i
OFFICEOFTHEATTORNEYGENERALOFTEXAS
AUSTIN
GROVER SELLERS
ATIORNLI GENERAL
Dr. W. A. Davis, State Registrar
Bureau of Vital Statiatios
Board of Health
Austin, Texas
Dear Sirr op5.nion No. O-7030
Re: Filing of birth
oertlfioates rtor
adopted ohildren.
aa followsr
“I regret very muoh th
sible for 00 to atte
January lOth, to rea
relati#e to the metho
oatea for edopted ohi
been written
he above Opinion,
by adoption and by
rtltlloates result
oertlf loates re-
la reversed and the State
new birth oertifloate 80 aa
parent of a legitimate child?
“2. Upon the remarriage of the mother
ar;d the adoption of her ohild by her
seoond husband, should the new certificate
show her seoond husband 88 the natural
father of the child?
Dr. W. A. Davis, page 2
“3, when unolaa and aunts adopt nephew8
and nleoaa, should tha new oertiffoatas in
view of the findlngjr of the court of adop-
tion and ooamon knowledge, ahow the unolea
and aunt@ as the natural fathers end mothere
of these adopted ohildran?
“4. Whare grzmdparents adopt ~randohildran,
ahould the graodparanta be shown aa the nat-
ural parants OS the childran and, if ao,
should tha preaant agea of tha grandparent0
be shown on the oertlfloatas?
“5. If two ohildren born leaa than 9 numtha
apart ara adoptrd, ehould the adoptlng par-
ent@ be ahown aa the natural parenta in oon-
tradiotion to oartaln biologloal faota?
“6. The preeent law provide8 that upon tha
request of the adopting parants, the original
birth raoord map be retained in the rile and
not sealed with tha adoption deoree. Ir the
Opinion of Augurt 1, 1945, ie reversed and
tha adopting parenta era ahown QXIthe raoord
a8 the natural parante, you have two oertiil-
oataa fllad aide by eldo whloh are oontre-
dlotory with no explanation attached.
“7. When the date of bixth of the ohild la
shown to be prior to tha date of marriage of
the adopting parents, should the new Oertlfl-
oate ahow the adopting parents aa the natural
parante of a ohlld born prior to their marriage?
“8. Should the slgnatura of the phyaiolan
who attended the birth of the rhlld, or his
name, b% placed on the new oertitloate ahow-
ing th% adopting parents without hir knowl-
edge or obnaent?W
SeOtlon 9 of Artiole 466, Vernonts Annotetad Oivil
Stetutea, reada In pert a6 folbwm
.I.
126
Dr. W. A. DaViS, pew 3
When a ohild la adopted In aeoordanoe with the
provisions of thi8 Artiole, all legal relationship
and all righta and dutiee between auoh ohlld and Its
natural parents shall aease and determine, provided,
however, that nothing herein shall prevent suoh
adopted ohilU from Inheriting froa its natural parent1
all adopted children ahall inherit from the adopted
as well aa Its natural parenta. Said ohild shall
themafter be deemd and held to be, for every
purpose, the ohild of its parent or parent8 by
adoption aa Sully am though born of them In lawful
wedlock. Said child ahall be entitled to proper
eduoetion, support, malntenanoe, nurture and oabe
from said parent or parents by adoption, and shall
Inherit from said parent or parente by adoption,
and es the ohild of said parent or parenta by
adoptlonJ za+nfully as though born to thea ln lawful
wmllook~
Subaeotlm 26 of Rule Us, hrt. 447’7, V. k. C. s., reads
In pert aa rolia8t .
*Provided further upon entry of final order of
adoption the Judge or Clerk of Court shell notlfjr
the Regletrar OS Vital StatiatIOa In State Departxent
of iiaalth of aotlon taken, glvIn,g the namea and ad-
dreaaen of the natural parent8 if known or of the
ohild*e next Ida, the date oi birth and naae OS auoh
child before end after adoption and the name and
addreemee of footer parentr. Said Fiegi8trar of Vital
Statlatloe shall llkewlrre be notified of any eubae-
quent revocation of suoh order of adoption or any
anaulnent of adoption. Oopiea of ell reports of
adoptions end reports of revooation of ord6r of
edoptlon and of ennulamata shall within thirty (30)
daya after such order be realled to the Registrar of
Vital Ststistlos of the State Department of Realth.
