[WorldTraveler]

I keep reading about adoptive parents changing the child's birth certificate. Why?

Do you have to change it? Could it be left the way it was a birth and some kind of legal document could be drawn up stating that the adoptive parents are the child's guardian?

Are there some legal complexities that I'm not aware of? Any information about this would be great. Thanks!

[crick]

I'm not sure where you are reading that the Aparents change the birth certificate, because that is not accurate. Our legal system is still set up the old way in this matter and until it changes, we have no choice in the matter of how the b/c is completed.

If you want to be a guardian, then you accept that the bparent still has legal rights to the child. The bparent can contest at any time and also has the right to visitation. (unless specifically denied by a judge) An adopted child automatically has all the rights of a birth child but a child of a legal guardian does not. For example, if a legal guardian wants to include the child in their will, it needs a specific provision stating that. If there is no will, the kid is out of luck (legally).

Until there is a consensus among the majority, I doubt things will change in this area. I don't agree completely with the current method and yet until the U.S. stops using the b/c as the main means of identification/proof of age, I am glad to have it.

[Jillie_sweetheart]

It's not that the adoptive parent's are changing birth certificates so much as that's just what happens when an adoption takes place. You are now the child's parents and the birth certificate reflects that. Although I am not crazy about the process it's not anything that adoptive parents do. It's not that adoptive parents are out to try and change the history. That's just the way the system is set up.

It's really weird though because on Little man's new birth certificate it says that Amom gave birth to him. That's really weird to me. I am pretty sure I am the one that gave birth and it's weird. LOL that's not something though that adoptive parents have any say in though.

[LauraLiz]

Yep, the above posts covered it. The new birth certifcate is issued to tie you and the child together legally forever.

[WorldTraveler]

So when the judge clicks the gavel and says that we are officially responsible for this life, then a new birth certificate is automatically issued? That's strange to me. Of course we'd need some kind of document that says that we are responsible, but it seems crazy to change the birth certificate when we didn't contribute to the kid's birth in any way, shape or form.

[theLBs]

Originally Posted by WorldTraveler

So when the judge clicks the gavel and says that we are officially responsible for this life, then a new birth certificate is automatically issued? That's strange to me. Of course we'd need some kind of document that says that we are responsible, but it seems crazy to change the birth certificate when we didn't contribute to the kid's birth in any way, shape or form.

Yes, that's what happens. Yes, it's crazy.

[usisarah]

Yup. It's crazy. And there's really no reason the laws can't be changed. I think there's probably not really that much awareness that this is the process, outside of the adoption world. I would prefer a system where everyone has a birth certificate that's accurate and also a legal guardian certificate that reflects who the legal guardians/parents are. People that are not adopted would have a birth certificate and guardianship/parentage certificate that have the same names. In my little fantasy world, it would be the guardianship/parentage certificate that would be required for proof of identity, not the birth certificate. And there'd be an endless supply of Reese Cups in my fridge. A girl can dream.

[RavenSong]

If you delve back into the history of adoption in our country, you'll find that the amended birth certificates were first created as a way of concealing the illegitimacy of a baby after he or she was adopted. I believe that Edna Gladney of Texas was the main activist behind the birth certificate laws, at least in Texas. So was her colleague Georgia Tann...but Tann did it for completely different reasons. She sold babies in Tennessee and California for many, many years...and back then infertile couples also were stigmatized in our society for not being parents. In California, where Georgia Tann was able to lobby for most of our adoption laws in the 1940's up until her death in 1950, the main reason for the amended certificate was so that adoptive families could act "as if" the child had been born to them. In those years, women would often disappear for several months, telling friends that they were going to visit a sick relative. After an appropriate amount of time had passed, they'd return to their homes and husbands with brand new babies and tell people that they had delivered a child while they'd been taking care of their sick aunt.

Secrecy has always been one of the biggest problems in the world of adoption...for all three sides of the triad.

If you want to see a heartwarming movie from those years about Edna Gladney, you should rent the classic movie, "Blossoms in the Dust."

[belleinblue1978]

It's crazy. Legally people are totally erased from the adopted person's life. As a first mom I don't count at all in the eyes of the law. As an adopted person, in the eyes of the law, I have very little right to know from where I came.

I don't have a problem with amended birth certificates except for the fact that the original is destroyed in many states. I see no reason for that. Why can't both be maintained so that one can have the truth?

[becky]

It seems so simple to put the names of both birth parents and adoptive parents on the amended certificate...but laws would have to be changed for that to happen.

Even my daughter who was born in another country has a Georgia birth certificate of birth that appears that I gave birth to her in Guatemala...what the heck??

[OakShannon]

I don't like the legal fiction either. I did not give birth to my son and a legal document claiming that I did and, in effect, erasing his birthmother, does seem wrong to me. But I also agree with Crick that while BC's are widely used as proof of citizenship and ID, I'm not sure I want a BC that looks really different for adopted people.

The most troubling part to me is that the OBC is sealed and we are still using practices that are a holdover from the age of secrecy Raven described. At the very least, our kids deserve their original documents.

[jp4ga]

I do not like the "fake" BC either. I am lucky that someone forgot to remove a copy of my DD's origianl BC from her medical files. When going through a very redacted medical record I started to cry when I came across her UNREDACTED original BC.

I am thankful that in the future my DD will have access to this document and we have it in a safe place along with the copies of the record of her 1st days of life in the NICU.

I like the idea of both a BC and papers of legal guardianship- but I doubt that will ever happen.

[latinosunshine]

Yes, its wrong. What is weird in my case. The day my daughter was being born, I was on a flight to Texas.

[dmariehill]

I can kind of understand why the bc is changed. It's used for id and when you register a child for school, it's going to be an issue if the parents names don't match yours. However, it's not a true document at that point.

I was adopted by my mom's third husband when I was in 2nd grade. He's no longer in my life, my bio dad is now (yes I know that's not what we call birthparents, but to me that's what he is and he's my dad so I get to decide). My birth certificate lists a man I didn't know until I was 6 as my dad. My original is sealed even though I know all the other information. Even though it doesn't need to be a secret.

It seems like there should be another option. Maybe it is a matter of just making the original available to the adoptee. I wish we had the original bc for this little girl that was placed with us. But we will only be given the amended one after the adoption is finalized.

The problem is that there's too little understanding of adoption and the effects of secrecy in the rest of our population. If you aren't involved, you believe all the myths and the made for TV movies.

[belleinblue1978]

Originally Posted by OakShannon

But I also agree with Crick that while BC's are widely used as proof of citizenship and ID, I'm not sure I want a BC that looks really different for adopted people.

.

This! I like having an ABC that lists Mom and Dad as Mom and Dad because I don't want to have to explain everytime I get out my birth certificate what the story is. If I want people to know I'm adopted, I'll tell them!