Hospitals & Birthing Centers
The Division of Child Support Services depends on the cooperation of our partners in birthing hospitals throughout New York State to assist families in completing and filing Acknowledgments of Parentage. The child and the parents all benefit from establishing parentage.
Instructions for voluntary Acknowledgement of Parentage (AOP)
Hospital responsibilities
Oral and written notice
Prior to signing the AOP, the parents shall be provided oral and written notice of their rights and the consequences of signing. Hospital staff can provide oral notice by reviewing Pages 1-4 of the AOP with the parents in their native language, or by showing the Acknowledgment of Parentage in New York video. Written notice is provided by giving the AOP to the parents in their native language (if available).
Materials
Hospital staff should provide parents with the AOP form and the Establishing Parentage (5173) brochure. Once the AOP is completed, hospital staff should review the document with the Acknowledgement of Parentage Witness Checklist.
Questions
Prior to the discharge from the hospital, parents should be given the opportunity to ask questions about the AOP. Hospital staff should highlight the Parentage e-mail address on Page 4 of the AOP (otda.sm.dcse.parentage@otda.ny.gov) and should also provide the telephone number of the Child Support Helpline, 888-208-4485.
Filing
All AOPs should be mailed to the local birth registrar.
Proper form completed correctly
The local registrar must review each Acknowledgment of Parentage (AOP) form to ensure that the proper form was used, and that it was completed correctly. Return the birth certificate and the AOP form to the hospital if any of the following apply:
- A form other than LDSS-5171 (Rev. 04/21) was used
- Other parent's first and/or last name missing
- Birth parent or other parent signature missing
- Child's first and/or last name missing
- One or both witness signatures missing
- DOB of birth parent, other parent or child missing
- Birthplace of child missing or incomplete
- Child's name is crossed out or changed in any way
The hospital will need to contact the parents to arrange for them to complete the proper form or make appropriate corrections. When the proper form is completed and correct, it should be immediately filed with the birth certificate. If the hospital is unable to obtain the proper form or if a delay will be caused, the hospital must complete a new birth certificate without the other parent's name. In this case, the parents must file the AOP directly with the local registrar.
If an incorrect AOP form is processed, or if errors exist, the hospital may be asked to take corrective action. To avoid needing to attempt to get parents to return to the hospital, it is important to ensure that none of these errors exist before parents leave the hospital after signing.