An estimated 1000 babies a year in New Zealand are not registered, rendering them legally invisible and unable to access basic support and services.
In 2015 the number of unregistered babies was 775, climbing to 933 and then 1192 in following years. This year 3792 babies are yet to register.
Presently it is a legal requirement for babies to be registered within two years.
Reasons behind unregistered babies are varied; some women who have experienced domestic violence want to protect the safety of their child so they don't register them.
Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin says she's not concerned at all.
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Darryl Evans, who works with vulnerable families in south Auckland, says parents are sometimes afraid, illiterate or don't have access to the internet. In his experience they're predominantly Māori and Pasifika.
In one recent case, particularly traumatic, was a woman who had been raped.
"She'd been sexually assaulted and the result of that was a child. She kept the child but didn't register because she felt that would give validity to the man who abused her," says Mr Evans.
Registering a baby gives it access to care and entitlements, which will include the Best Start payment of $60 dollars a week for every baby born.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson says he is confident in the current system.
"If this proves to be a major problem then we would investigate it and try and work with those people, but I'm confident DIA's systems are robust and that we will be able to get most people registered for Best Start."
As a percentage of total births the number that goes unregistered isn't massive, but each year around 1000 babies are legally invisible - potentially unable to access the care and support they need.
Newshub.
