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Expert: Alice Allen, Rev (ULC) Date: 6/7/2007 Subject: Birth certificate
Question I was born under the name Perkins. My mother met a man when I was 2 yrs old. They married and my step father (Castor) adopted me at the age of 7 or 9. Can't recall. Recently I have been going back and forth from the U.S. to Canada. In 2008, it is mandatory to have a passport even if you drive through. I was born in New Orleans and wrote to get my Birth Certificate only to receive a letter stating that it could not be found. Then I tried VitalCheck and they said I would have to file under the last father's last name(Castor), in the state where I was adopted. Is this true? Am I looking for my birth certificate in the wrong state? Should I be looking in Florida and under the Castor name?
Thanks for any time you can give to this. I appreciate it.
Karen
Answer Karen, thank you for writing.
Yes, as I understand it, a certified copy of your "official" birth record is required for passport service. For some people (eg, those legally adopted), this means an "amended" birth certificate instead of an "original" one.
As your adoption was finalized in Florida, please see: http://www.doh.state.fl.us/planning_eval/vital_statistics/birth_death.htm
OR, phone:
(877) 550-7330
to make application for a copy of your official birth record. For passport purposes such as you describe (ie, US/Canada), the "computer certification ($9)" type is usually sufficient.
