Legitimate and Illegitimate children, Legitimation in the United States

Children are either legitimate or illegitimate. Illegitimate children are those who are conceived and born out of marriage, who are not later legitimated. Illegitimate children are legitimated, or made legitimate, in certain cases, for example by the subsequent marriage of their father and mother, whenever the parents have formally or informally acknowledged them as their children, either before or after the marriage.