Upon reoeipt of copy of any final order of adoption
the State ;iegistraI! Of Vital StstistiOs shall OaUBe
to be made s reoord of the birth In the new name or
namea of the adoptIhg parents or parent. Ke shall
then oauae to be sealed and filed the original
oertifloate of birth, If any, with the adoption
deoree of the Court and suoh aealed gaokage may be
opened only upon order of a Court of reoord. upon
127
Dr. '6. A. Davis, pa&e 4
receipt of oopy of annulment of adoption aald Regia-
trar of Vital Statistloe shall restore ths original
name of the child and the nanea of hi8 natural par-
enta or psrent to the reoord of birth of suoh child,
Provided further that adoption made under existing
law prior to the psssage of this Aot, may be rsgie-
tered with the Bureau of Vital Statistios upon sworn
applioation of aithsr adoptive parent or guardian of
the adopted ohild, show the nanan and addresses of
the natural parents if known or of the ohild*s next
kin, the date of birth and the name of suoh ohlld
before end after adoption, the names and addraraae
of fostsr parents, together with proof of adoption,
oithar by oartified oopy of the reoord of the efrl-
davit of adoption, or the Court order of adoption.
“Upon the adoption of said ohild the state
Xegletrar shall notffy the Looal Reg&mr of that
adoption, and shall forward to the Looal Regletrar
a oopy of the birth oertlf1oate howing the hams8 of
the parents by adoption, provided that no stetemsnt
of the adoption shall appear on that raoord. Tha
Local Registrar shall return to the State Registrar,
or shall oanoel the oertIfioata of the natural birth
~of said child, and shall substitute In Ita plaoa a
oertifloate forwarded hia by the State Registrar,
“And provided further that the State RsgIatrar,
upon the written request signed by the parent, or
parents, of the adopted ohild, may retain the oartlfi-
oate of the natural birth In the file and may attaoh
a oartifloats ahowing the names of the parent+, or
parents, by adoption to the orIgi.m& oertiffoete as
an amendment. The State Registrar shall furnish the
Local Registrar with a oopy of the said birth
oartifloate to be attaohed to the origtial birth
oertifIoate .v
our ijpinion No, O-6631 reeds in part as follows:
“In our opfnlon, when the State Rsgistrar re-
oeives an adoption decree, he should file a oertifi-
oete of the birth ti the neftr name or nemss of the
adoptin& parent or paparents ln whloh them la no
statement of the ado tlon, as nquired ih subdlvis1on
26 of Rule 47a, * * 5,
Dr. W. A. ‘Davie, page 5
i3, our opinion No. O-7052, dealing with birth oertlfloatee
Of adopted children, we held aE foUoW5r
*In view of the foregoing it la our opinion that
you are njt required to rewrlte the birth osrtlfioates
of adopted ahfldren that were filed in compllanoe with
~plrion 1.;~. o-6682 (which ha8 been overruled and wlth-
drawn), unlese request therefor is made by the proper
parties. If and when suah requeet ie made by the
adoptive parent8 or other proper partie5, it la our
opinion that you should rewrite theee reaord5 80 aa to
ahow that the adoptive parenta are the parent8 of e5ld
ohildwn . In other words, the new oertlfioate, insofar
58 it relate8 to the adoptive parents, ehould be pr+
pared ln the same manner a8 you now prepere birth
oertlflaates under the provlrlons of Subeeotlonr 1 t0
24, lnolueive, of Rule 47a, Art. &,T7, V. A. C. S.
