NBFR:Getting birth certificate diff for kids if unmarried parents

emme022

So this isn't exactly bf related but I know in some people's situation kids were born when the parents weren't married so I thought people here might understand. I found out today from a Facebook friend that in my state birth certificates of people with unmarried parents are"impounded" and can only be requested by either one of the parents on the bc or the person whose bc it is and they have to show id. If the parents were married at the time of birth anyone can request it.

What I found even more ridiculous is that if someone's parents weren't married when they were born if that child eventually gets married there marriage certificate will also be impounded and need Id from the people on it to be accessed.

This also means that if someone moves ect the birth and/or marriage certificate can not be requested to be mailed, they can only be gotten in person. My SO ran into this problem when getting LO's Bc and at the time I just figured there was a rule about accessing people under a certain ages birth certificates or something.

The whole thing just seems kind of ridiculous and almost like some type of "punishment" or shaming or something for having/being a child born "out of wedlock". I am also disappointed because I thought my state was a little more progressive than this.

Sunday924

Correct me if I'm misunderstanding but shouldn't they all be like that? 

Littlejen22

I guess they are protecting the identity of all those bastards, lol. Jk of course.

emme022

Sunday924:

Correct me if I'm misunderstanding but shouldn't they all be like that?nbsp;

At the time my SO went to get his daughters birth certificate I thought that yea maybe there was something restricting access to people under 18's birth certificates even though birth, death and marriage certificates are public record. I figured it made sense, especially because of identity theft etc but as it turns out, atleast in my state, nope you can get anyone's birth certificate unless they had unwed parents, those are the only ones that are restricted.

twister22

That is such BS! I hope it's not like that in my state. Although, my state has a lifetime limit on how many you can request. So if yours has that too then at least it would prevent some jerk from taking all yours lol. The only get it in person is a PITA though.

Alohalove

Littlejen22:

I guess they are protecting the identity of all those bastards, lol. Jk of course.

 Lol!!!! 

Ginlyn0

The way my state works is that only immediate family can order a BC if they currently live in the state. If you live outside of the state, you can only order yours or your child's (if you are a listed parent).

I like it this way.

Sigir

That is bizzaro. What state is it? Just curious.

emme022

Sigir:

That is bizzaro. What state is it? Just curious.

Massachusetts

Nineoceans

I would be shocked if that's true. Like insanely shocked. I work in adoption and we need original birth certificates for court and I tell you 80 percent of those kids are born out of wedlock wouldn't ya know lol.

We need to access and request birth certs all the time. How would this work in a state where only the unmarried parent could access them? What if the parent died, went missing or someone else assumed custody? That's why those records are public not to shame people

Holly_1007

I live in Massachusetts. 

My first son was born out of Wedlock.  I did not have to show my ID to get a copy of his birth certificate.

My second son was born after my DH (my first sons father) and I got married.  I did not have to show my ID to get a copy of his birth certificate

I also did not have to show my ID to get a copy of our Marriage license.  

ldmessing

in my state, you can only request a copy of a birth certificate if you name is on it (ie;  child, mother, father)

 

with all the identity theft these days, why on earth would anyone have a problem with that

 

emme022

If you click this link for the city of Boston https://www.cityofboston.gov/registry/birth.asp  It actually says at the top that you must know if the parents of the person on the certificate were married at the time of birth and then that only those people on the certificate may apply for that certificate and they must have valid photo id.

That facebook friend who first posted it the other day found out there is a process to "legitimatize"  the child if the parents did end up marrying after the birth which she ended up going through which included having to spend close to 100 dollars and getting her marriage certificate and doing a bunch of paperwork etc.  She also spoke to the state department who basically said it is only still a law because no one has bothered to change it. 

 

 https://www.mass.gov/eohhs/gov/departments/dph/programs/health-stats/vitals/access-policy-for-massachusetts-vital-records.html

That is the actual law that restricts children born out of wedlocks marriage and birth certificates.  A legal representative of the court can access them so maybe that is what they do in cases of adoption? No clue honestly but after reading that law it really  is ridiculous.  

devbarrie

I also found this out the hard way when my SO was not allowed access to his daughter's bc. BM refused to put him on the bc at time of birth and a very complicated paternity suit followed. 

I was not aware that marriage certificate will now be affected.  Thank you for the information and I am sorry for your circumstance.