Strollerderby : birth certificate

Iowa Mulling Same Sex Birth Certificates?

JeanneSager — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:32:00 GMT

Same sex marriage is finally legal in Iowa, so what's next? Recognizing their right to parent as same sex partners.

Iowa is debating whether to strike the traditional "Mother" and "Father" listings on children's birth certificates so same sex couples can simply be parents.

Currently, Iowa law states that the woman who gives birth to a child is listed on the certificate as "mother." If she's married, the law states her husband is to be listed as father. So what if a mother is married . . . to another mother?

Other states have faced this battle - and nothing has been rectified. Massachusetts parents still face the "mother" and "father" lines on birth certificates, and town clerks have been told the "X" out the inappropriate gender title rather than having official forms printed up. Those parents say they've encountered trouble obtaining passports and other official documents for their kids because the birth certificates look doctored. Even parents who have more legal-looking certificates - including same sex adoptive couples who both appear as mother or father on their kids' birth certificates, encounter a hiccup at the federal level. As one lesbian mom explained, "The feds don't care if you're two moms or two dads, but the application still says father and mother."

So it's a Pyrrhic victory; the feds OK the passport, but force a mom to become a dad or vice versa.

If Iowa can make this leap, it may well be as large a coup as the passage of the same sex marriage act. Not only will gays and lesbians be afforded the right to marry who they please but to finally name their spouses as parents of their kids - without an adoption process and without requiring a gendered title that does not fit.

Come on Iowa!

British Single Mums Forced to Name Father on Birth Certificates

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:55:00 GMT

A new British law could make it mandatory for single mothers in the UK to name the biological father on their birth certificates, unless they do not know who he is. Advocates of the law claim that this will make it easier to enforce child support payments and will signal “official recognition of the importance of fathers in children's lives.” But critics say the measure could endanger abused women, since it would allow estranged fathers to add themselves to the birth certificate.

Given that four out of 10 of the single mothers who give birth each year are teenagers, the law does seem like it could send an important message to teenage boys (and other men) that they are just as responsible for their actions as females.

But the potential backlash to victims of domestic violence seems to outweigh this benefit. As a charity for battered women points out, "A pregnant woman could, in theory, escape domestic violence only to find that her abuser has registered himself as the father of her child and has automatic rights to the child."

Photo: Upstream Gallery

New to Birth Certificate: Does Mom Have Chlamydia?

JeanneSager — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:35:00 GMT

So you thought picking the new baby's name was hard? If you plan on giving birth in Utah, you might want to brush up on your sexual and medical histories too.

The state is updating its birth certificate process after more than two decades - and they're adding a series of health-related questions - including whether Mom used artificial insemination, whether she asked for an elective C-section, even if she has an STD.

Shocked? Don't be - Utah is actually late to adopt this new survey, which was created by the National Center for Health Statistics back in 2005 (which is when I gave birth - so I never had to answer - nah nah nuh nah nah).

The state says the bulk of the questions will not actually go on the birth certificate. So you won't be registering Junior for kindergarten with a piece of paper that says "she had chlamydia." There's not even a legal obligation to answer.

Which kind of makes you wonder - can't they think of a better time to ask? Public health officials need good data, and answers are only as good as the questions asked. But an OB/GYN running down a medical history with his patient is going to get the same info - and he'll get it BEFORE a woman is exhausted from thirteen hours of labor or still doped up on painkillers from a C-section.

Making me even more skeptical: designers of the questionnaire admit they don't believe women accurately report their alcohol use during pregnancy. And they're going to be that much more eager to cough up the details with their baby out of the womb - and prime for grabbing by child welfare workers? Or that much happier to report they had an elective C-section so their insurance company can come running in to refuse to pay for it?

Image: Making Greeting Cards

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Who's on the Birth Certificate of Edwards' Alleged Love Child?

