[fluvanna]

Hello all, I was just wondering if any of you know anything about the switching of birth dates on birth certificates. I know many are searching, but if birth dates were switched by attorneys, agencys, whomever, How hard does that make it for those of us searching?

I found a woman who I believe could be my Birth mother 37 years ago. Many things add up, even baby pics look alike. Unfortunately the Birth dates are almost 3 months apart. Was it common practice to change the dates back then. If so this could be why so many can not find who they are looking for. How sad.

Anyone have any experience or knowledge on this matter, Thanks so much.

[Dickons]

It was pretty common during the closed era and still happens sometimes now. I believe it was done to stop birth families from finding us or to match the time the adoptive mother was out of town so no one would know she did not give birth to the baby. Truly sad in my opinion and just another example of the disrespect shown to the adoptees.

You can do dna testing and it isn't that expensive. If you wanted to you before you spent the money on the dna test you could pre-qualify by checking whether your blood type based against hers is possible...will not tell you much but could rule out the chance she is your mother.

Kind regards,
Dickons

[Juliana13]

Yup. They used to do it all the time. I would be surprised by one that is 3 months off, you'd think your parents would have noticed that (an infant and a 3 month old are not anything similar in size). The rules varied by state. Some could change the date of birth, some could change the city of birth, or even part or all of the birth mother's name. Some states only changed the time of birth. Sometimes the aparents made the decisions, and if your birth certificate is 3 months off, your aparents should know something about your approximate real birthdate. Ask them (if you feel comfortable doing that right now).

I agree with Dickons - (about both the disrespect thing, and the dna test). There will be a lot of emotions built around who this woman is to you, and I myself would want a dna test to be sure before I jumped in with my whole heart.

Good luck! and Hugs to you!