Azerbaijan sees rise in extramarital births

An increase in the number of extramarital births was registered in Azerbaijan last year, the Ministry of Justice official said.

"There is a significant increase in the number of children born in an informal marriage in Azerbaijan in recent years. It is matter of a concern. Last year, the number of such children hit 20% of the total number of newborn babies. This is not a small figure," the Azerbaijani Ministry of Justice registration and notary department chief Ilgar Mammadov said at the meeting of the Commission on Social Policy of the Azerbaijani Parliament, dedicated to the family and marriage.

Mammadov said that 15,000 children were born in informal marriages in 2009.

"Informal marriage has no legal force. Therefore, problems occur while identifying a child's father," Mammadov said.

/Trend/