French Civil Code
In forceAny person who has found a newborn child is required to report this to the civil registrar of the place where the child was found. If he does not consent to take charge of the child, he must hand it over, together with the clothing and other effects found with it, to the registrar.
A detailed report shall be drawn up which, in addition to the information provided for in
Article 34of this Code, states the date, time, place and circumstances of the discovery, the apparent age and sex of the child, any particulars that may help to identify the child and the authority or person to whom the child is entrusted. This report is entered on its date in the civil status registers.
Following and separate from this report, the civil registrar draws up a record in lieu of a birth certificate. In addition to the particulars provided for in Article 34, this record states the child's sex and the forenames and surname given to him or her; it sets a date of birth that may correspond to his or her apparent age and designates as the place of birth the commune where the child was discovered.
Such a record must be drawn up, upon declaration by the child welfare services, for children placed under their guardianship and without a known birth record or for whom the secrecy of the birth has been claimed.
Copies and extracts of the record of discovery or the provisional birth record are issued under the conditions and according to the distinctions made in article
57of this code.
If the child's birth certificate is found or if the child's birth is judicially declared, the report of the discovery and the provisional birth certificate are cancelled at the request of the public prosecutor or the interested parties.
