Choosing race/ethnicity on the Birth Certificate?

SMGoodlett

if I'm not mistaken, I think each state is slightly different in how they handle this portion but I'm curious what you Mommas are doing, and what information you have about this topic.

My husband is 50/50 African American, and Caucasian. I am Caucasian. My husband's birth certificate says African American, and would like our LOs to say the same. However in my head I keep thinking genetically, s/he is closer to Caucasian.(if that makes sense, I hope!)
I've seen plenty of interracial families, and know that our babies come out looking really like anything. Some favor their mother's side, others look more like their daddy. I have friends who have multiple children and every one of them varies in their traits. I love the uniqueness they all have.

SO, my question is i guess what would you put as your baby's ethnicity or race when in a "mixed" family? I'm sure as our child grows up, he or she will decide for themself how they would like to be identified but my DH and I still have to pick. Is choosing both an option in today's world? I honestly don't know how it works on official documents.

Wanted to add: I'm not looking for any racist comments or disrespectful words. Keep it adult, keep it clean. I love my family, I love that we may not fit the all the "molds" and I won't tolerate any haters.

morganabyrd

Is there an "other" option? Or, do you have to even list anything? I feel like I've heard that race is optional to list now on most documents. However, if you have to pick, I would think 75% of the child's racial make up would make more sense than 25%. You are right - mixed race babies are stunning and can vary so much! You never know what their individual skin tone will look like. I honestly don't think you should have to list anything, because what the heck does it matter? (To the government institution, I mean.)

SMGoodlett

In the big scheme of things, if really shouldn't matter! Baby is loved either way, and it is just a label. I am just curious, because I have heard different states have different "requirements". I'm not sure how these things work. Perhaps we will just check "other" like you said, and not mess with it!

Edit: words are hard on a phone.

elmann1

I believe here in Chicago they definitely ask for race. My husband is Caucasian and I'm Mexican, he is very adamant about wanting to put our daughter as "Latina/o." It's completely up to you and your husband. I don't think there is any way that you'd "have" to do it, your child will spend the rest of their life filling out the Race and Ethnicity boxes in school- that's when they can chose for themselves which best fits. For now, I'd say choose the one you'd like represented. That's totally between DH and yourself! 

DeeGreer

I never knew this was a thing. I live in Georgia so I'm sure it is here but my kid will be Mexican, German/Irish and Haitian so if there's an "other" option that would be nice lol. I identify as Mexican but that's been an adult choice when asked that question on legal documents.

SMGoodlett

Oh, yeah.... I mainly ask because I have heard stories of mothers wanting to put black/white/Asian whatever the case may be, and having the hospital tell them to only base it off of their baby's father which i think is absurd. It's takes two to tango!

jefinley1

My husband and I are just mixed European background white people, but I never realized this was still a thing! Thank you for pointing it out as I find it really fascinating. It does seem to assume that all babies are of one racial background doesn't it?

If this is posed to me to put on a birth certificate, I would want to find a way to not identify, even though it would be simple to just say Caucasian. But it's a name that dates back to junk science and racist "anthropology," so I really want nothing to do with it. I think the blending of ethnicities, races, and language groups that is becoming more and more normalized in our country is a beautiful thing. Outside of skin color though, race specifically has always seemed, scientifically and culturally, to be a construct to assert power and supremacy over other different groups. It has developed defiantly out of that as a truly beautiful identity of it's own, but I find it so sad that you have to choose one label for your child when I think there is so much to celebrate in the mix of backgrounds she/he will have. 

Is there any way to simply say other? I can understand wanting to simply have him or her be identified as African American though. For so long, having even a little bit of non-white blood, especially African, has immediately forced people to identify as solely black, or African American and with a negative connotation. I think turning that on its head and making it something positive, something worthy of pride, is absolutely brilliant and completely acceptable. 

I hope you consider this response to be respectful in spite of it coming from an Irish-German girl who just happened into a pretty intense study of the history of race and racism throughout the world in her degree. It was the one thing in history that not only seemed impossible to simply memorize to understand, but also played an hugely important role in modern society and was still playing itself out. I just found your conundrum to be really interesting and also in a way encouraging in the new phase of internationalism our world is headed into. Good luck! I'm sure not matter what you will be a beautiful family!

MamaOwl15

I can't recall if I had to identify race on my son's birth certificate (and I'm too lazy to go find it right now!). My husband is 3/4 Caucasian and 1/4 Native American (Cheyenne), but he generally identifies as white when checking off the boxes on forms and such. However, he identifies with his Native American heritage more strongly when it comes to his personal identity. Our kids are at least 1/8 Cheyenne but I think they'd identify as white. But then I'm just assuming that's how my blond-haired, blue-eyed two year old would see himself.