Going a little further, we do not think that the Word
*natural* 8houl.d be used berore the nan18of the father,
mother or child.*
A oamful mading of the above atatuter anC the above quote4
portions of oplnlonr OS thle department reveals that lt was never
the intention of the Legislature nor the holding of this depert-
ment that the adoptive (legal) parent or parent8 should b5 own-
5ldered as the natural parent5 of the adopted ohild. rrom the
In p8seing laws on thle very important matter, the member5
of the Legl8lature did not seek to preaorlbe a standard form of
birth oertlflaate to be used by the state Registrar ln preparing
all kinds of birth oertlfloateg,but on the oontrery they parred
Subseotlone 1 to 24, lnclueive, of Rule 478, Artlele 477,
V. A. C. S., preeorlblng Che eseentlala that muet be oontalned
ln the natural birth oertlflcate, Subseotlon 25 dealing with
the blrth oertlficate of an lllegltlmate ohild, end Subesotion
26 providing for the birth aertiflaate of an adopted ohlld, end
Other aubeeotlone enumereting the prerequleltee of a delayed
birth oertif’loa te. Stated another way, a person that ir familiar
with the birth oertifioate law8 of Texa5 aan dlotlngulrh a netural
birth oertlfloste from the birth certificate of aa adopted ohlld
or 8 delayed birth oertlfloate, for there are alwaya oertain
charaoterlstlos aontained in each birth oertlfloete that will
rdentity it. In other words, something that lo very neoeesary
for the oo5pletion of the netural birth oartlfloate will have ~0
Place ln the birth certlflaate of the adopted child or ln the
delayed birth certlflaate, or vice verse.
129
Dr. W. A. Davis, page 6
You have propounded a number of questions as to whether
the adoptive parent or parents ahould be shown es the netural
parent8 of the child in the new birth certificate, an~dr
answer to the same, we call your attention to our Opinion No.
O-7052, wherein we said that "the new certifloate, insofar a8
It relates to the adoptive parents, should be prepared in the
same manner as you now prepare birth certificates under the
provisions of SubseatiOAs 1 to 2J+, inclusive, of Rule 478,
Art. 4477, V. A. C. S." Stated another wey, in preparing the
"AatCUlal birth oertifiaate" in aooordance with the ebove men-
tioned subsections you or the Local Registrars do not use the
word vnaturaln before the name of the father, mother or child,
and if, in preparing the birth oertlfioate of an adopted ohild,
you inserted the word vnaturel e before the name of the father,
mother or ohlld you would be doing something contrary both to
the letter and spirit of the law, and what is more you would
be doing something that Is not done ln the preperetlon of a
Wnature~l birth oertifioate".
The Legisleture passed SUbaeotlOA 26 primarily for the
benefit of the adopted ahild, but in ao doing the Legislature
did not intend that the State Registrar or anyone elee shouhl
make e false statement. When you prepare a birth oertlflcate
OS an adopted ahlld lA aooordanoe with our Opinions Nos.
o-6631, O-7052 and thie opinion, you are not making a false
statement, but on the contrary, you have a birth oertifioate
thet does not oontain any statement of the adOptiOA, not even
so muoh as the word eadoption n before the Aame of the father,
mother or ahild; in addition thereto, you have e birth, oertiSi-
cete prepared in the came manner as you now prepare a WAatural
birth oertlSioateW, Insofar ea it relate8 to the parents and .
ahlld, for In suoh a aertifloate the word WAeturall~ is not
used before the name of the father, mother or ahlld.~
The foregoing answers your Questions Nos. 1,. 2, 3, 4, 5
and 7, and we answer your other qUeStiOnS es follows:
6. Inthe above discussion It will be AOted that the
adoptive parents are not shown to be the natural, erents OS-
the child, but on the aontrery, they are showns +paryts
of the child ln the Bane menner ea la dOAe in the *netura
birth oertifloete". The PrOViSiOA‘t Of Subaeotion 26 that are
applicable to your question are alear and definite, and when
a birth certifiaete is prepered IA eocordenae with the same,
we see no reason why any further explanation should be made
In the certifiaate.
Dr. W. Ai Davis; page 7
8. IA enswer to thla pueation it la our opinion that
the State tiegisltrar ha5 AO authority to use the Aam or slg-
naturs of t!ie phyoloian (who ettended the birth) on the new
birth oertiflmite without his knowledge or consent. It 15
nmndatory that the attending phyaioian’s oartifiaate be
plaoed ln the birth oertifloete pm ered In 5cOOrdaAOe
with YUb8eCtiOA5 1 to 24 (natural bPrth certifloates), but
we do not think that 5uoh a oertifioete haa any plaoe in
the birth oertifioat5 of an 5dopted child.
We tru5t that we have aatlrSaotorily answer54 your
lnqulrl55.
Yours very truly,
$e.a--+g,.
JCDlLJ 3. 0. DavIa, Jr.
Asatiitfmt