To report parents for not registering the birth of a child

[Anon6356237]

Should I stay out of it or report? I'm concerned the child could fly under the radar if there are any concerns if they are not 'in the system'. Who would I report to?

I wouldn’t, child is safe and happy and it’s surely something that can be sorted out at a later date without you causing problems for them

I can confirm that if if you report a 3 year old missing then the police will be going out immediately and looking for said child. We don’t start looking into the background of the parents and considering whether the child actually exists before we start hunting.
Let me reassure you all - if you report your small child missing, we ain’t wasting any time faffing about getting statements before we look. Every officer in the vicinity will be sent to the area to look. The only time we would be taking a step back and investigating parents is if this becomes a protracted enquiry when the child is not immediately located

YABU. You should keep your nose out. It’s none of your business

This is how parents get away with child abuse, people keeping their noses out.

Ravingstarfish Except people who have been in this situation say it is a nightmare to sort out the paperwork retrospectively.

Fed up with parental rights. Children don't belong to their parents.

How about a child's right to take part in society, to be recognised as a citizen, to be entitled to an education and healthcare beyond the insane beliefs of their family? And yes, to be taken away from his or her parents if they are shit?

But protein, if I take a child to hospital and provide all their correct registered details they don’t know I have parental rights either- I could be anyone. They don’t take IDs and proof of parental rights when children are treated at hospital!

No they dont. I didnt say that. But they can see the child exists. As soon as they realise the child doesnt exist on paper, everything changes.

Ss would likely be involved, straight away. One of the questions will be 'are these people even the childs parents'. At that point they will want to prove it.

If SS got involved with you at the hospital and felt they needed proof that you are who you say you are, would be able to do with ID, childs birth certificate etc. These parents cant.

For at least a short time, the parents may not be able to exercise parental responsibility for the child. Because there is no trace of the child or who the biological parents are.

So they may find until its proved they are the parents, they cant make decisions or even see the child

Trafficking is a huge problem. SS will want to ensure that's not what is happening.

Everyone talking about parental rights should be aware that there is no such thing as parental rights, even for the birth parents, as a PP asserted.

You have parental responsibility. Which means the responsibility of providing for and caring for your children. As this includes making sure their health needs are met, I would report it to Children's services if I found out a child wasn't registered.

It doesn’t matter if the Op has concerns or not: Social Services will definitely have concerns. As others have pointed out, it’s a safeguarding red flag.

“Because there are people who intend to home educate from birth who decide not register their child with the local authority for schooling which is not illegal. ”

We’ve been told to report any child we suspect will be home educated to the LA. It can be another concern if the parents decide to home educate without informing the LA.

I can confirm that if if you report a 3 year old missing then the police will be going out immediately and looking for said child. We don’t start looking into the background of the parents and considering whether the child actually exists before we start hunting.

Obviously they go out and look. They also start talking to neighbours and family members and looking into backgrounds. Maybe not in the first few hours, but soon.

A child went missing from our estate plenty if officers came to us all asking questions. Within about 2 hours.

Besides which, would the parents report the child missing at all? Knowing it could end in the child being registered?

There are all sorts of reasons why this should be reported. Just a few I can think of

• maybe the parent/s have had previous children removed from their care for various reasons and they decided to fly under the radar with this one. We had this scenario only a couple of weeks ago where it was reported to the mash by a concerned 3rd party. Mum was absolutely unfit to have children as she refused to leave her partner who had previous for child sex offences
• one of our basic rights is to not be stateless and they are denying the child that
• all the other reasons other posters have given
• what if the child has “invisible” health problems that would be picked up by the normal checks that won’t be conducted. Problems that could be resolved in childhood
• It’s illegal. You wouldn’t tell someone to look the other way if someone burgled someone, would you ? If you saw a masked man breaking into your vulnerable 90year old neighbours house at 3am would you say “not my business” and go back to bed ?

I once taught a child who hadn't been registered and had never seen a doctor until he was taken to A&E after a serious accident and it all came to light. Not hippies just very low intelligence although they had older(teenage) children and had been married some years.

- use walk in centres and make up details (they will treat you)

I used made up details at a walk in centre at the other side of the country when on holiday as I didn't want it in my medical notes that I'd got a perforated ear drum.

They put my made up details into the computer system and knew straight away it was a load of bollocks. I had no idea the nhs was that joined up with their computer systems.

