Legal Definitions - legal parent

A legal parent is an individual who is recognized by the law as having all the rights, duties, and responsibilities associated with raising a child. This legal status grants them authority over the child's upbringing, education, healthcare, and financial support, and also obligates them to provide for the child's well-being. Legal parentage can be established through various means, including birth, adoption, or specific legal judgments.

Here are some examples illustrating the concept of a legal parent:

• Example 1: Parentage by Birth
  Maria gives birth to a child, Mateo. She is married to Carlos. In most jurisdictions, both Maria and Carlos are automatically considered Mateo's legal parents because Mateo was born to them within their marriage. They both have the legal right to make decisions about Mateo's schooling and medical care, and they both have the legal obligation to financially support him.

• Example 2: Parentage by Adoption
  After a lengthy process, Sarah and Jessica finalize the adoption of a 7-year-old girl named Chloe. Even though Chloe is not biologically related to Sarah or Jessica, the court order finalizing the adoption legally establishes them as Chloe's parents. From that moment forward, Sarah and Jessica have all the same legal rights and responsibilities toward Chloe as if she had been born to them, and Chloe's biological parents no longer hold any legal parental rights or obligations.

• Example 3: Parentage through Surrogacy
  Michael and David, an intended parent couple, enter into a gestational surrogacy agreement with a woman named Lisa. Lisa carries and gives birth to their child, Noah. Through a pre-birth order issued by a court, Michael and David are declared Noah's legal parents even before his birth. This legal order ensures that despite Lisa being the birth mother, Michael and David are recognized as having all parental rights and responsibilities from the moment Noah is born, reflecting their intent to parent him.