My husband is a WASP born in the U.S.--And has no birth certificate.

[Rozlee]

Well, he does. Sort of. My husband is 20 years older than I am. He's a typical Anglo Protestant (lapsed). He was born at home in the 40s. Back then, many people who were delivered at home by midwives or relatives in rural areas usually had their parents trot over to the post office where the postmaster would have them fill out the baby's birth certificate in front of a couple of witnesses. From there, it would be sent to the state's capital for authentification. Back then in those small towns, everyone knew everyone else, so the postmaster pretty much knew that the new arrival was a legit citizen of the U.S. There was a county clerk's office in city courthouses that did the same in larger cities, I'm told. Sometimes, if a doctor delivered the baby and didn't have any blank birth certificates, he'd just send the families to the postmaster or court house to do the same. Or baptismal certificates could be used to get birth certificates in many cases. Even I lucked out and I'm Hispanic. I was delivered at home and the doctor who delivered me got me a birth certificate--the long form. My poor husband got a birth certificate by affidavit from a postmaster.

I wonder what would happen if he was running for national office with such a document nowadays? Probably nothing. He's a white dude. Then, again, he's a liberal Democrat. They'd probably say he was a Kenyan.

But, it makes me wonder. It makes me wonder how many of those birthers running around in the over 65 crowd might have their own birth certificates by affidavit. Being born in hospitals pre WWII was about 56%. By the 1950s, it was up to 88%.

My husband is a citizen of the U.S. But, don't tell some birthers that. He really can't prove it.

[pipi_k]

1. I had a problem searching for info on an ancestor for the same reason

On my mom's side...her grandfather, I think

Anyway, he was born at home in rural VT over 100 years ago and there's no real information on his birth.

I do have a military card showing his birthdate, but even that doesn't help, as there are also two other records that show two different dates, PLUS different years.

I've written to the town where he was born and haven't had much luck.

[dragonlady]

2. This may also be a problem for voting

In Wisconsin, the pending bill for voter ID requires a Wisconsin driver's license or state ID card, and you need a birth certificate to get one of those.