Brazil's Public Defender Offices Launch Free Paternity Recognition Mutirões

The Defensoria Pública of Rondônia announced that registrations for its "Meu Pai Tem Nome" project close on 7 August. The free program, which allows voluntary recognition of biological or socio‑affective parentage, can be applied online or at the agency’s offices in Porto Velho. A service day is scheduled for 15 August, when public defenders and staff will conduct a large‑scale mutirão to amend birth certificates.

In Mato Grosso, the "Mutirão Pai Presente" began on 3 August and will run through 7 August in courts across the state. The initiative provides legal guidance, conciliation hearings and, when needed, DNA testing at no cost to participants. Organisers expect more than 60 hearings, citing cases such as a 60‑year‑old woman who successfully added her father's name to her birth record. The mutirão emphasizes the link between civil documentation and personal dignity.

Both efforts aim to improve citizens' access to identity rights by simplifying the process of registering parentage.