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 rela 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 adoption 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 natural 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 parent@ be ahown aa the natural parenta in oontradiotion 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 QXI the raoord 

a8 the natural parante, you have two oertiiloataa fllad aide by eldo whloh are oontredlotory 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 Oertlfloate 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 ahowing th% adopting parents without hir knowledge 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 addreaaen 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 eubaequent 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 Regiatrar of Vital Statistloe shall restore ths original 

name of the child and the nanea of hi8 natural parenta 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 rsgietered 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 efrldavit 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 oartlfioate 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 reoeives an adoption decree, he should file a oertifioete of the birth ti the neftr name or nemss of the 

adoptin& parent or paparents ln whloh them la no 

statement of the ado 

26 of Rule 47a, * * 5, tlon, as nquired ih subdlvis1on 
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 wlthdrawn), 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 nan18 of 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 depertment that the adoptive (legal) parent or parent8 should b5 own5ldered 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 mentioned 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, oertiSicete 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 OSthe 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 slgnaturs 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 

with YUb8eCtiOA5 1 to 24 (natural b P 

ered In 5cOOrdaAOe 

rth 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, 

JCDlLJ 

$e.a--+g,. 

3. 0. DavIa, Jr. 

Asatiitfmt