Birth Certificates.

[lovelace]

Happy New Year everybody.         I'm helping a relative find her family.    Does anybody know,   if a person is born in let's say August 1964,   then is adopted ,  do they subsequently get a new birth certificate with a different birthdate,  presumably the date the adoption was finalised,   which can take up to a year or so we're told.     I always thought you couldn't tamper with someone's date of birth,  there might be consequences ?         Is there any point in searching the records using their original d.o.b. ?

[Janus]

4 minutes ago, lovelace said:

Happy New Year everybody.         I'm helping a relative find her family.    Does anybody know,   if a person is born in let's say August 1964,   then is adopted ,  do they subsequently get a new birth certificate with a different birthdate,  presumably the date the adoption was finalised,   which can take up to a year or so we're told.     I always thought you couldn't tamper with someone's date of birth,  there might be consequences ?         Is there any point in searching the records using their original d.o.b. ?

It is the 1st of January, not the 1st of April.

[Mr Bloke]

Hmmm...

I've never understood how all racehorses are born on 1st January.

It's going to be a very busy day today for any vets...

[Hopman]

Have a look at https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl

[Ghozer]

A birth certificate is just that, a certificate of birth, it cannot be changed later (only added-to, such as to add a parents name at a later date, or add a name correction/middle name etc) when adopted, I believe there would be a traceable record from the agency/orphanage/hospital etc that dealt with the case... a birth certificate wouldn't be changed... if the place no longer exists, and it was Sheffield, you may be able to find some info in the Sheffield Archives, you would have to pop down, or maybe have a look on their website, see if the info you're looking for maybe there... otherwise, Sheffield Library...

 

[dave_the_m]

First off, certificates for births, deaths etc, are just copies of an entry in the records of the general register office (or whatever its called now). So when a major event in a person's life happens,  a suitable entry in the register is made (this person was born, married, died or whatever). At the same time, or later on request, the registrar can issue a certificate which basically says 'this is an accurate and certified copy of the entry in the register". So for example I could apply for a certified copy of the entry for my great-grandmother's birth. In common parlance, I'm sent "a copy of her birth certificate". But that's not an accurate description. There are two certificates, one dated 1901 say and given to the baby's parents at the time, and another dated 2022 and sent to me. Both describe a copy in the register of a births dated 1901. The older one won't bother saying that its a certified copy - it's just the copy that was issued at the time that the event was registered.

 

Now for adoption. Say a baby John is born in 1980 to a Jane Smith, then adopted in 1981 by Mr & Mrs Jones. There will be two entries in the register: a birth in 1980 and and an adoption in 1981. The adopted parents are likely to be given 2 bits of paper. First there will be a certified copy of the adoption entry, issued in 1981 and for the 1981 adoption event, which lists the Joneses as the adoptive parents of a "John Jones, born 1980". They will also be given an updated certificate of birth, issued 1981, listing a "John Jones, born 1980". Note that neither of these certificates mentions the original name "Smith".

 

Finally, the original birth record of John Smith is still on the register, and any member of the public (including John Jones) can apply for a certified copy of it. That certificate will be dated 2022, and will list the birth date as 1980 of a John Smith, mother Jane Smith; but it will be flagged as "adopted". (Actually I'm not sure if there are any restrictions on getting a copy of the register entry if that flag is present).

 

This is just my non-expert understanding, which is by no means complete, nor guaranteed to be accurate or up-to-date.

Edited January 2, 2023 by dave_the_m

[lovelace]

Thankyou  dave the m & Ghozer for going to the trouble to explain all that,   it's really cleared that up for us.       Looks like it could be possible to trace the people concerned then.          

[dave_the_m]

Note that an adopted person has the right to be given the details of their birth. So in my example above, if John Jones knows nothing about his birth mother, he can apply to the government and they will tell him that he was originally "John Smith, mother Jane Smith". This special right doesn't apply to anyone else nor the other way round - someone else can't ask the government who John Jones' mother was, and Jane Smith won't be told that her son is now John Jones.

[lovelace]

Well that's a blow but thankyou anyway !