Statutes: Delaware

(a) The mother-child relationship is established between a woman and a child by:

(1) The woman’s having given birth to the child, unless she is not the intended parent pursuant to a gestational carrier arrangement;

(2) An adjudication of the woman’s maternity;

(3) Adoption of the child by the woman;

(4) A determination by the court that the woman is a de facto parent of the child; or

(5) The woman’s intending to be the mother of a child born pursuant to a gestational carrier arrangement; or

(6) The woman’s having consented to assisted reproduction by another woman under subchapter VII of this chapter which resulted in the birth of the child.

(b) The father-child relationship is established between a man and a child by:

(1) An unrebutted presumption of the man’s paternity of the child under § 8-204 of this title;

(2) An effective acknowledgment of paternity by the man under subchapter III of this chapter, unless the acknowledgment has been rescinded or successfully challenged;

(3) An adjudication of the man’s paternity;

(4) Adoption of the child by the man;

(5) The man’s having consented to assisted reproduction by a woman under subchapter VII of this chapter which resulted in the birth of the child; or

(6) A determination by the court that the man is a de facto parent of the child1

(c) De facto parent status is established if the Family Court determines that the de facto parent:

(1) Has had the support and consent of the child’s parent or parents who fostered the formation and establishment of a parent-like relationship between the child and the de facto parent;

(2) Has exercised parental responsibility for the child as that term is defined in § 1101 of this title; and

(3) Has acted in a parental role for a length of time sufficient to have established a bonded and dependent relationship with the child that is parental in nature.