When did you write? Because if you are adopted (or a parent was adopted, like my dad in 1945), you will not get the original long form certificate with the right info on it. No - what you will get is a doctored certificate. My dad's cert came back with his ADOPTED mother as his mother and HER maiden name. Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was a representative from Delaware County, Stephen Freind, who was an anti-choice zealot. (That was his entire platform, all he talked about; he didn't even believe in birth control.) He even claimed that rape victims can't get pregnant because fear unleases this anti-spermicide (No, I am NOT kidding - this fanatic believed this. The statement got him defeated when he ran for re-election.) Anyway, this individual believed that if adoptees and other could get information, somehow it would increase the number of abortions...and he helped to tighten the rules on all documents, etc. I tried getting copies of my dad's Philadelphia adoption papers two years ago and was rebuffed. And my dad has been deceased since 1989. So, in Pennsylvania, you CANNOT get a birth certificate with the correct info on it if you are adopted. Just more fairytales and what Big Brother wants you to find out. Terry C NJ n a message dated 29/09/2002 2:02:47 AM Eastern Daylight Time, PAWYOMIN-D-request@rootsweb.com writes: > X-Message: #1 > Date: Sat, 28 Sep 2002 13:35:36 EDT > From: TDavittcor@aol.com > To: PAWYOMIN-L@rootsweb.com > Message-ID: <11b.174967e5.2ac74268@aol.com> > Subject: Re: [PAWYOMIN-L] Information > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" > Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Hello--- don't know if you ever got the info you were hoping for, but I am > an > adult adoptee (now 62) who was able to use a very liberal law in PA at that > > time (26 years ago) but one had to know one's original birth name, then the > > date and place of birth. It almost seemed like a Catch-22, but I did have > that info, and did find my family that way. > > All I had to do was to write to Harrisburg's Department of Vital Statistics > > (or whatever that gov't agency calls itself) and then send $3! They sent me > a > copy of my original long-form birth cert, which had my mother's name and > approx age, and so on. > > Don't know if that was only a brief window of opportunity or not, but you > might check into it, as you seem to have more info than most adoptees. Good > > Luck! Theadora >