Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I don't know why birth records are changed in the U.S. Is it supposedly to protect the birth parents' privacy? It does seem very wrong to certify incorrect heritage like you describe, and I don't understand the reasons behind it. Also, birth certificates indicate, for example, that I gave birth to three children. If those records are changed, then evidently I have given birth to no children. I don't see the justification for certifying something that is inaccurate. This is not 100 years ago when girls "got in trouble" and disappeared for a while, and everybody pretended the whole thing never happened. Or it shouldn't be, anyway.
Because birth certificates are the starting point for documents like a driver's license or SS card, I wouldn't even know where to start to have my birth certificate changed. How does a person disprove his birth certificate? I'm not adopted, but anybody could find out that Dad isn't really Dad or even some little mistake like an incorrect time of birth or weight. Is it possible for an adoptee to get a revised birth certificate?
I don't know why birth records are changed in the U.S. Is it supposedly to protect the birth parents' privacy? It does seem very wrong to certify incorrect heritage like you describe, and I don't understand the reasons behind it. Also, birth certificates indicate, for example, that I gave birth to three children. If those records are changed, then evidently I have given birth to no children. I don't see the justification for certifying something that is inaccurate. This is not 100 years ago when girls "got in trouble" and disappeared for a while, and everybody pretended the whole thing never happened. Or it shouldn't be, anyway.
Because birth certificates are the starting point for documents like a driver's license or SS card, I wouldn't even know where to start to have my birth certificate changed. How does a person disprove his birth certificate? I'm not adopted, but anybody could find out that Dad isn't really Dad or even some little mistake like an incorrect time of birth or weight. Is it possible for an adoptee to get a revised birth certificate?
The adoption industry "claims" it is done to protect original parent privacy. But there is no legal document anywhere that guarantees any parent a right to anonymity from their own child.
Additionally, an adoptee's birth certificate is not amended until the adoption is finalized. So children who are in foster care maintain their original names and birth certificates until that point. This means that a 10- or 11-year-old child who is adopted out of foster care--a child who has been going by his or her only name and is well-aware of his or her factual birth certificate--also receives an amended birth certificate listing the adoptive parents as the original parents. It is quite clear that the real reason for altering the birth certificates is to protect the adoptive parents and give them proof of ownership so to speak. Other countries handle this differently. Some use a guardianship model in which the adoptive parents become the legal guardians (and can still be called mom and dad) and the child's birth certificate is kept in tact and accurate. It is my feeling that this approach is much more respectful of the adoptee and the truth.
The issue here in the United States becomes one of equal treatment under law. Adult adoptees no more chose to be adopted than we chose our eye, hair or skin color. And yet we are the only class of people who are routinely denied an accurate record of birth simply because we were adopted as children. We are purposefully denied access to our original names and those of our original parents. I'm a 41-year-old woman. What I do or don't do with the information featured on my factual birth record is certainly not the business of anyone--not the adoption industry, not the state government and not even my adoptive parents. By law, we are treated as perpetual children who are unable to make decisions regarding our own well being--even after we are well into adulthood.
If the adoption industry is so upstanding and ethical, why the secrets, lies and fake birth certificates? A lot of us just want to know our original names and where we came from--just like non-adoptees.
The adoption industry "claims" it is done to protect original parent privacy. But there is no legal document anywhere that guarantees any parent a right to anonymity from their own child.
The adoption industry is probably not so monolithic as to have a single voice, but like I said, I don't know much about why this happens. I am a big proponent of personal liberty and privacy, but I definitely understand wanting access to accurate documents.
I am not sure whether Americans are legally required to have birth certificates. Some people have babies at home, and I am also not sure what happens if a mother refuses to give her name on a birth certificate. In other words, the law may not be able to force someone to give you that information, but that is only my impression.
Do adoptees' revised birth certificates indicate that they are adopted? I'm assuming that all states have some kind of record or certification that gets filed with the County Recorder along with certificates of births, marriages, divorces, and deaths. The State of Illinois uses this form:
It does indicate the names of the child's original parents. I do understand the frustration of having inaccurate documents, but don't adoptees have access to their adoption certificates? I'm also looking at the California adoption process, which seems to say that once the birth certificate is amended, the supporting documents are sealed.
The adoption industry is probably not so monolithic as to have a single voice, but like I said, I don't know much about why this happens. I am a big proponent of personal liberty and privacy, but I definitely understand wanting access to accurate documents.
