Article 37 of the Saudi Civil Status Law

المادة 37 من نظام الأحوال المدنية

The Article requires twins to be reported each on his own and recorded separately, stating the hour and minute at which each was born.

Official text (Arabic)

This article has not been amended since the law was issued.

يبلغ عن المواليد التوائم كل على انفراد ويقيد كل منهم على حدة مع الإشارة إلى الساعة والدقيقة التي ولد فيها كل منهم.

This is the official Arabic wording, the only legally binding version. We do not translate the law itself; the explanation below is ours. Official source: Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers

Article 37 explained in plain English

This Article deals with the case of twins, and sets three rules:

Separate reporting: each twin is reported on his own; one report for all of them is not enough.
Separate entry: each of them is recorded separately in the register.
Exact time of birth: the entry states the hour and minute at which each was born.

The aim is that each twin has his own entry that distinguishes him from his sibling, and that the order of their births is fixed in the register.

The Article is part of the provisions on births. Before it is Article 36, which permits, as an exception, reporting by registered mail a birth abroad in a location far from the seat of the Saudi representation, provided a birth certificate from the competent authority is attached. After it is Article 38, which requires that, if the newborn dies before being recorded, his birth and then his death are registered, and that a child born dead after the sixth month of pregnancy is recorded in the register of deaths as stillborn.

Reading the two Articles together, if twins are born and one dies before being recorded, each is recorded separately, and the birth of the deceased is registered and then his death.

Practical example

Abdulrahman's wife gave birth to twins at a hospital in Al-Ahsa, the first at 3:10 a.m. and the second at 3:25. Abdulrahman reports each of them on his own, and the registrar records each in a separate entry, stating the hour and minute at which he was born.

Translated from our Arabic explanation with machine assistance. For guidance only; it does not replace advice from a lawyer on your situation.

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