Sunday, November 4, 2012

Time to Choose a Name!

As we're getting ready to welcome a baby into our home, we often get some of the same questions from our family and friends. One of them generally goes like this:

"So what are you going to name the baby? (pause, then a slightly confused look) Wait, who names the baby?"

Choosing adoption has definitely been a learning experience for us, and the same goes for everyone else in our lives as well. Who does end up naming this child, since he'll have both birth and adoptive parents? For that matter, how does the state end up recognize multiple sets of parents?

In Washington state, what happens is that a child who will be adopted is issued a birth certificate at birth just like any other child. The certificate lists the birth mother (and father, if known), just as it always does. And the birth parents do indeed name the child (if they want to, that is; otherwise the birth certificate lists the name as "Infant"). So the birth certificate is filled out just as it always would be, with no real differences that I'm aware of.

Then the adoption happens. When the adoption is finalized, a new birth certificate is issued, and the original certificate becomes a sealed record of the court. The new birth certificate lists the adoptive parents only, and it lists a name for the child of their choosing. So the adoptive parents also get to name the child.

In our case, we know that Carly already has a name picked out for this child, which will be on the original birth certificate. Brian and I are still choosing a name for ourselves, and we aren't quite sure yet what that will be. We're also considering using one of the names Carly has picked as a middle name for this child, as a way to honor his birth family. But everything's still up in the air for the moment - all we know for sure is that he's going to be a Magee!

1 comment:

  1. I'll be anxiously awaiting to hear your new son's name. Great-Grandma Lloyd asked me to pass on one "naming request" to you... "If possible, could they please make his first name short enough to fit on his family tree apple?"
    BTW, Lloyds, did you know that Aunt Lauren is soon taking over apple-making for the family tree? This week, Grandma Lloyd is giving Lauren all the apple patterns, and teaching her how to sew names on apples. They are currently making Nicki's Sept baby "Amari" apple for the tree.
    Just another week till the next apple will blossom!

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