Marriage, Parentage and Child Registration in Iran: Legal Status of Children of Unmarried Parents

In the contemporary legal system in Iran, child registration is closely tied to Islamic marriage. The Civil Registration Law foresees a process for registering a child born to Islamically married parents. This raises the question of what happens to children whose parents are not married. This paper uses literature review and content analysis methods and focuses on the Iranian law, press and media pieces, Shi’i rulings, and academic literature on child ‘legitimacy’ and the unregistered child phenomenon to answer this question. I explore the relationship between Iran’s marriage and parentage law and the child registration process. The paper discusses the consequences of rendering children legally ‘illegitimate’ for children’s rights. The conclusion addresses the potential in the Shi’i school of Islam to improve religious rulings and, consequently, the possibility of changing discriminatory laws regarding the rights of children born to unmarried parents.