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 20:45:00 GMT

It has been discovered that there is no father listed on the birth certificate of a baby who, according to the illustrious reporters at the National Enquirer, is John Edwards’ love child. Frances Quinn Hunter is the daughter of Rielle Hunter, who worked as a videographer on Edwards’ presidential campaign. Andrew Young, Edwards’ campaign finance director, has claimed that he is Frances’ father, but the tabloids smell a rat.

Edwards has denied the allegations that he fathered Hunter's baby. Whether or not this is true, the National Enquirer's claim has already done serious damage to Edwards’ political reputation. It was assumed that Edwards would play a leading role in helping Obama secure North Carolina in the presidential election, but now Edwards will probably be forced to keep out of the limelight—and spend most of his time not working out policy issues, but fighting allegations that, while upsetting, really have nothing at all to do with the voting public.

Photo: Emulsion Compulsion

Did John Edwards Father a Love Child?

Magazine Releases Photos of John Edwards' Alleged Love Child

Man dresses up as a woman to marry a man

Brett Singer — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:00:00 GMT

So two people get married. A man and a woman. Or so the clerk thought.

Turns out "Justine" was really "Justin." Specifically Justin L. McCain, an 18-year-old who wanted to marry Antonio E. Blount, his 31-year-old boyfriend. One reason they were able to pull it off was because of a "design quirk" in the Virginia driver's licenses – the "M" or "F" in the "gender" area is obscured by the state seal. One wonders why no one seemed to notice that the name on the license was "Justin" rather than "Justine". Newport News Court clerk Rex Davis said that, "When things are rolling along and you don't have any reason to suspect that somebody is not being completely forthright with you, you might not take the time to check." Gee, and I thought New York City was a busy place. Davis issued the happy couple a marriage license, and then they went to Richmond to get hitched. Which they did.

The story makes it sound like the ruse might not have been discovered at all if McCain hadn't come back to Newport News to apply for a name change. Our busy clerk Rex Davis became suspicious when he saw the name, which was – get this -- Penelopsky Aaryonna Goldberry, which blogger Christian Hall points out is "pretty much the best name ever." I mean, where the hell do you come up with that one?

The marriage is illegal in the state of Virginia because, well, they're both dudes. Or rather, they're both "legally" dudes. The article quotes attorney Cole Thaler from the group Lambda Legal as saying that, "it's not deceptive for a transgender person who lives their life as a gender different from the gender they were assigned." In fact, "You could have a driver's license in New York state that says you're a male and have a birth certificate from New York City that says you're female," says Paisley Currah of the Transgender Law and Policy Institute.

According to the article, most states (the exceptions being Tennessee, Ohio and Idaho) "typically change one's gender on their birth certificate following gender reassignment surgery." What's not clear is whether or not Justin/Justine/Penelopsky has had surgery or not.

Now prosecutors have to decide whether or not to bring charges against the two lovebirds. Of course, if we would just LET GAY PEOPLE GET MARRIED THIS WOULD NOT BE AN ISSUE. Ahem.

And just for yucks, here's the video for Aerosmith's Dude (Looks Like A Lady).

image: worth1000.com

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Transgender Man's Baby is Coming Soon, But What About the Birth Certificate?

Erin White — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 20:00:00 GMT

As the mother of two children with edited birth certificates, I am all about altering this official document when one of the parental categories just doesn't apply. But in the case of Thomas Beatie and his wife they both apply, just not to the right person.

So what's a pregnant man to do?

According to Slate, Beatie and his wife can do what lesbian parents (and gay and straight parents of children conceived through surrogacy) have been doing for years: they can ask for a new birth certificate that accurately documents their family structure. While Beatie will have to appear on the original certificate as "mother," he and his wife can petition the court to issue a new certificate which lists Beatie as the child's father and his wife as its mother.

And maybe then, when everyone is officially and legally just who they want to be, this news story will draw to a close and the Beatie family will live out their days quietly, far from the public eye.

Somehow I doubt it.

Strollerderby : birth certificate

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