The breakdown of the family places children in a particularly vulnerable position, and the starting point for any form of civil protection afforded to them is a precise and coherent definition of the term “child.” In the legal systems of Iran and Iraq, the definition of a child is governed by different and fragmented criteria, resulting in confusion in judicial and administrative practices and limiting the scope of civil protection for children from broken families. Employing a descriptive-analytical and comparative methodology, this study examines the legislative and executive challenges associated with the definition of a child in the legal systems of Iran and Iraq and analyzes their impact on the scope of civil protection in broken families. The findings indicate that, under Iranian law, the discrepancy between the criterion of religious puberty established in the Civil Code (nine lunar years for girls and fifteen lunar years for boys) and the age of eighteen stipulated in the 2020 Law on the Protection of Children and Adolescents results in the premature exclusion of certain children from the scope of civil protection. Under Iraqi law, the fragmentation of definitions across various legislative instruments, including the Personal Status Law of 1959 (which allows marriage with judicial authorization from the age of fifteen), the Law on the Care of Minors of 1980 (which establishes eighteen as the age of majority), and the Juvenile Welfare Law of 1983 (which defines a minor as a person under the age of nine and a juvenile as a person between nine and eighteen years of age), together with the absence of a comprehensive child protection law, has created significant challenges. These inconsistencies can be examined at three levels: legislative, judicial, and executive.