A stumbling block

[ChuckLL]

We may have encountered a stumbling block to our cruise. My wife has not been able to locate her birth certificate. She went to the court house, and they have no record of her birth. They contacted the state, and the state has no record of her birth. Though she is fairly certain that she born, she can find no record of it. Not even the hospital. The courthouse told her she could get an affidavit from a blood relative seven years her elder, and they could use that to apply for a certificate to be issued. Problem is that her mother is the only person who would meet those requirements so that won't happen (interesting story there by the way). SO what we have done is given them a truck load of info: her school entrance form from first grade, a marriage license from about 20 years ago (previous marriage), etc. They have now (actually a couple of weeks ago) sent all of this to the state. My biggest concern is that although I trust the folks in our courthouse I don't have much faith in the beaurocrats in Atlanta.

 

Have any of you had to dance this particular dance? If so, what is the normal turn around? When should I start contacting some "higher ups"?

[derf5585]

If you do NOT have a previous U.S. passport or a certified birth certificate, you will need:

from

http://travel.state.gov/passport_obtain.html

 

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Pacific Princess Oct 21 2001 Bermuda

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[ChuckLL]

baptismal certificate

hospital birth certificate

census record

early school record

family bible record

doctor's record of post-natal care

 

These were indeed some of the things they told us at the chourthouse. All we could get our hands on was the early school record.

[Cotton]

Surely, your wife had her birth certificate in order to obtain your marriage license...?! BTW, when is your cruise?

 

"Laissez les bon temps rouler!"

Festivale 1987

Carnivale 1988

Mardi Gras 1989

Pacific Princess 1990

Norway 1994

Holiday 2001

Holiday 2002

Holiday 2003

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[TomD]

Try calling the county she was born in. Hall of records (or something like that).

I found it easy to get a new one of mine, and I live 2500 miles from where I was born. I think I did it all through e-mail.

 

Conquest, we will be with you

[ChuckLL]

The cruise is 10-23.

I would also assume that she had to use a birth certificate for her previous marriage license but she doesn't remember.

 

So far we have checked basically every place in our county (she was also born here) and no one has a record of her birth. Hospital, no. Health Department, no. School, no. Courthouse, no. The doctor who delivered her has long since died so there is no telling where the records from his practice ended up.

[Cotton]

Whatever state she was born in - Georgia? - there is a Bureau of Vital Statistics. They have a listing (and copy of b/c) of every person born in the state. The county wouldn't necessarily have a record of her birth, but the state will.

 

Get on the internet and look up the address or phone number of that state's bureau. Then write or call, giving them her birth name, city of birth, birth date, and parent's names.

 

Whew! Good thing your cruise isn't next week!

 

 

 

"Laissez les bon temps rouler!"

Festivale 1987

Carnivale 1988

Mardi Gras 1989

Pacific Princess 1990

Norway 1994

Holiday 2001

Holiday 2002

Holiday 2003

Sensation 2004

[Cotton]

OK, Chuck, I did your homework for ya....

 

 

Georgia Vital Records

2600 Skyland Drive, NE

Atlanta, GA 30319-3640

877-572-6343

 

The info they will need is exactly what I listed in my previous reply. It will cost $10 for a certified copy. Go!

 

"Laissez les bon temps rouler!"

Festivale 1987

Carnivale 1988

Mardi Gras 1989

Pacific Princess 1990

Norway 1994

Holiday 2001

Holiday 2002

Holiday 2003

Sensation 2004

[sea-cruise]

(This isn't funny...I feel sorry for you.) I hope her mother didn't steal her from another state.. Yikes. I think I've been watching too many movies lately. Seriously, the previous poster is right...she had to have a birth certificate for the marriage....???? Hope it all works out for you two before the cruise.

 

 

 

Celebrating 30th cruise soon....

[ChuckLL]

Luckily with my job, I deal with the people in the Clerk of Court's office quite often so they help me out when they can. The girl there checked Georgia Vital Records after all the local wells ran dry. Still no luck. Thus far no local or state agencies have any record of her birth.

 

It seems we are facing a very unsual problem, no?

 

Other than the fact that she has a S.S. number, a driver's license, and a marriage license, the only proof I have that she was born is that she yells if I pinch her.

 

From my understand where we're at now is waiting on the Vital Statistics office to look over all of our meager evidence and maybe issuing her a birth certificate.

 

Regardless, I've told her we're going to cruise. She may just have to suffer through the first several hours in a suit case. That didn't go over well.

[sea-cruise]

Chuck, You are hilarious. I was wondering if maybe the county hall of records had a fire years ago?? Well, maybe the social security office can help you. I hope you get it straightened out soon.

 

 

 

Celebrating 30th cruise soon....

[ChuckLL]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by sea-cruise:

(This isn't funny...I feel sorry for you.) I hope her mother didn't steal her from another state.. Yikes. I think I've been watching too many movies lately. Seriously, the previous poster is right...she had to have a birth certificate for the marriage....???? Hope it all works out for you two before the cruise.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

It has my wife to thinking also. Not anything quite that drastic, but somewhat similar.

[Brneyznfl]

Just a thought, when you apply for a social security number, you have to supply a copy of your birth certificate. I wonder if the Social Security Administration would have a copy or at the very least have on file information taken from the BC such as a record number, location of birth, etc??

 

Jan

 

NEXT CRUISE - MIRACLE 2/13/05!