If it were me, I'd probably check off "other" or "more than one race," but on the birth certificate, what you're reporting is statistical information, not a determination of LO's ethnic/racial identity. He/she may be born with straight(ish) hair and light skin but still feel strongly connected to the African-American part of your family. Who knows? I'd put whatever you feel is most accurate.

alinic916

According to the CDC, birth certificates should have "Check all that apply" for race/ethnicity.  Although, each state has their own birth certificate so I'm not sure how it is in each state.

If you click on the Live Births PDF It will show you the recommended application.

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vital_certificate_revisions.htm

dparker721

I'm a FTM so I have no experience with completing a birth certificate. All I can offer is how we handled it in the school district in our state. I was a Pre-K teacher and there is a lot of criteria that are looked at with our state and federal funding, so if a child was mixed race, then for the government's purpose, we identified that child with the minority race, regardless of their looks. For example, a child with African American and Caucasian heritage was identified as African-American, but a child with African-American and Native American, was identified with Native American. Of course, this was purely on paper for statistic and funding purposes and didn't have anything to do with how the child identified.

SMGoodlett

Thank you for all of your comments, and input ladies! I really do appreciate hearing all of it.

Being that my husband was already raised in an interracial household it's nothing new to him, so I think the majority of it is my own curiosity. Unfortunately, we do live in an area that seems to take a lot of stock into labels, which is odd to me considering we have such a diverse community. (We live in a military town, and see many many different types of families move in and out)

I think we will most likely be going the route of checking both boxes if applicable, it's important to us to have every part of our family recognized not because of the skin tone but because that's who mommy and daddy are. we won't forget about one or the other. Genetically, our babies would be 75% white as previously stated, but I'm just picturing this baby with pretty ringlet curls. (DH and I both have extremely curly brown hair) I can't wait to kiss those sweet cheeks!

jenn2132

My husband and I are both Mexican which is how we would identify our kids but I'm curious about this now because I can't remember filling this out on the birth certificate. Both my brother and sister have mixed babies so I'll have to ask them how they filled this out but I definitely feel like there should be an other box or an option to leave that section blank. I work for a school and ethnicity is asked for data on the demographics of our student population but there is a decline to reply option and we do allow for more than one ethnicity to be selected.

alinic916

@BrooklynBroussard I agree! Even those of us who are Caucasian are essentially mutts as well. I came from a background of English, Irish and German decent, but my family has been in America for generations. While my husband, who is also considered Caucasian was born and raised in Serbia. We come from different culture even though we are essentially the same color. It's important for my child to learn both cultures and languages and embrace her background. I don't understand why we need to be labeled!

wcm2b

I have no input as this is my first and I live in Canada so I have no idea how it is done BUT my baby will have the exact same mix as yours! You must be as excited as I am to see how they come out looking! 

Blinkbaby

My nieces and nephew are also 25% African American, 75% Caucasian. I believe my sister listed them as African American.

I remember the first time race came up with the kids. My nephew (the oldest) asked if he was white or black, so my sister asked him what he thought. He said he thinks he's black like daddy, he thinks his two middle sisters are brown and his youngest sister is white like mommy. Then he announced that they were a rainbow and got all giggly.

The fact that you have to list anything at all is silly, but I'd say do whatever you want.

...And all of my nieces have long beautiful brown curls, one with brown eyes, one with hazel and one with blue...I'm sure your little one will be just as gorgeous, just as you're picturing:)

Ash9614

Dirty Lurker from TTGP. Not a mom, but thought this was really interesting and wanted to share my $.02.

My short answer - Wow. I find it so crazy that this silly question is still being asked in 2015. Check "other" or "all that apply" - you're carrying the LO and, as mama, you should be represented in whichever silly boxes are checked.

Long answer...

Even outside of the "one drop rule" from the old days, I think parents of mixed race children born in the last 50 years or so have tried to manage their kids' expectations in life by telling them how the world would perceive them. For instance, I think I've read that President Obama's and Halle Berry's white mothers explained to them that the world would perceive them as black, so they should live their lives as such. Meanwhile, more "ambiguous" looking kids like Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy) and Troain Bellisario (Pretty Little Liars) have to tell you their heritage since you may not be able to tell from their physical features.

I think kids of mixed races born in the last few years are getting the freedom to define themselves (to a point - race is still an issue in America). Millenials and those born after them are more commonly mixed than any other generation, so they put less pressure on themselves to define each other by one race.

The world is becoming more and more of a melting pot and your LO is representative of that - their silly box should be too. 

amberrmariee20

I can't recall having to fill out a race part for my sons birth certificate.. I don't think I had to... I know now if I go full out a form they have multiple options for race and the usually have an "other" please specify option.

