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The first time that I saw my adopted stepson’s amended birth certificate you could have knocked me over with a feather. There was just something too surreal about such an official record stating that I had given birth to a child in a hospital I have never even seen, let alone given birth in! Even though I knew that we would receive an amended birth certificate once the adoption had been completed, it still just seemed so, well odd.
Don’t get me wrong; I was thrilled to be on the document. To see my name listed as the mother, and to finally be able to hold in my hand the document that truly said we were legally what we had been emotionally for so long, mother and son. But there are admittedly some mixed feelings upon seeing the certificate as well.
Part of me honestly struggled with the fact that this official paper states that I gave birth to him, that I was there on that day, when in fact I was not. I am proud of the fact that I adopted him, that we have been able to come together as a family despite the fact that we were not a biological family. I do not pretend that I am his only mother; I am the only mother who is raising him.
I am glad that we have both an original and amended copy of his birth certificate. They are both a part of his history, as well as our history as a family. How did you feel upon seeing your child’s amended birth certificate for the first time? Did you have a rush of emotions, joy, and excitement, overwhelmed perhaps? Or did it stun you into silence and awe?
In awe descibes it exactly (though I am rarely silent). Finally he was mine and I was his. It was a much more intense feeling than the Final Order of Adoption. The pretend part was so much more obvious, it was single father adoption and the line for mother was blank. My kids all came home as older kids, so seeing the amended certificate was a big deal for them also. John