Text of the provision
Art. 164. Children conceived or born during the marriage of the parents are legitimate.
Children conceived as a result of artificial insemination of the wife with the sperm of the husband or that of a donor or both are likewise legitimate children of the husband and his wife, provided, that both of them authorized or ratified such insemination in a written instrument executed and signed by them before the birth of the child. The instrument shall be recorded in the civil registry together with the birth certificate of the child.
(55a, 258a)
Family Code of the Philippines, Executive Order No. 209, approved July 6, 1987. The Code took effect on August 3, 1988 (Republic v. Orbecido III, G.R. No. 154380, October 5, 2005). Reproduced in full.
What this article means
The core rule is simple: a child conceived or born during a valid marriage is legitimate. Either one is enough — conception during the marriage, or birth during it.
The article then addresses artificial insemination. A child so conceived — whether with the husband's sperm, a donor's, or both — is also legitimate, but only on strict conditions: both spouses must have authorized or ratified the procedure in a written instrument, signed before the child's birth, and that instrument must be recorded in the civil registry with the birth certificate. The consent must be genuine (compare the artificial-insemination ground for impugning legitimacy in Article 166).
Related provisions
- Article 165 — children born outside a valid marriage are illegitimate.
- Article 166 — the limited grounds to impugn legitimacy.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on Article 164 will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.