My oldest daughter is going to Mexico in April, and she is trying to make out the paperwork for her passport. She was adopted by my ex-husband when she was 7 years old, and is now 33. One of the questions she’s being asked is ''Are you adopted?" This seems straightforward enough (yes), but she was adopted in California, and they don’t issue adoption papers, they amend birth certficates and issue a new one with the adopted father on it as the birth father. 
So what does she need to answer?
Are they actually asking her to provide verification on paper, or are they simply requesting a yes or no answer?
I think that most people who are adopted don’t even know that, so they would simply answer no. I don’t see what difference it makes whether one is adopted or not.
Is she filling out a DS-11 form? I do not even recall seeing that question on it.
(I have heard that there are issues with minor children who are adoptees, but I don’t recall encountering a situation where an adult’s adopted status was an issue. Generally, with children, it appears to be a question of making sure that they have not been issued passports under their birth names, although I am basing that on speculation from some folks with foreign adoptions.)
If I understand the question, she should say Yes and show them her birth certificate.
Regards,
Shodan
It makes a difference if the adoptee wasn’t born an American citizen. Adoption by itself doesn’t bestow US citizenship.
From what I understand, California used to issue two types of birth certificates, one which the State Department accepted as proof of citizenship and one which they didn’t.
I am adopted, and I have only ever seen one birth certificate, which has my adopted parents’ names on it. I have no idea if another one actually existed (I suppose it probably did, and was amended, as you say). Slightly different situation from yours, because it was an infant adoption by two parents. That being said, it has never occurred to me that it would ever be questioned, and I would be asked to show an adoption certificate. Of course, I have never been asked this in any kind of official capacity. But if I was asked the question, it would never occur to me to say “no,” despite the fact that I lack any paperwork to prove it.
Thanks for the information, everyone. tomndebb, I don’t know the number of the form she’s filling out, but they have asked for her birth certificate. She was certainly born in the US, at an Air Force Base in fact. She’ just probably overthinking the process.
Thanks again!
The form is DS-11, Application for a U.S. Passport. You may see it and the instructions for it here (warning: PDF file).
The birth certificate she will need will be whatever final birth certificate was issued by the county in which the adoption occurred.
From the late 1950s through the mid 1990s, (and continuing in some states under some conditions through today), the original birth certificate in pretty much every state was superseded and sealed with no provision for anyone to see it, not even the Feds–certainly not the adopted person. The new birth certificate issued at the time of adoption is the only legal and recognized birth certificate, so regardless of a person’s status as an adoptee, the only document the Feds are seeking is the certificate issued at the time of adoption, not any earlier, superseded document.
Monty’s point about the adoption of foreign-born children is valid, but it comes with its own set of regulations and I do not know how the states handled birth certificates for foreign-born adoptions. For kids born in the U.S., the matter is clear-cut: the birth certificate issued at the time of adoption is the one to present.
Thanks! That seems to be the answer I was looking for!
Maybe the reason they’re asking is that in an ammended certificate (specially in one issued for a non-infant adoption) there’s some date that wouldn’t match the DoB?
I’ve never even seen a US birth certificate, but Spanish ones indicate both “DoB” and “date of registry”; for an adopted kid they could be several years apart, if the US has those dates as well.
I can only speak with complete assurance for Ohio, (looking at my kids’ certificates), but the superseding certificate shows the name of the child, the birth date, the original date filed (since it supersededs the original), a “date issued” which is when the county sent us the superseding document, but would probably carry the date that any copy was published and notarized, the location of the adopting parents at the time the child was born* and the parents’ names.
There is more information recorded with the county registrar than is printed on some certificates, such as the number of children to whom the mother is recorded has having given live birth, but that might not be printed on certificates issued for identification purposes. (During our adoption classes, we were told of a family who had a birth child of their own, who then adopted an older boy. Since the boy was older than the girl, her county birth registry noted that she was the mother’s first live birth. Then the boy was registered and, since he wqs born prior to the girl, his registry said that he was the mother’s first live birth, (the daughter’s registry was not modified). A couple years later, they adopted another boy, older than their first adoption, and his registry again noted that he was the mother’s first live birth (and neither previous child’s registry was modified). Some poor future genealogist is going to have fun puzzling that out.)
- Suppose a couple was living in Cleveland in 1980 and a child was born in Columbus in 1980. In 1985, having moved to Dayton, they adopted the child. They would receive a certificate listing Cleveland as the birth location.