SMGoodlett

wcm2b said:

I have no input as this is my first and I live in Canada so I have no idea how it is done BUT my baby will have the exact same mix as yours! You must be as excited as I am to see how they come out looking! 

I'm very excited! It's fun to speculate what a mix of my husband and myself will turn out to be. We both have curly hair, and brown/hazel eyes so I'm hoping those will stick around. But we'll see!

I'm biased, but I like to think my hubby is quite the stud, I'm sure his babies will be gorgeous!

caffeinatedkat

My babies are blond hair and blue eyes so I don't think I can get away with putting a thing but Caucasian on there LOL I say Mark the African-American box Might get your kids a scholarships later in life. Who knows. Don't deny them something they may need to get ahead later.

jefinley1

@BrooklynBroussard Right back at ya! Haha. 

tate62610

If you want to list African American, go for it

Sbrouwer0706

I am not sure how it is on birth certificates but there normally is a "check all that apply" "other" or "multi-ethnic" option on government forms. 

But, I do agree with @jenfinley1 and @brooklynbroussard, I know more people who are of a mixed background than just one race or ethnicity and that is what makes it so amazing and unique. I absolutely look "caucasian" but my mom is really into genealogy and has found out that I am not only german but also Irish, Scottish, and native american (Cherokee). Each of those cultures is so different and amazing I feel like blending it all into one category is a disservice. While I don't strongly identify with any of them individually, I love looking into the different cultures knowing that my ancestors had such different life experiences based on their culture. 

At the end of the day it's just a box to check or a line to fill out but I understand how it could be a difficult decision. Hopefully there is an option that feels right to you and your husband

kacichch

Our little boy will be 50% Nigerian, 25% Portuguese and 25% Caucasian. Both of us were born in England. In the UK the boxes that we have for mixed babies are white british or black british. I will be ticking the black British box. There are other boxes, we could tick the African box but my partner identifies himself as black British as this is where he was born and raised. Our nephew is the exact same mix and he is absolutely gorgeous. Can't wait to meet our son

kacichch

Our little boy will be 50% Nigerian, 25% Portuguese and 25% Caucasian. Both of us were born in England. In the UK the boxes that we have for mixed babies are white british or black british. I will be ticking the black British box. There are other boxes, we could tick the African box but my partner identifies himself as black British as this is where he was born and raised. Our nephew is the exact same mix and he is absolutely gorgeous. Can't wait to meet our son

SMGoodlett

caffeinatedkat said:

My babies are blond hair and blue eyes so I don't think I can get away with putting a thing but Caucasian on there LOL
I say Mark the African-American box Might get your kids a scholarships later in life. Who knows. Don't deny them something they may need to get ahead later.

This is exactly why my husband wants to make sure we mark that box. I don't know how true or valid the idea is, but anything that can help my baby get ahead in life is something we want. If it helps their education, why not?

JaqiDec04

I just pulled out my daughters birth certificate. It was sitting here since I'm enrolling her in preschool in the fall. She's 4.

I'm in California. And there is no place on her birth certificate for her ethnicity. She is half-mexican and half-caucasian.

amberrmariee20

JaqiDec04 said:

I just pulled out my daughters birth certificate. It was sitting here since I'm enrolling her in preschool in the fall. She's 4.

I'm in California. And there is no place on her birth certificate for her ethnicity. She is half-mexican and half-caucasian.

I couldn't recall one on my sons birth certificate either !

gotdiesel2007

Just looked at all three birth certificates for myself and my kids.

California, Pennsylvania and South Carolina have no race one them.

caffeinatedkat

My grandmother was born in Morocco . She is French and white as can be but she's African-American. You do not have to be one thing in this World. Be all the things you are and embrace it.

jazzybella37

I hadn't thought of that! I am biracial (Black mother/Caucasian father) and my birth certificate says Black/African American.  My husband is Caucasian so our son will be technically 75% Caucasian.  I have no idea what I would put. I'm sure my husband would want it to say Caucasian but that would be silly if our son happens to clearly look not 100% Caucasian.  Then again, mine says Black when I clearly didn't look 100% Black.  It's all silly to me anyway.  I live in NC and I'm not sure of the "rules" but I will definitely try and find out now! 

karlajt

Why would we question the facts of science? If the baby's father is black them the baby race is black. The seed that made that baby is black no matter what baby looks like. Same if baby's father was white n mom was black.. The baby would be white as the seed that made him scientifically but what you identify as wen older is different. The child could identify with being white even if his father isn't.. But race is race that don't change no matter which side the child or parent wants to identify with.. Simple in my book

caffeinatedkat

In my town there is no caucasian option only Caucasian (non Hispanic) lol