Spelling mistake on birth certificate

[HopeTF]

Hi all,

I received a letter today to say that my name is spelt wrong on the birth certificate of my son. One letter has been missed of my surname. I have to pay £99 to correct it. I’m really upset that myself and my husband didn’t notice on the day, but being two weeks postpartum on no sleep I think it’s a bit unfair that it’s up to us to notice mistakes!

It said on the letter that only a note gets added to the bottom with the correction- I’m absolutely heartbroken that my name will forever be spelt incorrectly on his birth certificate.

Has anyone had this happen to them? Do you really not get a copy with the correction on it?

Thank you.

This. When we had to register a death (which is a similar process to a birth) we were asked to check it all before it was issued. If you didn’t bother reading it before leaving, that’s on you.

The registrar gives a copy of the register page to the new parents/s to check before asking them to sign in a box that clearly states that the person/s signing the document is confirming the information on the document is true and correct to the best of their knowledge and belief.
Same for Births, Deaths and Marriages.
The registrar also tells everyone that they must check everything is correct before signing and the fee payable if a mistake later needs correcting.
New parents have 42 days to register the births, so yes maybe tired etc BUT deaths have to registered within 5 days, so it could be argued that registration of deaths of loved ones is more stressful.
Any mistakes that are corrected are added to the bottom of the certificate and reprinted with the changes.
I know this because I have recently spent way too much time in my local Register Office for family arrivals and departures!

Honestly, I know it feels a big deal now but even if it remains a note, it becomes part of your family story.

It's like the holidays that are a disaster or the day dad forgot to take the turkey out to defrost at Christmas. At the time they seem awful but over the years you get more mileage out of them than anything that went right

My mum was annoyed that my dad registered us and was too tight to pay for the full sized certificate. But now when I see it it makes me laugh and I remember him more so than if he'd just got the right one.

You have a lovely new baby. Just enjoy that and in the future you'll laugh with your child that they kept you awake so much you forgot your own name!

@JayBirdBlue can I ask what the mistake was on your DS birth certificate please? X

My mum registered me at he hospital, and even she didn't get a full certificate so I don't know if her name or my father's are correct.

I suppose it is one up on her's, which doesn't even have a name on it - just surname, district and registration number with "girl".

First Passport applications changed the rules and required a full certificate - my husband failed to get one for DDs so I had to get one later. I thought about getting a full certificate for myself, but it didn't seem worth the bother as I have never needed one.

My long form handwritten birth certificate was signed by the registrar and dated 63 years before I was born 🤔
The short form doesn't have this mistake
I don't think anyone noticed until I did as a teenager

It was DH’s place of birth, the country was incorrect- long story!
They added a note to the register and re-printed the certificate with the correct details, so we had 2x certificates for him

Thank you for those of you who sent nice replies to cheer me up and those answered my query. It is much appreciated!

I’m going to delete the original post now as some people have just replied to try to make me feel bad about the situation and blame me. I said in my post that I was upset that I hadn’t noticed it myself- I never blamed anyone and realise I also made an error when registering the birth. I merely asked about what the new certificate would look like. To question why I was upset and to state that I ‘did not bother to check’ was not necessary nor kind.

I joined Mumsnet as an anxious first time mum hoping it would be a platform to support each other but it doesn’t appear that’s what it is for, and people like to use it to bring others down.

Thank you again to those who sent helpful replies for your kindness.

This
we were told by the registrar to check and double check, because once we had left the office, it could not be changed

@Hummusanddipdip what do you mean you've got to register your kids births because you are getting g married?

Who is telling you to do that?

I didn't think that was possible. Or necessary.

Presumably you were an unmarried mum when your kids were born? So how/why can you change that retrospectively if you get married?

It's to do with your status at the time.

This is so true.

I can conpletely understand the feeling of wanting everything to be perfect, especially with things connected to a new baby. But with time you realise that it's really not important.

Our marriage certificate was wrong in two places (it had our address wrong [think road/street sort of confusion] and another thing that I don't remember now) and the certificate was reissued correctly but they also updated the original ones with an asterisk footnote. Tbh I prefer the "original" ones with the footnotes rather than the updated copies because the true signatures from the witnesses are both there rather than just copied across by the vicar at a later date and it adds to the story of our wedding.

In terms of the birth certificate, I would assume it'd be similar. However if it's not then it honestly will not matter even though it feels a massive deal now. It can just be added to the birth story as a "oh how sleep deprived were we" sort of tale. My husband's mum's maiden name is also spelt wrong on his because his dad registered the birth and didn't notice. They didn't bother to correct it at a later date though, so it's just a nice little 'oh yes, it'll be incorrect in the BDM register for future generations to comment on' sort of thing which is bought up from time to time, it hasn't had any other impact on his life at approaching 40.

For some reason unknown to me you a "required" to reregister them once you're married. I'm sure there's a reason but it makes no sense to me either

www.gov.uk/government/publications/application-to-re-register-a-childs-birth-following-marriage-of-natural-parents#:~:text=Details,re%2Dregister%20your%20child%27s%20birth.

I've seen this before with a death certificate. They added a note with the correction at the bottom of the certificate. They didn't change the main body of the certificate, so the error was still visible.

Yes, it is possible, and it is necessary.

Legitimacy Act 1976 Section 9 requires parents to re-register the child's birth if the parents marry each other or enter a civil partnership with each other after the child is born. The birth must be re-registered within 3 months of the marriage/civil partnership. Failure to re-register the birth is a criminal offence. However, I wouldn't worry too much about it. The maximum penalty is a £2 fine.

Op wants this deleted, but it has actually been a very good thread, very balanced, lots of very helpful legal advice. Op has misunderstood the comments and her anxiety has made her think mn is not welcoming, when it actually is.

As others have said its a legal requirement. Its to do with making your children "legitimate" completely antiquated, but that's this country to a tee, so many old fashioned things we do "just because"

Just for clarity, a child born out of wedlock is legitimated if the parents marry regardless of whether the birth is re-registered. In any case, whether a child is legitimate is irrelevant in the UK for everything except hereditary titles. An illegitimate child has the same rights of inheritance as a legitimate child.

I'd read the wording on that link to mean that if you want to add the father's details to the registration following marriage / civil partnership, then you need to re-register the birth.

So, if the father's details were added at the time of the birth, despite the parents not being married, then there's no need to re-register.

This sounds scammy to me.

Who sent the letter and why? I'd pop into the registry office with it and ask for it to be put right in person rather than send money to a random link. It may well be genuine and obviously upsetting if it's just a note on the bottom of the certificate.

Its not a scam the question is really whether it's reasonable for the fee to be enforced in every case rather than allowing some common sense in the case of new parents who could understandably not notice a mistake there and then

That is wrong. The law requires the parents to re-register the birth if they subsequently marry even if the father was named on the original birth certificate.

It is, by the way, one of our more pointless laws as re-registering the birth makes absolutely no difference to anything and, given that the fine for non-compliance is only £2, it is highly unlikely the authorities would ever enforce it. But it is the law.

I think it's to do with them being "children of the marriage" which is some sort of out of date law from the dark ages I expect

I'm not sure 1976 qualifies as the dark ages!