – a licensed adoption agency finds and develops adoptive families for children under their care.
- Family or Relative Adoptions – where biological parents make a direct placement of the child to a relative.
- Private or Independent Adoptions – either a direct placement to a family known by the child’s biological parents or through the use of an intermediary or a go-between.
Mia’s adoption falls under Family or Relative Adoptions since her grandparents stood as her biological parents. Take note that this could pose an issue in court as the grandparents might be accused of falsifying the child’s birth documents (listing themselves as Mia’s parents), but that is a separate matter that can be tackled in a different article later on.
What will be the effect of this kind of adoption?
- Mia’s legal ties with her grandparents (standing as her parents) will be severed. They shall now assume the roles of grandparents to Mia and that is something they can deal with as a family.
- She will now be treated as a legitimate child of her adopters (who are actually her biological parents).
- Mia and her biological parents now have reciprocal rights and obligations arising from the relationship of parent and child, including but not limited to:
- The right of the adopter to choose the name the child is to be known;
- The right of the adopter and adoptee to be legal and compulsory heirs of each other.
Joy and her husband’s petition for adoption was granted by the Family Court. It took a while before Mia got used to her new living arrangement and still opts to spend her weekends with her grandparents. Mia’s inheritance, as stated in her grandparents’ will, remained intact in spite of the changes in her name and legitimacy.
So yes, you can adopt your own child. It all depends on the events surrounding your circumstances and, up to a certain degree, your lawyer’s skill in convincing the Family Court that your petition merits approval.
Reference: http://www.gov.ph/2002/07/31/rule-on-adoption/
MasterCitizen's Blog 
sir importante lang ano po kayang requirements para maayos ko yung lastname ng anak ko..wala kasing lastname yung father ng baby ko late na namin nalaman all his life ang ginamit niya is albarida ang last name pero we found out na wala siyang last name kaya ang advice sa amin ng munisipyo ang gamitin niyang last name is ramos na ang middle name niya na nakalagay sa birth cert. ok na po lahat ng govrnment IDs niya naayos na po namin from albarida to ramos..
ang problema po kasi ngayon is sa anak namin ang na registered po kasi na surname sa birth certificate niya is ALBARIDA… ano po kayang gawin para ma Change into RAMOS? not married po kasi kami dati ngayon kasal na po kami.. RAMOS na rin kasi last name na ginagamit ko.. yung anak lang namin albarida..
Hi Jury,
Kailangan niyo po mag inquire sa munisipyo kung saan naka rehistro yung anak ninyo. May posibilidad din po na i-refer kayo sa Public Attorney’s OFfice para makahingi kayo ng advice ng abogado. Mag iingat lang po kayo sa mga fixers at siguraduhin ninyo na empleyado ng munisipyo ang pagtatanungan ninyo.
MC
Hi po. Pwede pa po ba palitan ang first name ng baby ko sa nso? Nakakuha na po ako ng birth cert nya. Masyado po kasi mahaba ang name. Pwede po ba ang ganon? Pano po process if ever?
May proseso naman para dyan kaya lang i e evaluate ng LCR officer ang mga reasons mo kung bakit dapat palitan kapag nakita naman nilang enough yung reason mag a a undergo ng process na change name yung anak mo.
His sir, ask ko lang po kung pano proseso and magkano kaya magagastos kung adopt ko yung pamangkin ko. 16 yrs old na po sya and since birth ako na po yung tumayong magulang nya. Namatay po yung sister ko nung pinanganak na yung bata then ung tatay naman nya which is japanese iniwan na din sya samin ng basta basta, try namin hanapin sya pero hindi na talaga sya nagpakita.kahit yung mga kapatid ko sa japan hindi nila mahagilap yung tatay. Im still single pero we decided (our family) na ipa adopt nalang sya sakin para makakuha yung bata ng mga proper documents like id, passport etc. Ng walang problema. Sana po ma advise nyo ko what to do. Nasa abroad po kasi ako at the moment eh. Thank you po
Pwede naman lalo na kung capable ka. Punta ka ng DSWD para maayos mo ito.
hi sir ask ko lang paano un proseso ng pag correct ng name ko ROGER name ko pero sa nso ER lang po un nakalagay.
good day ! Mag ask lang po ako about sa nso ng baby ko, Mali po kasi yung name ko dun by one letter lang naman po. late na po ksi di po naprocess yung nso ko so imbis na christine na usual kong ginagamit eh. cristine nalang while yung name ko sa nso ng baby ko is Christine pati sa baptismal nya, ano po bang magandang gawin ? thanks!
