Urgent Prayer Request: Birth Certificate

Here’s the scoop:

As we were told by our adoption agency, Anna Zane was born in the car en route to the hospital. The ambulance arrived roughly 10-15 minutes after she was born. Anna, along with her birthparents, was taken to the hospital. Upon arriving, her birthparents informed the nurse they were choosing adoption for Anna. The hospital caseworker then phoned Hope Cottage. After 48 hours, the birthparents relinquished their rights and Hope Cottage became the conservators/legal guardians for Anna.

Unbeknownst to Hope Cottage, the hospital gave Anna’s birthmother paperwork for her to complete to file Anna’s birth certificate. The hospital cannot file that paperwork because Anna was not technically born in the hospital. Her birthmother never completed the paperwork. Hope Cottage never filed for the birth certificate because they assumed the hospital filed since that is usually what happens.

Fast-forward six months. Anna’s adoption in finalized on September 30; we become Anna’s legal parents, her name is legally changed to Anna Zane Youree. At that point, we filed for an amended birth certificate. It took FOUR months for the state to notify us that no original birth certificate was ever filed; and thus, we cannot receive an amended one.

We’ve called the state offices. The hospital. The adoption agency. And everyone says someone else should take care of it. Today, after spending more time than I cared to, at the vital statistics office of Dallas County, we were told as far as they knew we, as adopted parents couldn’t file the birth certificate. And if we did not have the information about the actual birth, including the street on which Anna was born, a birth certificate could never be filed for her. But they have left messages with the “bosses” in Austin to figure out who has the legal right to file an original birth certificate for Anna now that the adoption has been finalized, if one can be filed at all.

Anna can’t secure a SS card, a bank account, virtually anything without a birth certificate. It’s like she’s not even a citizen of this country!

To top it off, if we do not get this resolved before her first birthday on February 17, extensive legal ramifications will occur. Not only will the red tape increase, along with the cost, but—as we’ve been told—Anna will never be allowed to obtain a passport. She could never leave the country.

As you might imagine we are experiencing a number of emotions: anxiety, anger, frustration, and fear. Oh, how I wish my faith felt stronger.

Please, please join us in prayer for a timely resolution and the ability to file Anna’s birth certificate.