Undocumented Dads Can't Be on Birth Certificates Except in 5 States

Recently, a story broke in Tennessee that called attention to a growing problem across the country. Unmarried couples where the father is undocumented, are not able to put the father's name on their child's birth certificate.

The woman that is bringing this issue to light is Stephanie Hernandez, a young mother that has suddenly found herself in the middle of the immigration debate.

It started with the birth of her daughter Christina. The joy of Stephanie and her then-fiance turned to dismay when they were told his name could not appear on baby Christina's birth certificate.

They were told it wasn't just a hospital policy, it was state law. The law requires unmarried fathers to present government-issued identification or proof they're in the country legally to be listed on birth certificates.

The father had documentation in the form of a state issued driving license up until 2006 when the state they live in, Tennessee stopped issuing driving certificates to illegal immigrants.

Stephanie, the baby's mother, is a U.S. citizen who works in hospice care, said she doesn't see the correlation between immigration status and fatherhood.

"Now my daughter has a father who loves her and no legal rights where she is concerned, no legal responsibility and no legal recognition that he gave her life," she said.

Statistics show the changes in the birth certificates: since the change in the driving certificate program, overall birth certificates issued for black, white and Asian infants grew 3 percent, and the number of birth certificates issued without a father's name grew 10 percent. Birth certificates issued for Hispanic infants grew 12 percent and incomplete birth certificates grew by just over 30 percent. Birth certificate data from 2007 has not been made public yet but the statistics are expected to have gone up.

Under state Health Department policy, when a child is born to unwed parents, fathers have the option to voluntarily acknowledge paternity — a necessity if the child is to bear the father's last name and his name is to appear on the birth certificate.

An unmarried father must complete a notarized form. But under state law, notaries can't put their seal to a document unless they personally know the individual or he can present a U.S. military or state-issued ID or a foreign-government issued passport with proof of legal entry.

The combination of state policies and rules meant Hernandez's daughter had to be given her last name at the time of the birth, Rodriguez.

All but five states — Hawaii, Maryland, New Mexico, Washington and Utah — require proof of citizenship or lawful presence in the U.S. to obtain a driver's license.

Stephanie and her child's father went to Kentucky where marriage licenses can be issued without proof of immigration status and tied the knot thinking that a legal marriage would do the trick to get his name on the birth certificate.

Once back in Tennessee they were told by the staff at the state's vital records office that proof of the couple's marriage wasn't enough for him to be listed on the birth certificate. The couple, the staff said, could get a paternity test and go to court to have Hernandez's husband named the child's legal father and the child's last name changed.

Stephanie said,"That's something we're certainly thinking about, we want … her daddy's name on her birth certificate and for her daddy to be recognized by the state. But we are going to have think about it, and I guess save some money to make that happen."