Simulation of Birth

Spouses X and Y are married for almost 10 years.  However, no matter how they try, they still were unable to have a child.  Z was a neighbor of spouses X and Y.  Z was impregnated by his boyfriend U who refused to acknowledge the child.  Thus, Z was left with no choice but to face the consequences on her own.  However, Z has no means to finance her child even to shoulder any expenses when she would give birth to him.  

Hence, Z asked some financial help from the spouses X and Y on which the latter spouses readily agreed into.  When Z gave birth to her child, she left him in the hospital and left a note to spouses X and Y to look over her child.  Since then, Z never came back.

The child was left in the custody of spouses X and Y.  With the eagerness to have a baby, the spouses considered the baby as a gift from heaven, an answer to their prayers.  The spouses gladly took the child and considered him as their own.  As a matter of fact, they registered the child as their own.  They both appeared in the Certificate of Birth of the child as the father and the mother respectively.

Did the act of spouses X and Y in registering the baby as their own constitute criminal offense?

Spouses X and Y committed a criminal offense which is a Simulation of Birth.  There is simulation of birth when there is tampering of the civil registry birth records of a certain child that will cause the child to lose his or her true identity, as reported in Sun Star Baguio on January 23, 2014.

In this case, considering that the parents of the child are Z and U but spouses X and Y made it appear in the birth registry of the child that they are the parents and not Z and U.  Clearly, the spouses X and Y committed simulation of birth.

Simulation of Birth may also be committed by the any physician or surgeon or public officer who, in violation of the duties of his profession or office, shall cooperate in the execution thereof, as stated in the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines.

What is the remedy for spouses X and Y?

According to Republic Act No. 8552 or otherwise known as Domestic Adoption Act of 1998, spouses X and Y may rectify their act in simulating the birth of child and ultimately file for adoption on the said child.  However, they have to prove the following:

1.  The simulation was committed prior to the effectivity of R.A. 8552.  This act took effect on February 25, 1998.

2.  The simulation of birth was made for the best interest of the child.

3.  They have been consistently considering and treating the child as their own son or daughter.

4.  The application for correction of the birth registration and petition for adoption shall be filed within five (5) years from the effectivity of R.A. 8552 and completed thereafter.

5.  Both X and Y comply with the procedure as specified in Article IV of R.A. 8552 and other requirements as determined by the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Without satisfying the requisites mentioned above, X and Y could not rectify their act.