A child adopted abroad by Tennessee parents may obtain a report of foreign birth from the Tennessee Department of Vital Records. That is not new. Note, immigration is top of mind just now, that a Tennessee adoption of a child born abroad requires proof of the child’s lawful immigration to the United States.
A report of foreign birth is not a birth certificate. But it is an identity document issued by the state that contains all the information usually on a birth certificate, and it is in the format and language that ID-requesting entities in Tennessee have come to expect.
Most families adopting children born abroad have the child’s original birth certificate from the country of birth, and many also have a translated copy of the original birth certificate. But these documents usually still list the birth parent as the child’s parents rather than the adoptive parents.
In many countries of birth, it may be possible to have the original birth certificate amended to reflect the change in parentage. But engaging with the bureaucracy and legal process in a country where you don’t know the language or understand the government processes, and asking them to recognize a Tennessee court order is a lot. When they initially adopted, they had an adoption agency paid and motivated to help with each step. And for most families, amending the original birth certificate is either impossible or just too expensive and difficult. Fortunately, it is also not necessary.
Post-adoption Tennessee families obtain and use the report of foreign birth for most purposes and the original birth certificate and Tennessee adoption decree together for everything else. For the Tennessee adoptive parents of children born abroad that I represent, this has worked fine. Note, however, that the special form for the purpose of obtaining a report of foreign birth is no longer used. The Certificate of Adoption form used in all other Tennessee adoptions PH-1248 (Rev 10/24) is now used to request a report of foreign birth when a Tennessee family adopts a child born abroad. Preparation and submission of this document is part of the role of the attorney completing the Tennessee adoption.
Thank you for helping Tennessee’s children and families,
Dawn Coppock
T.C.A. § 68-3-312 New certificate of birth – Certificate of adoption
(f) For a person not born in any state, territory, or possession of the United States whose adoptive parents are residents of this state, the state registrar shall issue a Report of Foreign Birth upon receipt of a certified copy of the order of adoption or recognition with the certified certificate of adoption.
