Pregnant but No-One Must Know?
Confidential Birth
Pregnant but No-One Must Know?
Yes, there are women* in extreme emergency situations who repress or conceal their pregnancy and who have no-one to turn to in their close or wider circle who they trust and can confide in. The reasons for this are very wide-ranging. The law to extend assistance to pregnant women and to regulate confidential childbirth aims to better reach pregnant women* in emergency situations and to further expand the help network for pregnant women*. The women* receive help and support through comprehensive, anonymous, open-ended, free counselling and support from the pregnancy counselling centres, because desperate pregnant women* should not have to give birth to their child secretly and alone.
How a Confidential Birth is Carried Out
- Pregnancy advice centres are the point of contact when a pregnancy must never be revealed. Advice and further assistance are also available to pregnant women* after giving birth.
- In this emergency situation you will be advised about the possibilities. The counselling might open up new perspectives and you might ultimately decide to bring up the child or opt for legal adoption. If you opt for a confidential birth, you give yourself a pseudonym to remain anonymous. Nobody knows who you are, even after the birth.
- Confidential births enable a protected and medically accompanied birth for mother and child.
- Counselling about a confidential birth can also take place after the birth in hospital, but for this you must remain anonymous there.
- After the birth, the registry office enters the child with the chosen name in the birth register. Parental care is suspended and the Youth Welfare Office takes care of the child and initiates the adoption procedure.
- At the age of 16, children have the opportunity to discover their origins; this is extremely important for a child.
- In particularly serious cases you can remain permanently anonymous.
Even if a situation seems hopeless to you, place your trust in a counselling centre or call the free 24-hour helpline: Tel.: 0800 40 40 020.