Q: Why won't my name be put on my 18year old stepdaughter's birth certificate when I adopt her?
When my husband adopted his stepson, his name replaced the birth father's name on the child's birth certificate. Why won't my name replace the birth mother's name when I adopt my 18 year old stepdaughter?
A:
There is a difference between child adoptions (which does replace the birth parents) and adult adoptions (which does not replace the birth parents). If you proceed with an adult adoption you will receive a certificate from the court and a document from the county recorder. It will look a lot like a birth certificate, but it is not technically the same thing as a birth certificate (technically it is an addendum). That is, officially the 18 year old will have the original birth certificate (with the biological parents) AND an addendum.
Most people treat the two documents as the same thing, but they are slightly different. It will only be an issue in some official situations. It can impact certain state supports and subsidies (e.g. Social Security payments and FAFSA applications, etc.). It is not a bad thing to have an addendum (and for the majority of people it has no negative impact), but it is important to know that adult adoptions are slightly different from child adoption because they do not impact the biological parent's rights. This non-impact of biological parent rights is also the reason why an adult adoption do not require notification (or approval) from the biological parent(s).
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