ON THE JUDGE'S CONVICTION REGARDING THE EXISTENCE OF INDICATIONS OF PATERNITY, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF LAW 11,804 – PREGNANCY SUPPORT

Abstract

On November 5, 2008, Law 11.804 came into effect, establishing the Brazilian Law that deals with Pregnancy Support, designed to ensure the rights of the unborn child. This paper proposes a debate about the judge's conviction of the existence of evidence of paternity, in cases of granting pregnancy support actions. Also known as “unborn child support”, it is a form of alimony paid by the alleged father to cover expenses during pregnancy. Article 6 of Law 11.804/2008 states, in its terms – “If convinced of the existence of evidence of paternity, the judge will set pregnancy support that will last until the birth of the child, weighing the needs of the plaintiff and the possibilities of the defendant”. By “convincing”, this is the term used in the article, which we will examine. According to the IBGE, Brazil registered 2.54 million births in 2022, a 3.5% drop compared to 2021, when the number was 2.63 million, a number considered high compared to other Latin American countries. In the first four months of 2022 alone, approximately 56,931 children were registered with only the mother's name, the highest number and percentage since 2018, which means that approximately 6.6% of newborns had only the mother's name on their birth certificate. These data lead us to ask how many pregnant women failed to receive pregnancy support during pregnancy, an essential aid to cover additional expenses arising from pregnancy, such as: medical appointments, laboratory tests, purchase of medicines, special food, hospitalizations, among others. In Brazil, Law 11.804/2008 regulates the right to pregnancy support, to be paid to pregnant women from conception to birth. According to the law, the judge may set the payment of pregnancy support to the alleged father based on evidence of paternity, and this amount may be converted into alimony immediately after the birth of the child. In summary, this research proposes to present an analysis of the judge's conviction in cases of the existence of evidence of paternity, analyzing the effectiveness of the practical application of art. 6 of law 11.804/2008. Through a legal and interdisciplinary approach to the subject, the aim is to contribute to the academic debate on the subject.