Hi Cristine,
Pwede kang mag file ng correction of clerical error para maitama ang spelling ng pangalan mo sa BC mo. Pwede mo itong gawin sa munisipyo kung saan naka rehistro ang BC mo o sa munisipyo ng bayan kung saan ka na nakatira ngayon.
MC
hindi po ba pwedeng palitan ko nalang po yung name ko sa BC ng baby ko. Yung nasa documents ko po kasi nung grumaduate ako eh sinunod nalang po ang nasa BC ko na Cristine imbis na Christine.
Ipa pa correct mo yun sa LCR kung saan naka register yung anak mo.
bakit po kaya ganito yon birth certificate ko na kinuha sa nso pasig city hall mali mali yong spelling name, middle name at surname ko po pero yong b-certificate ko na kinuha sa probinsya na pinanganakan ko ay tama nmn po itong old b-certficate ko ito na nga po ang ginamit ko sa pagkuha ko ng passport nong 1996, kumuha ako b-certificate ko sa nso pasig last 2015 pra kako authenticated ay, bkit po kaya mali spelling, ngayon ko po lang nakita kase hindi kona po tiningnan ng makuha ko sa nso pasig ngayon ko lang po nakita. ano po kaya gagawin ko ? ano po mga requirements? salamat po sana po matulungan ninyo ako sa problema ko. eto po yong tamang name ko sa old b-certifiate ko na gngmit ko rin evangeline fulgar marasigan, tapos ito nmn po nasa nso na mali evangelyn fulgas marsigan.
Hi Evangeline,
Kung may kopya ang munisipyo ng birth certificate mo na tama ang spelling ng mga pangalan mo, pwede kang bumalik dun at ireport na ang kopyang hawak ng NSO ay wrong spelling. Kung mali din ang spelling ng pangalan mo sa mga kopya na hawak ng munisipyo, kailangan mong mag file ng correction of clerical error. Dun na din gagawin yun sa munisipyo kung saan ka naka rehistro. Magdala ka lang ng kopya nung birth certificate na mali ang spelling ng pangalan mo.
MC
Hello po.. Ask ko lng po gusto ko ipa lipat ung panganay kong ank sa asawa ko ngayo kc ung panganay ko po ay anak ko sa una hiwalay napo kame ng matagal n taon ung asawa ko po ngayon sana gusto po nia i adopt ung panganay ko pwede po ba un kasal po kame ng asawa ko ngayon at ung panganay ko po anak ai nasa akin nmn po at wala namn po pakialam ung tatay nya khit suporta wala po.. Ano b ung pd ko gwin para ma apelyedo sya sa asawa ko ngyon?
Yun talaga ang tamang proseso adoption.
Hi…please if you can help me. My mom’s birth cert was late registered as ESTELA. Upon our discovery, her school records were ESTELLA. We were able to change the ESTELLA to ESTELA. Then we only discovered her Marriage cert as ESTELLA. how can we change it? Even her land title is ESTELA and other documents were ESTELA….HOw can we change her MARRIAGE CERT from ESTELLA to ESTELA. Please help. Even my other sibling is ESTELLA is named as mother. We did not bother to have it corrected anyway what is important then was our name.
Sent from my iPad – Clarette F. Occeña
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File for correction at the LCR office where your mothers M.C was registered.
What if the bioligical mother will not marry the biological father, she will marry to another man it will still be possible to adopt the child under family or relative adoption and the biologucal mother married to a foreign man, can they still adopt the child, and how long it will take for the adoption, Does they really need to stay in the Philippines for the entire adoption process?
Yes it’s still possible. Regarding the adoption procedure only the DSWD office can tell if it will push thru veven uou are out of the country. It’s better to hire an attorney to assist you.
hello po , anu po ang gagawin ko gusto ko po sana mag continue pag school dito sa manila , eh kaso po yung record ko po sa school ay mag kaiba yung po sa NSO ko late ko na kasi nalaman ehh anu po ang dapat kung gawin ?
Kailngan ipa ayos mo muna yung PSA(NSO) record mo or gamitin na yan kahit mali. Pero make na bago ka magtapos maayos mo yan para maayos mo yung record mo sa school.
hi sir ask ko lang paano un proseso ng pag correct ng name ko ROGER name ko pero sa nso ER lang po un nakalagay.
Mag pa file ka ng change name sa munisipyo kung saan ka naka register.