Birth Certificate Question

crene84 · January 2013

DD's name is spelled right on the Adoption Decree, but we got the original birth certificate today (with BM's name on it) and noticed DD's middle name is spelled wrong. Any idea who I should contact? Should I wait for the new one to come in the mail to get it changed or can I get it fixed ahead of time?

Dr.Loretta · January 2013

If she's getting a new one, I wouldn't worry about it

cal798 · January 2013

Everything pertaining to adoptions is statutory. That means every state has its own laws and they can vary drastically. In California, after an adoption is finalized a new birth certificate is issued and the old one is sealed. (the one with the misspelled middle name) Vital statistics gets the information for the new birth certificate from the Decree of Adoption. Thus, if your daughter's name is spelled correctly on that, you would get a birth certificate listing you and your husband as the parents and your daughter's middle named spelled correctly.

This information may not be relevant depending on the laws of your state. I would probably do nothing until I received the new birth certificate.

crene84 · January 2013

Spooko:
What's your reasoning for wanting it? If it's for her to have and show someday and you really want it correct, you'll have to act before the new one is ordered. Once the new one becomes official you can't do anything about the old one. At the same time, though, if it's just for her memory box, it can just be a silly little thing that you point out to her at some point.
If you applied for a new birth certificate with you as the parent, her name should be spelled according to that paperwork. So I'd think the next one would be right. Obviously verify it when it comes, but I wouldn't worry about acting on that if you're only worried about the spelling for her future official stuff.

That was my thinking, that we need to correct it before we get the new one but a previous poster said it's based on the adoption decree which is correct, so I guess we'll just wait. We didn't apply for it. It's is just going through the system automatically.. Thanks!

sgb721 · January 2013

See I have a similar question in the sense that what if the name on the original birth certificate is different from what we want to name our child?

Dr.Loretta · January 2013

Strawberryglobug:
See I have a similar question in the sense that what if the name on the original birth certificate is different from what we want to name our child?

NBD. The new BC supercedes the old one. DD's BM has her original BC as a memento, and we have her current one with her new name and us listed as parents

mommytoconnor · January 2013

Every state differs on their laws, but typically once the adoption is finalized and an application has been filed for new birth certificate, it should be correct on yours, so I wouldn't worry about the original one, just as long as the new one is correct.

crene84 · January 2013

mommytoconnor:
Every state differs on their laws, but typically once the adoption is finalized and an application has been filed for new birth certificate, it should be correct on yours, so I wouldn't worry about the original one, just as long as the new one is correct.

Thanks everyone! I talked to my attorney and he confirmed what you all said...it'll be based on the adoption decree so we are good to go.

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