I am not sure whether Americans are legally required to have birth certificates. Some people have babies at home, and I am also not sure what happens if a mother refuses to give her name on a birth certificate. In other words, the law may not be able to force someone to give you that information, but that is only my impression.
Do adoptees' revised birth certificates indicate that they are adopted? I'm assuming that all states have some kind of record or certification that gets filed with the County Recorder along with certificates of births, marriages, divorces, and deaths. The State of Illinois uses this form:
It does indicate the names of the child's original parents. I do understand the frustration of having inaccurate documents, but don't adoptees have access to their adoption certificates? I'm also looking at the California adoption process, which seems to say that once the birth certificate is amended, the supporting documents are sealed.
Yes, Americans are required to have birth certificates as evidenced by the fact that you need one to obtain a passport. It is part of the vital records function in every state. Our birth certificates are what proves that we were, in fact, born in the United States and are natural citizens. Remember the brouhaha over Obama's birth certificate and him being a natural citizen?
Speaking of passports, after 9/11, the rules on obtaining one changed and many adoptees have been having trouble with the new regulations. New rules require that a person's birth certificate must have been filed before the age of one year. For adoptees with adoptions finalized after they were over a year old, the file date is not within the limit. I know adoptees who have been told "just get the original one." So the Federal government is requiring something that state government won't provide. And there are now adoptees who are unable to go on vacation--simply because they were adopted.
I was born, adopted and raised in the same state (Catholic Charities placed me with adoptive parents who lived 8 miles away from both of my original familes. Good thing I didn't end up dating my brother or cousins). It is a closed record state meaning that adoptees cannot access anything regarding their adoptions. Adoptees are allowed to petition the court for the release of a copy of their original birth certificates but nothing is guaranteed. I paid a lot of money (something non-adopted adults do not have to do to obtain proof of citizenship) and was only granted a copy of my original birth certificate after the judge had been thoroughly convinced that I already knew all of the information on it. Again, non-adopted adults do not have beg a judge to see their factual birth record. ONLY adoptees have to do this.
My two birth certificates are identical. There is absolutely no indication that an adoption took place. My name and those of my parents were replaced. As I mentioned earlier, the signature of the doctor who delivered me is still included on my amended birth certificate. My adoptive mother could have been out on a murderous rampage on the day I was born and not have to spend a day in jail because she has a legal document with a doctor's signature on it stating that she was in the hospital giving birth to me on the day I was born.
Again, adult adoptees are routinely denied our factual birth records simply because were adopted as children. We are treated differently under law than all non-adopted adults. When one group is routinely treated differently than the rest of society, this is called discrimination.
Why is everyone so afraid of the truth? I am an ancestral member of my original family (with a name to go along with that) who was raised in my adoptive family. Why should I have to sacrifice knowledge of one for the other? Rhetorical question. No need for anyone to answer.
I know birth certificates are useful and required to get things like a driver's license or passport. But that's not the same thing as requiring everyone to have one ... I don't know how that would be enforceable. Passports are voluntary and we do not have national ID cards.
I have just skimmed these last few posts and will be back later to comment with more info (as outside obligations are preventing me from participating lately).
I have info about hhow and why birth certificates were sealed and altered in America and can post later links to such info.
But for now, I do beleive I have talked about this on another thread recently. Is there anyway to collect posts from a particular member? I would like to pull up my other posts and either re-post them here or link to them.
Before 1930, when a child was adopted, the child's birth certificate remained intact. The adoption papers made the name change. Society was concerned about unmarried women giving birth to illegitmate bastards and how this would affect her and the baby for life. Several things happened. As told in the book: The Baby Thief: The Untold Story of Georgia Tann, the Baby Seller Who Corrupted Adoption, Georgia Tann stole 5,000 children from their families between 1924 to 1950. She falsified birth certificates and influenced the Registrars of Vital Statistics to do so. Admittedly, I own the book, but have not yet the whole book.
Meanwhile, as I said somewhere else in another thread, as documented by historian E. Wayne Carp in his 1998 book: Family Matters: Secrecy and Disclosure in the History of Adoption, on pages 53 - 53, he states:
"In 1929, Carl Heisterman, a Children's Bureau legal researcher, was one of the first persons to hit upon the idea that within a decade would revolutionize the issue of birth certificates and adopted childen. Heisterman suggested that an adopted child should be issued a second birth certificate reflecting his or her new name. ...It was left, however, to two enterprising registrars ov vital statistics, not federal officials, social workers, or adoptive parents, to put forth a concrete plan of issuing new birth certificates to adopted children. The topic was first broached publicly at the 1930 annual meeting of the vital statistics section of the American Public Health Association. During the meeting, Sheldon L Howard, ... and Henry B Hemenway ... presented a paper advocating several amendments to the model law. ...Howard and Hemenway described registrars of vital statistics ... as 'missionaries, who should bring about the rectification of the exisiting evils' in the birth registration of children born our of wedlock. ..."
