Blessing of Gomel for Parents after Child's Surgery

A one-year-old child underwent surgery. Should the parents recite the Gomel blessing on his behalf?

It is not obligatory to recite the Gomel blessing, but if they wish, they can recite it without mentioning the Name and Kingdom. They should stand next to their son (even without a minyan) and say: "Blessed is He who bestows good upon the undeserving, who has bestowed every goodness upon you."

Talmud, Tractate Berachot, page 54b: "Rabbi Yehuda said in the name of Rav: Four must give thanks: those who go down to the sea, those who travel through the deserts, one who was sick and recovered, and one who was imprisoned and released." This is also the ruling of the Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, Laws of Blessing on Fruits, Siman 219: "Four must give thanks: those who go down to the sea when they come up from it, those who travel through the deserts when they reach settlement, one who was sick and recovered, and one who was imprisoned and released. And your sign: 'And all the living shall thank You, Selah.' 'Sick', 'suffering', 'sea', 'desert'." The Shulchan Aruch and the Rema differ on which sick person is obligated to recite the Gomel blessing. According to the Shulchan Aruch, anyone who fell ill and even with a minor ailment must recite the Gomel blessing, because we do not know how the illness will end. The Rema holds that the Gomel blessing should only be recited when one was sick with a life-threatening illness. The Mishnah Berurah brings that some Ashkenazi authorities ruled according to the Shulchan Aruch, and it seems he ruled that a non-life-threatening sick person who was bedridden for 3 days, or a life-threatening sick person even for less than 3 days, should recite the Gomel blessing. If the operated person was an adult, if he was defined as a non-life-threatening sick person and was bedridden for 3 days, he must recite the Gomel blessing. However, the Pri Megadim wrote that a minor should not recite the Gomel blessing, because the text of the blessing is "He who bestows good upon the undeserving," and a minor cannot say "undeserving" as he is not obligated. And the father's blessing for the son, in the Biur Halacha, concluded that one should not recite the Gomel blessing for another who was saved, except for his father or teacher, and even for his son, he should not recite. However, in Shaarei Teshuva, it is brought in the name of Shut Ohel Yosef, that the father for his minor son may recite without mentioning the Name and Kingdom.