Campinas contains 7.5 thousand of the 14,771 without paternity on the certificate in the region. The kitchen assistant from Piracicaba (SP), Maria Aparecida Pereira, spent more than 50 years without any surname on her national identity card. Adopted as a child, she discovered that her birth certificate did not contain the name of her biological father or mother. After contacting the Public Defender's Office of the State of São Paulo (DPE-SP), they will get the update. "It's good to know who you really belong to," he says. "I didn't even have a surname. I have Pereira because I got married. I went to the Public Defender's Office because, for us to do this DNA, me and my mother, we would have to pay and we couldn't afford it", he details. Maria Aparecida is part of a list of more than 2,300 people without complete membership registration in the document in Piracicaba. The regions of Piracicaba (SP) and Campinas (SP) have almost 15 thousand people in the same condition. See data below. Maria Aparecida, from Piracicaba (SP), spent more than 50 years without a surname registered on her identity card Reproduction/EPTV Maria is waiting for her documents to be regularized and intends to take advantage of the opportunity to change her name. "It's nice to know where you came from, who you really belong to. My family is adoptive, they gave me love, affection, they taught me to be who I am. [...] I said: 'Since I'm going to change my life, I'm going to change my name'. [...] I'm just waiting and I believe that by the end of the year we will have an answer", he states, optimistically. During the service, Maria discovered other serious errors in the document: in addition to not having any affiliation, she had been registered as male. "Then, when they saw that my registration was in the same situation as it was, without a father's name, without a mother's name, as male, we realized that we needed to resolve that situation", says the kitchen assistant. Campinas region has 10,600 children without their father's name since 2016 Reproduction/EPTV 'My Father Has a Name' Mutirão In Piracicaba (SP), 2,381 people do not have their father's name on their birth registration, according to a survey by the São Paulo Public Defender's Office. In Limeira (SP), there are 1,738. To try to change this reality, registration is now open for the 2026 edition of the national effort "Meu Pai Tem Nome". The campaign offers free assistance to those who wish to formally acknowledge paternity, investigate family ties or regularize their civil registration. According to the coordinator of the Piracicaba Public Defender's Office, Carolina Brambila Bega, recognition of paternity guarantees access to basic rights and strengthens family ties. "Legally, inclusion in the birth certificate allows the regulation of coexistence, allows the possibility of collecting maintenance, also gives the right to inheritance and has several other aspects, for example, social security, such as a death pension", he emphasizes. Campinas Region Campinas (SP), Americana (SP), Sumaré (SP) and Artur Nogueira (SP) total 10,652 birth records without the father's name since 2016. The data are from the Public Defender's Office of São Paulo. This year alone, until July 15, the four cities recorded 565 new cases. Campinas leads the regional ranking of children registered with only the mother's name. See the total numbers since 2016 and the isolated cases from 2026 (until July 15): Campinas: 7,571 (410 in 2026) Sumaré: 1,798 (81 in 2026) Americana: 974 (60 in 2026) Artur Nogueira: 309 (14 in 2026) Stories behind the numbers Cleaning assistant Andréia Pereira Barbosa, from Piracicaba, has been trying for years to include his father's name in his eldest son's registry. She says that her ex-partner denied paternity as soon as he found out about the pregnancy. Andréia went to the Public Defender's Office to do a DNA test, but the man didn't show up. Today, she deals with the child's doubts. "He scheduled the exam to be taken by the Public Defender's Office. Then he didn't show up. He [the son] questions, he asks why his father didn't want to register him", says the cleaning assistant. Cleaner Fabiana Fernanda do Prado Rodrigues experiences a similar situation. Of the four children, the two youngest only have their mother's name on the certificate. "They didn't want to register it and said it wasn't theirs", he reports. She claims that she sought justice and tried to talk to the children's parents, but was unable to resolve the problem. Now, he hopes to achieve full registration in the joint effort. "I need him to create a father's record because, when he grows up, he'll say: 'I have a father', right?", he says. How to participate in the collective effort Registration ends on July 30th. Interested parties should access the virtual assistant Júlia, on the São Paulo Public Defender's Office website. In-person service will take place on August 1st, in more than 60 stations across the state. During the event, the Public Defender's Office will have teams from registry offices and the Institute of Social Medicine and Criminology (Imesc). See the services offered: Free on-the-spot DNA test; Voluntary recognition of paternity (biological or socio-affective); Alimony, custody and visitation agreements; Legal guidance for opening legal actions. Mutirão Service "My Father Has a Name" ?? Registration: until July 30th; ? How to register: on the São Paulo Public Defender’s Office (DPE-SP) website, with virtual assistant Júlia; ? In-person service: August 1st; ? Where: in more than 60 stations in the state. In the region, there will be service in Americana, Artur Nogueira, Campinas, Limeira, Piracicaba and Sumaré. VIDEOS: everything about Piracicaba and the region See more news from the region on g1 Piracicaba