And thus, the amended birth certificate, with the sealing of the "original" birth certificate, became law. Each State eventually enacted laws and adapted their own versions of the Model law.
I will write more later. But this is how it began. And why adoptees cannot get their true birth certificates today.. This is why an adoptive parent is named as the mother of birth on the new birth certificate.
I am sure I stated elsewhere in this forum within the week about this.
And no, there is no indication anywhere on the new birth certificate that this is actually as result of an adoption. These notations are within the Registrar's Office and is not meant for the public, or even the people on the certificate, to know.
Is there anyway to collect posts from a particular member? I would like to pull up my other posts and either re-post them here or link to them.
I'd send instructions by direct message but thought this would be helpful for all the new people. Within a message, click on the poster's name in the upper left. A menu will drop down; select "Find all posts." You can also use the more robust Search tool up at the top (in the menu bar between New Posts and Quick Links). You can search by user name, forum, date, and other criteria, e.g., all my posts within just this forum.
The adoption industry is probably not so monolithic as to have a single voice, but like I said, I don't know much about why this happens. I am a big proponent of personal liberty and privacy, but I definitely understand wanting access to accurate documents.
I am not sure whether Americans are legally required to have birth certificates. Some people have babies at home, and I am also not sure what happens if a mother refuses to give her name on a birth certificate. In other words, the law may not be able to force someone to give you that information, but that is only my impression.
Do adoptees' revised birth certificates indicate that they are adopted? I'm assuming that all states have some kind of record or certification that gets filed with the County Recorder along with certificates of births, marriages, divorces, and deaths. The State of Illinois uses this form:
It does indicate the names of the child's original parents. I do understand the frustration of having inaccurate documents, but don't adoptees have access to their adoption certificates? I'm also looking at the California adoption process, which seems to say that once the birth certificate is amended, the supporting documents are sealed.
It varies by state. As I mentioned upthread, I was adopted (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth) in a state which seals records up tight. So, even though I do know all the information contained on my original birth certificate (the name of both parents, the address where they lived, etc.), when I wrote to the state asking for a copy, I was denied. My current, "legal," birth certificate lists my *adoptive parents* as the parents of birth, which they are NOT.
They, in fact, never even visited the city where I was born, even though the birth certificate says they were there (because that's where I was born).
I know birth certificates are useful and required to get things like a driver's license or passport. But that's not the same thing as requiring everyone to have one ... I don't know how that would be enforceable. Passports are voluntary and we do not have national ID cards.
A quick Google search of "registering a home birth" indicates that several states (I did not look up all of them) do require that births are registered with the state. Of course, a parent could ignore this requirement. But the process of eventually registering the birth (if the child needs a passport or will be attending school or will want to be a licensed driver) becomes more and more involved the longer you wait. So yeah. Any parent could not register a birth and I guess could avoid it all together with a home birth, no form of traditional schooling (even home schoolers register with the district) and no need to travel anywhere by car or airplane. Or they could dump their child on the side of the road and make a run for it which would require other arrangements to be made for the child's care. In that case, perhaps an adoptee would not have an original birth certificate. This is a topic that is not specific only to adoption though.
None of this addresses the issue, however, of adoptees who DO have original birth certificates containing our original names and factual details. In all cases (every single one) of adoptees who DO have an original birth certificate containing our original names and factual details, that certificate is falsified upon finalization of our adoptions and the accurate one is sealed to never be recognized legally. For those of us who DO have an original birth certificate containing our original names and factual details, we are still the only class of people (in the class of people who's biological parents had the births of their children registered with the state) who are denied an accurate record of our birth and the ability to legally view proof that we are natural born citizens.
I agree. Barring some really good reason I haven't heard yet, I don't think birth certs should be changed. And I don't think people should be routinely denied access to their original records.
Edited: Sorry, my post was a reply to Dark of the Moon. My questions about requiring birth certificates was because I was contemplating whether (and how) we require birth mothers to identify themselves.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
