I am the adoptive mother of a child born in Guatemala to parents who were unknown to anyone, including the Guatemalan courts. My child's birth name was given to him by the court system and is not his legal name now. Why would I use it at all although I see no harm in putting it in an AKA or in notes? When we adopted our son, the Guatemalan adoption decree changed his name to his Spanish given names with my surname and my husband's surname shown as his last name in the Hispanic fashion. That became his legal name. However, he used the given names we gave him plus just our surname until this began to cause problems with working, getting a driver's license, etc. At that time we did a legal name change.
However, our son's situation is atypical. In domestic adoptions a new birth certificate is issued, showing the name given to the child by his adoptive parents and showing them as the parents. Legally the original name is irrelevant. I know that genealogists focused on blood lines find this hard to understand. Actually it is possible to change a child's birth date as well. This is sometimes done with internationally adopted children who are delayed developmentally because of early deprivation. Just as the name can be changed, so can the birth date. In addition, there are internationally adopted children whose exact ages are not known and for whom a date of birth must be assigned. I think that there are many in the adoption community who would be offended by the birth name being shown as the primary or "real" name. Practically and legally, it is the adoptive name that counts. Sara On 9/14/07, ronald ferguson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Dermot, > > It rather depends on what the person (if alive) would wish. Generally I > would use the birth name as the proper name and the adopted (or step) name > as the AKA. Years ago, of course, UK adoption in the legal sense was not > common and one would see "adopted" kids using their birth name when on their > marriage papers. > > I would have no problems doing it the other way round (and do) and in both > cases I make notes to say what the position actually is. > > Ron Ferguson > > > > _____________________________________________________________________ > > For Genealogy, Software and Social visit: > http://www.fergys.co.uk > *Over 650 Surnames from 11 Countries* > View the Grimshaw Family Tree at: > http://www.fergys.co.uk/Grimshaw/ > For The Fergusons of N.W. England See: > http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/fergys/ > _____________________________________________________________________ > > > > > > >From: "Dermot McGlone" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Reply-To: LegacyUserGroup@legacyfamilytree.com > >To: LegacyUserGroup@LegacyFamilyTree.com > >Subject: [LegacyUG] How to enter details of adopted children > >Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:07:04 +0100 > > > >Following a few e-mails regarding how (in Legacy) to deal with adopted > >children and those with more than one set of parents, I've had a look > >at a few in my records. I've got one person who was "given up" for > >adoption at birth. He is listed on ym database under his adopted > >name, with the name his birth mother gave him (his first name and her > >surname) listed as an AKA. This person is still alive as is his birth > >mother, they have made contact about 7 years ago, but she, and the > >rest of her family (which includes me!), now call him by his adopted > >name rather than the name given to him at birth. > > > >I'm just wondering how others on this list would deal with a situation > >like this, i.e., which name you would list as the "correct" name and > >which as an AKA, and the reasons why you would do this. > > > >Regards, > > > >Dermot. > > _________________________________________________________________ > The next generation of Hotmail is here! http://www.newhotmail.co.uk > > > > > Legacy User Group guidelines: > http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp > Archived messages: > http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyfamilytree.com/ > Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp > To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp > > > Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyfamilytree.com/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
