Changing father's name on birth certificate

[celya36]

Georgia
This question is for a co-worker, but I am also interested in the answer. S was five years old when her birth father died. Her mother remarried a couple of years later. Her step-father began sexually assaulting her. Eventually her mother divorced him for it. When S was an adult she applied for a marriage certificate and needed her birth certificate to get one. At that point she saw that her step-father's name was listed. She knew as a child he had adopted her, but she didn't know that meant they would remove her birth father's name. She now wants to remove her step-father's name and put her birth father's name back on her certificate. Does S have any recourse? Special circumstances, perhaps? I know a step-parent is a legal parent regardless of whether or not they were a good parent. But this is about her birth father dying, not leaving her or forsaking his job as a parent. He was a good father who died. Can his name be restored? Thank you.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[stealth2]

The only way she can change her birth cert is via an adult adoption. Obviously, her bio Dad can't do that.

 

[mistoffolees]

The only way she can change her birth cert is via an adult adoption. Obviously, her bio Dad can't do that.

Agreed.

However, OP needs to be aware that she can change her name to anything she wants now that she's an adult. The name on the BC won't change, but everything else will. She'll still have to deal with SD's name the few times that she needs to produce her birth certificate, but that's it.

 

[ecmst12]

I know a step-parent is a legal parent regardless of whether or not they were a good parent.

This is not true at all. Stepdad's name is on the birth certificate because he ADOPTED her. He is a legal parent because of the adoption and the adoption alone. If he had NOT adopted her, he would not be the legal parent and nothing would change that, no matter how long he might have been married to mom or how good or bad of a "parent" he might have been - he would still be a legal stranger.

She survived this long and never even knew that his name was on her BC. I think she needs to just get over it. People are also assaulted by their biological parents without them being removed as the legal parents. Changing the BC now isn't going to change the past. And ultimately, once you are an adult, the names on your birth certificate are of little importance. The only thing I would suggest she do is to draft a will to ensure that he won't be able to initiate any claim on her estate if something were to happen to her. Now that she is married that is much less likely, but a will would make it iron-clad.

 

[justalayman]

and here we have the problem of allowing alterations to a birth record. The legal (and presumably bio) father is who should be listed on a birth certificate and not open to change. The birth certificate is a record of the facts at birth, not what they are today or tomorrow. Allowing a change due to an adoption is a travesty and removes the intent and purpose of the birth certificate.


The "father" did not change simply due to an adoption.

end of rant.

 

[LdiJ]

and here we have the problem of allowing alterations to a birth record. The legal (and presumably bio) father is who should be listed on a birth certificate and not open to change. The birth certificate is a record of the facts at birth, not what they are today or tomorrow. Allowing a change due to an adoption is a travesty and removes the intent and purpose of the birth certificate.


The "father" did not change simply due to an adoption.

end of rant.

I do understand your "rant" but what about closed, stranger adoptions? How can the biological parents be listed in that instance? An adoption legally changes who the parents of a child are, and a BC is a legal document used in many, many situations.

Perhaps what really needs to happen is that a different kind of record needs to exist, that reflects ALL information...except perhaps the identity of biological parents in closed, stranger adoptions.

A friend of mine adopted his stepdaughter after his wife, the biological mother passed away. He was devistated that his adoption of her removed her mother from her BC...so I do understand your "rant".

 

[justalayman]

If the powers that be want to produce another document that lists the current facts, then so be it but a birth certificate is a recordation of facts at the time of birth.

Think about it:

we can change the parents.

what is to prevent changing the gender upon a sex change operation. Just think about it:

You have a child. Raise it as a girl because that is what she was when born. She has a child at 16. Then, at 24 she has a sex change operation and becomes a man and changes the BC to reflect "his" new gender. So, if we are going to allow such alterations to her BC, just what are you going to do with her/his childs BC? Do you need to change mother to "other father" (since the mother is no longer a female and as such, is cannot be a mother)? Do you allow a line or two for explanation of why the listed mother and associated BC is no longer a maintained record because mom got dingleballs and is no longer recorded in the state archives as a woman born with the name on the child's BC?. Is the child's mother no longer a mother? She is obviously not the father so just what do you put on the BC? If she is a man, legally and from birth, just imaging historians from the future looking back to see:

John Doe's natural child, from a previous marriage with Jack Doe becomes president, Nobel Award winner, Rhoades Scholar, whatever. Since there is no record of the person as a woman that John Doe was, what are they going to do to reconcile the obvious impossibility? I can see it now: The president elect and his two birth fathers are now facing the SCOTUS Chief Justice for the swearing in ceremony as POTUS.

Does that mean that a person that was a woman that became a man and amended the BC can now marry women? What happens if that woman that became a man is already married to a man and was not married in a state nor lives in a state that recognizes same sex marriages? Is their marriage no longer valid?


btw: there is at least one state where the gender can be changed on a BC upon such actions so my question is not a wild imaginative construct of what might be.

There is a purpose for the entries on a BC and nothing that happens later in life has anything to do with that.

