Question about name changes and Hospital Birth Certificates (parents)

[jonbenson]

Suppose someone was born at a big city hospital.

they had been adopted later in some foster homes but in the last family they wound up in the new adopting parents decides to have their name changed.

So the child grows up with this new name.

Now they are 40 years old and they need their birth certificate for some official purpose.
They go back to the hospital they born at.

If they want the birth certificate to have their current name not their original name
do the hospitals issue them a copy of the birth certificate or document representing it with the new name
(or with both names) ?

Or do the hospitals have a policy that they will only issue a document of their birth in their original name only?

[2x3x29x41]

Originally Posted by jonbenson

Suppose someone was born at a big city hospital.

they had been adopted later in some foster homes but in the last family they wound up in the new adopting parents decides to have their name changed.

So the child grows up with this new name.

Now they are 40 years old and they need their birth certificate for some official purpose.
They go back to the hospital they born at.

If they want the birth certificate to have their current name not their original name
do the hospitals issue them a copy of the birth certificate or document representing it with the new name
(or with both names) ?

Or do the hospitals have a policy that they will only issue a document of their birth in their original name only?

A birth certificate may originally be created and issued at a hospital, but a copy will be obtained from some other agency. In my state, it is the Office of Vital Records, a subdivision of the Minnesota Department of Health.

A name change requires a legal process and court involvement. No records department is just going to issue a birth certificate in a different name, no matter what your reason. They will receive direction via court order in the event of a name change.

Personally, the name I have used all my life differs from the name on my birth certificate. My Social Security number was issued in the name I use, I served in the military under the name I use, and my driver's license and passport have the name I use. My birth certificate has a different (last) name.

It's never been an issue for me. I've never had it legally changed.

[Lillie767]

Hospital birth certificates are often not accepted as "official" records. You need what used to be called a "raised seal" certificate. They used to have a raised seal on them, but not all of then do anymore. Check with the city/county in which you were born. You will usually need a linking document to get a document in your current name. For example, the court order changing your name will show the prior name and the new name. That will link the documents.

Some municipalities will re-issue a birth certificate in the new adopted name upon presentation of adoption orders from the court.

[jonbenson]

thanks for the replies

[daliowa]

Assuming this adoption was done legally, and that it was in The U.S.,

than a new birth certificate would have been issued at time of the adoption.

If that is the case, than this person just has to request their birth certificate

the same way as anyone else, from the state vital records.


If they are trying to get their original birth certificate (pre-adoption and with

their original name) some states have passed laws that allow adoptees to

request the original birth record.


In The U.S. birth records (at least in the modern era) are held at the state level,

with the exception that New York City birth records are held only at the City level, and
birth records outside of the five boro's of NYC are held at the state level.


Many local towns/counties also hold birth records, and sometimes it may be faster to

obtain one from them rather than the state.


Where To Write For Vital Records
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/w2w/index.htm

How to Find Adoption Records
https://www.usa.gov/replace-vital-documents#item-214647

[jonbenson]

Originally Posted by daliowa

Assuming this adoption was done legally, and that it was in The U.S.,

than a new birth certificate would have been issued at time of the adoption....



with the exception that New York City birth records are held only at the City level, and
birth records outside of the five boro's of NYC are held at the state level.

So if a person was born at a NYC hospital.
At age ten they took on a new legal last name from their foster parent.
So it's possible that they could go back to that hospital decades later and get a vital birth document
but changed on the document to their new name?
From what you and other people are saying it seems to be yes

[aries63]

Originally Posted by jonbenson

So if a person was born at a NYC hospital.
At age ten they took on a new legal last name from their foster parent.
So it's possible that they could go back to that hospital decades later and get a vital birth document
but changed on the document to their new name?
From what you and other people are saying it seems to be yes

That is not what they are saying. Do NOT go to the hospital. They will not provide a birth certificate copy. You get a copy of your BC from a state or city vital records department. If you want the one with your recent name as an adoptee it is called an Amended Birth Certificate. If you were born in NYC go here:

https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/servic...tificates.page

You can use the link to Vitalchek.

Now if you were born in NYC but adopted somewhere else I'm not sure but I think you'll still get your amended BC from NYC.