Count Unborn Children as Household Members

The HUD Handbook requires you to count household members’ unborn children as part of a low-income household for occupancy and income purposes [Handbook 4350.3, par. 3-6(E)(4)(d)]. You count a pregnant household member as two people, and use the income limits for a larger household size. 

In a situation in which a full-time student household with an unborn child applies to live at your site, the unborn child is considered a household member and therefore the student status exception would apply for the low-income unit. The pregnant household member must self-certify as to her pregnancy, but only after she has voluntarily indicated that she’s pregnant. Once the child is born, there’s no need to recertify the household. However, since unborn children are counted as household members, they must be listed on the Tenant Income Certification (TIC).

Most property management software requires Social Security numbers in order to add a household member to the TIC. The unborn child won’t have a Social Security number at the time of certification, so you may consider entering all zeros as a placeholder until the child’s Social Security number is issued after birth. And the household member’s name would be “Unborn Child” to clearly indicate that the tenant is not yet born. At the time of the household’s next annual recertification or when the appropriate information is submitted to you, the TIC should be updated with all actual tenant information for the child.