NORTHFIELD, MN (5/2/2011) – They don’t call birth certificates ‘vital records’ without a good reason. Do you know if your facts are correct? I was reminded about my experience when President Obama released his birth certificate.
Take time now to focus on your own birth certificate. When I discovered that my birth certificate named me as a ‘Male’ rather than a ‘Female’ I amended it. Sounds like a punch line, but is a true story.
Do you have a copy of your birth certificate? Have you scanned it for accuracy?
Because I traveled to Canada when I was sixteen, I needed a copy of my birth certificate. We saw the mistake then. At the time, we joked about the error. Shortly before I turned eighteen, the implications of being a male were more apparent, and we took action.
Click onto the image for a larger image. Note the line through 'Male' and the addition of 'Female.' Looks like a scam and yet it is a copy of the real thing.
Amended Birth Certificate
Why amend a birth certificate?
Draft registration. In my case, approaching my eighteenth birthday, my legal gender status mattered more. Almost all male U.S. citizens, and male aliens living in the U.S., aged 18 through 25, are required to register with Selective Service.
Aspiring presidential candidates may wish to check their birth certificates as well.
Gender reconstruction leads some to seek to change their certificates.
Now know your birth parent? Adding the missing name of a parent is another common reason.
How are mistakes made on birth certificates?
Two common mistakes listed by the Arizona records office include:
- Correction - means a change made to a registered certificate because of a typographical error including misspelling and missing or transposed letters or numbers. Remember Oprah? Could have been Orpah.
- Administrative error – Errors made by Vital Records staff when keying the data for a birth certificate. Instead of being born in 1992 you could be listed as 1929 (Whoops, one is the year my son was born and the other is the year my Dad was born).
How do you change your birth certificate?
Each state has different processes. Follow their direction. Most often you will need one or more ‘evidentiary documents’ (Arizona records office). This means written information used to prove the fact for which it is presented.
Babies-sometimes you need to see their birth certificate to know their gender. Photo by paparutzi at flickr.
Some examples of acceptable evidentiary documents may include, but are not limited to:
1. Hospital or doctor’s office records
2. School registration record
3. WIC record
4. Tribal Census Record
5. Health Insurance record
6. Baptismal record
7. Military record
8. SSA Record
9. Immunization records that are doctor’s office print-outs (handwritten-in-book versions are not acceptable).
10. FAA (welfare) record
11. Certified Court Order
In order to amend my certificate, we used my hospital newborn record. It was found in some boxed archives by a helpful hospital employee. We sent that hospital record to the North Dakota office of public records. They amended my birth certificate and sent me a new copy.
After nearly eighteen years as a ‘Male’ with the stroke of a typewriter, I became a ‘Female.’ And corrected an error that could have caused me to be drafted and stood in the way of my marriage. That would have not been funny.
Check your birth certificate for accuracy.
If you would like to amend your birth certificate, check out the process from record office in the state where you were born.
Photo Credit: paparutzi at flickr
Please Comment: Have you had to amend your birth certificate? How?
Read more from Donna Rae Scheffert at Online-Leadership-Tools. She can also be found on LinkedIn and Twitter.
-cl- 5/4/11
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