The Justice Ministry issued a notice Monday to address public discontent over a controversial Civil Code provision that regards a baby born within 300 days after the mother's divorce as a child born to her and her former spouse even if the father is another man.
Under the notice, to be applied for birth registrations submitted from May 21, a child who has a doctor's certificate showing the mother became pregnant after she got divorced will be accepted as the child of the woman and her current husband, or as an out-of-wedlock baby.
The move comes amid growing demand to review the 300-day provision, which requires parents to go to court to get their child registered properly. Some couples who had babies have decided to leave their children out of the family registry rather than have them registered under the former husband's name.