What annoys me most with this sort of thing is that the parent is usually taking away rights of the child that they still had themselves. They are registered citizens so if they ever choose to work or join a doctors surgery or travel it’s alright for them, but their kids aren’t that lucky. Similarly they are vaccinated so they’re protected from illness that they’ve decided their kids shouldn’t be.

I met one a few times through the home ed community (don’t know her actual name or location or anything though) they just move location when they feel like people know too much. They were nice, the kids were lovely and seemed happy but I heard rumours one broke their leg and wasn’t seen even by a GP. The parent uses FB - they have internet access and phone and you might not need ID for that but you need a bank account presumably and that certainly needs ID! But an unregistered child wouldn’t even be able to do that when they’re older. It’s horrible to take a choice away from them like that especially when you had that choice yourself.

That is interesting. So if you used made up bollocks with a child then they would contact SS as they would be worried the child had been trafficked.

yes do report, if they are telling the truth that they didnt actually register the child.

To be fair if they don’t want to register the birth of their child because they don’t want them to be property of the government, they are probably unlikely to ever go to doctors surgery, they sound like the type of parents to treat ailments with rosemary and nettle leaves and homemade potions.

I would report them first thing tomorrow. It’s exceptionally reckless and as someone who works in early years, I would be concerned what else they are up to in regards to how are they meeting his basic needs?

If they feel they don’t want the child to be government property then that’s their right as parents.

Legally they don't have a right to not register their child.
And registering a child doesn't make them "government property".

Best case scenario, this will be problematic for the child when seeking official services in life such as healthcare, benefits, passport, employment, education. The child may also be receiving an inadequate education as nobody is checking, and presumably hasn't received preventative healthcare such as screening and vaccinations. At some point the child will need some kind of official input, eg seeing a doctor, and the longer this is left the harder it will be to resolve and the more the child will have missed out on.

Worst case scenario, the parents are neglecting/ abusing the child, and nobody will find out. You can't tell this from the outside as a family friend.

Of course if the child pitches up to A&E unwell they will be treated, but everyone is identified via NHS number or other details, if the child doesn't exist officially this will be identified. Perhaps the parents will delay seeking medical care if they know this.

If the parents don't want to live in a country where registering your child is legally required, they are welcome to move overseas to a country with limited state oversight of it's citizens - but I think they would find living in Somalia or similar unpleasant and perhaps realise that the state has benefit in the UK.

So if you used made up bollocks with a child then they would contact SS as they would be worried the child had been trafficked.

Who knows. I am pretty sure that doctors would be wondering why they have been told made up bollocks about a child and possibly have the a duty to report it.

Trafficking may not be the primary concern. But could for part of it. Wanting to confirm where the child comes from

Ever been through passport control when the officers make chiat chat with the kids, ask their name, how old they are etc. Often that's part of trying to ensure the kids you are bringing in are kids you should be bringing in.

Ds has aspergers and refused to answer them. Dd thankfully is very talkative and quite a bit older and answered all their questions including his age and his date of birth.....and a really long story about the day we had him. Think the woman was sorry she asked.

Please please report now OP.

It’s not the same but my DP’s Mum changed his name unofficially at about 7 and didn’t allow him to register on the electoral role or get any form of credit, partly to prevent her own credit fraud being found out and partly so the kids dad couldn’t find them

It’s caused us endless trouble, stress and worry trying to get a tenancy and now mortgage, and caused him horrible problems growing up - what name and age was on the register at school, did the other kids know, couldn’t get a phone contract, bank accounts shut down due to fraud markers etc

BarryBarryTaylor I agree. They probably dont seek outside medical treatment.

Which is a huge concern, in itself.

I can understand why many parents are paranoid about the government; we are going through a terrible phase where we are all being controlled, manipulated and watched with far too much scrutiny. It frightens me too.

But, these parents are taking away the child's future and chance of living a normal life. Rather than report, I think I would first talk to the parents and tell them they need to register and explain all the reasons why.

If they feel they don’t want the child to be government property then that’s their right as parents.

Bollocks. Being registered as a citizen doesn't make you "government property". It makes you a citizen. with rights as a citizen.

Not being registered does make you essentially your parents' property - they could do anything to you, and nobody would be the wiser.

*roll obviously

I think I would first talk to the parents and tell them they need to register and explain all the reasons why.

Really bad idea. They already know the reasons and don't give a shit about them (and presumably they are also the type who think that vaccines are a government conspiracy).

If you talk to them, OP, they will become hostile and mistrustful towards you. And if you report them, they will know it was you.

Also if you speak to parents, they could become panicked and move.