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Birth Certificates Being Revised for Same-Sex Couples’ Kids
By: Associated Press
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – More than a year after West Virginia officials began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, state birth certificates for adopted children still list “mother” and “father” next to the blanks for parents’ names.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources has said birth certificates are being revised and will be ready to be distributed early next month.
Department spokesman Toby Wagoner said this week that the process started several months ago, but software updates had caused the changes to take “some time.”
American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia attorney Jamie Lynn Crofts says inaccurate birth certificates can lead to greater scrutiny or even rejection of the birth certificates by organizations that require the birth certificate as proof of the parental relationship.