 

Triumph, Inspiration, Holiday, Explorer of the Seas, Granduer of the Seas, Glory, Conquest, Sensation

[zonemasconi]

when she goes to get her passport just pinch her, they will know she was born then.LOL

 

 

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[Juliah67]

Ah...my little tight-bunned levi man....I'm sorry you've hit an obstacle. You are smart to look into this now...unlike me, who waited until a few days prior to cruise to fret about such things as birth certificates, LOL. Good luck with getting your wife on board...if not, there will be plenty of women checking you out in the dining room in your tight jeans. Ahh..that visual again. Love, Juliah

 

Glory Eastern 5/29/04

[tjevans]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Cotton:

_Surely,_ your wife had her birth certificate in order to obtain your marriage license...?!

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

Cotten, up here in Forrest County, MS, they accepted the dates of birth from our driver's license, so she might not have needed her birth certificate for the marriage license.

 

 

Carnival Conquest 4/18/04

[TomD]

Chuck,

Have you checked between her toes? Is there webbing?

Try inquiring with her family about what her original name really was. My mother's name on her birth certificate was different thann what she goes by. Her parents/my grandparents just combined her first and middle name, and spelled it differently.

You may also be looking in the wrong state, and are unaware of it.

Good luck!

 

Conquest, we will be with you

[ChuckLL]

Brneyznfl,

It had crossed my mind earlier in the process about the SSA. I just wasn't too sure about how good they kept records. Do you think they may keep something that is 30+ years old in a place where they could locate it? I've never had any dealings with them before so I don't have a clue. If this other stuff falls through however it would be worth giving look.

 

TomD,

Nope, no webbing. I try to check her over as often as she'll let me . As for family, we're really not in a position to ask her family. Her mother hasn't spoken with her in the last seven years. Her father passed away a few years ago.

 

The last name is the same. The problem for her right now, other than the passport deal, is she's beginning to wonder if she really is who she has thought she was all these years.

 

Does anyone know this...if a baby is adopted what happens to the birth certificate? Is it sealed? Are notations made to reference the adopted family?

[tw1nk1es]

As far as old medical records go, try the state medical society. They frequently know where old medical records are stored.

 

Jo

[TomD]

I adopted my older son when he was about 13. I don't remember for sure, but I think they kept is original birth certificate. He was issued a new one, with me as the father.

 

Conquest, we will be with you

[derf5585]

Just to go off on a tangent.

 

I wonder if clones would be issued a seperate birth certificate?

 

USS Chilton APA-38 1966-1968

USS Guam LPH-9 1968-1970

Pacific Princess Oct 21 2001 Bermuda

Golden Princess Dec 7 2002 "Eastern Caribbean"

Coral Princess Dec 9 2003 "Panama Canal"

 

Carnival Miracle 17 Oct 2004

 

NOT UPDATED again 25 Feb www.geocities.com/fsbsdel

 

 

[imsulin]

I thought that most adoption records were sealed. ?? It may depend on the state, though. This is sounding really strange that your wife can't get a birth certificate. I think your speculation that she may not know much about who she thinks she is, is most likely the situation. Where's the birth certificate she used when she married you?

[jbsteven]

a few people have stated that they have a SS number and this is part of what proves you are a US citizen. This statement is false. My wife is not a US citizen and she has a SS number.

 

I own a passport and visa expediting service and can say with a No record of birth from the Vital Statistics it is possible to obtain a passport. Early school records, marriage certificates, hospital records, 2 people who have known you for more than 2 years and a few other items can be used with a No Record of birth to obtain a passport.

 

Jubilee 6/88

Celebration 6/14/04

Elation 7/18/04

[ChuckLL]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by imsulin:

I thought that most adoption records were sealed. ?? It may depend on the state, though. This is sounding really strange that your wife can't get a birth certificate. I think your speculation that she may not know much about who she thinks she is, is most likely the situation. Where's the birth certificate she used when she married you?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

I've always thought the same thing about adoption records. I just don't know for sure. When we went to get the license is when she first realized that she didn't have a birth certificate in her possession. When we went to the Porbate Judge's office, the girl there said that it was no problem that she could get one from one of the local records offices. When she (meaning the lady in the PJ office) came up empty locally she told my wife that it was still no problem that we could 1> get a copy from the state or 2> just reference papers from her previous marriage. We opted for choice 2 because it would take less time and be less hassle. As a result we came away totally ignorant of all that we are learning now.

 

Her mother had three younger sisters. One died several years ago. The other two live somewhere out of state. I have been able to track down one after many days of searching on the internet. My wife sent her a letter about a week or so ago subtly asking some questions that may give answers. To date she hasn't responded.

 

Personally I have a hard time believing that every single agency has lost, or never had, a record of her birth. I'm beginning to wonder if one of two things have happened: The first is that they just royally screwed up the name on the original certificate so that our search is turning up nothing. The second is that maybe she was actually born to one of her mother's younger sisters. Maybe the last one is a bit of X-Files thinking, but my wife says that after thinking about it, she remembers, when she was growing up, seeing pictures of her mother pregnant with the other children but none when she would have been pregnant with my wife.

 

Even if we can get a new birth certificate issued she would still like to get her questions answered in regard to the original, but I don't know what else to do to help.

[ChuckLL]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jbsteven:

a few people have stated that they have a SS number and this is part of what proves you are a US citizen. This statement is false. My wife is not a US citizen and she has a SS number.

 

I own a passport and visa expediting service and can say with a No record of birth from the Vital Statistics it is possible to obtain a passport. Early school records, marriage certificates, hospital records, 2 people who have known you for more than 2 years and a few other items can be used with a No Record of birth to obtain a passport.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

Thanks for the info jbstevens. You've eased my mind abit. Can you tell me what kind of turn around to expect? How rare is this situation?