 

[celya36]

Thank you

Justalayman, I completely agree. Adopting a child does not mean the bio parent no longer exists or is not the biological parent. I believe if an adopting parent has a right to add their name, and I agree that they do, the birth parent has a right to keep their name. Except in the case of closed adoptions. For everyone who has said a birth certificate is supposed to be the "facts of birth" I agree. Keep the bio father listed and just add another line with the adoption and the step-parent's name. For everyone who gave the advice to "change her name" or "deal with it", it isn't up to me or anyone else to question S's motives. Changing her name is not going to change the fact that her bio father whom she has good memories of and loves is not listed as her father. We are both therapists working in a mental health hospital. She knows what is best for her in this situation. The best outcome would be to add her bio father's name. If that can't happen, fine. But we will at least try.
Thank you

 

[Proserpina]

Justalayman, I completely agree. Adopting a child does not mean the bio parent no longer exists or is not the biological parent. I believe if an adopting parent has a right to add their name, and I agree that they do, the birth parent has a right to keep their name. Except in the case of closed adoptions. For everyone who has said a birth certificate is supposed to be the "facts of birth" I agree. Keep the bio father listed and just add another line with the adoption and the step-parent's name. For everyone who gave the advice to "change her name" or "deal with it", it isn't up to me or anyone else to question S's motives. Changing her name is not going to change the fact that her bio father whom she has good memories of and loves is not listed as her father. We are both therapists working in a mental health hospital. She knows what is best for her in this situation. The best outcome would be to add her bio father's name. If that can't happen, fine. But we will at least try.
Thank you

"we"?

Whatever makes you think you can do anything at all? Why is this your business at all?

 

[celya36]

Ecmst12, I am sorry you have not yet learned to speak with sensitivity of others' problems. No one just "gets over" being repeatedly raped as a child by the person they are supposed to trust. If you were the bio father of a 7 year old girl who was raped by her step-father, would you tell her "she needs to just get over it?" Yes, bio parents do molest their children and cannot be removed from the birth certificate. But that isn't the point, is it? The point is S loves her bio father, she remembers good times they had together before he died. She feels he deserves to be listed as her bio father. Even if her step-father had been a model parent she would still want her birth father listed. I completely agree.
As for your comment that step-parents are not legal parents unless they adopt the child, that is not always true. If the bio parent lists the step-parent as legal guardian or next-of-kin, especially in a hospital setting, that step-parent is the child's legal parent regardless of whether or not he or she adopted the child. I worked in a hospital for 7 years creating and notarizing wills and power-of-attorney forms so I know.
Thank you for your comments.

 

[celya36]

Proserpina, it is my business because we are friends and she asked me if I knew of a way she could have her birth father's name put back on her birth certificate. What kind of friend would I be to tell her its none of my business, do it yourself? Who of us in this world has never asked anyone for help? Also, I am a therapist. Helping others is what I have chosen to do.
Thank you for your comment.

 

[Proserpina]

Proserpina, it is my business because we are friends and she asked me if I knew of a way she could have her birth father's name put back on her birth certificate. What kind of friend would I be to tell her its none of my business, do it yourself? Who of us in this world has never asked anyone for help? Also, I am a therapist. Helping others is what I have chosen to do.
Thank you for your comment.

Not your legal business.

You could have very easily said, "Hey, why don't you sign up for one of those legal forums?".

You're welcome.

 

[Proserpina]

Ecmst12, I am sorry you have not yet learned to speak with sensitivity of others' problems. No one just "gets over" being repeatedly raped as a child by the person they are supposed to trust. If you were the bio father of a 7 year old girl who was raped by her step-father, would you tell her "she needs to just get over it?" Yes, bio parents do molest their children and cannot be removed from the birth certificate. But that isn't the point, is it? The point is S loves her bio father, she remembers good times they had together before he died. She feels he deserves to be listed as her bio father. Even if her step-father had been a model parent she would still want her birth father listed. I completely agree.
As for your comment that step-parents are not legal parents unless they adopt the child, that is not always true. If the bio parent lists the step-parent as legal guardian or next-of-kin, especially in a hospital setting, that step-parent is the child's legal parent regardless of whether or not he or she adopted the child. I worked in a hospital for 7 years creating and notarizing wills and power-of-attorney forms so I know.
Thank you for your comments.

That's absolutely NOT correct.

The stepparent is NEVER the child's LEGAL PARENT unless s/he ADOPTS the child.

Good grief!

 

[Proserpina]

Afterthought:

I'd love to know how filling out POAs and wills correlates with establishing legal parentage.

Would love to know.

 

[celya36]

Proserpina, I didn't say it established legal parentage. I merely said a step-parent can be a legal parent without an adoption. The word "legal" encompasses quite a few arenas. In the medical arena, where I work, adoption is not necessary to be a legal parent. And that is what I meant in my original post.
As for this not being my legal business, when she came to me for help and I agreed, we both agreed to let it become my legal business in that two heads are better than one and I might find something she missed. I am sorry if this offends you. However, you certainly have the right to tell a friend to go to a forum and I will not challenge your decision.
Lastly, I came here to help a friend not carry on an unhelpful debate. Therefore I appreciate your interest and comments but I cannot continue a conversation that ultimately is not helping her. I apologize, but I will no longer be able to answer any of your comments.
Thank you.