Undocumented Fathers Treated Differently Than Undocumented Mothers

http://fathersandfamiliesblog.org/?p=623

Undocumented Fathers Treated Differently Than Undocumented Mothers
June 10th, 2008 by Ned Holstein, MD, MS
Nashville, TE-Stephanie Hernandez gave birth to a baby girl in Nashville's
Baptist Hospital on August 31, 2007. She was not married at the time. No
father's name was listed on the birth certificate, meaning that the father
had no legal paternity rights or obligations.

Deadbeat Dad? Nope. Her fiance, whom she later married, was at her side the
entire time. Hernandez, a US citizen, and her undocumented immigrant fiance,
were prevented from placing his name on the birth certificate by Tennessee
law. The law requires an unmarried dad to produce government-issued ID to
appear on the birth certificate, but this is denied to undocumented
immigrants.

Meanwhile, Tennessee appears to have no qualms about immigration status when
it comes to child support collections. Calls to a local child support office
and a Tennessee observer knowledgeable about these issues confirmed that an
undocumented mother can indeed collect child support.

We also learned that all Tennessee mothers are automatically listed on the
birth certificate, regardless of immigrant status. And, marriage status
operates on an honor system - birthing couples are not asked by hospitals to
produce a marriage certificate. Both names are placed on the birth
certificate, no questions asked. Thus, the problem starts with the
assumption of a lesser status for the unmarried father.

Claiming paternity, beyond the usual reasons, is also necessary if the
unmarried couple wants the child to assume the father's last name. The
problem for undocumented fathers in Tennessee is that they can't get a
notary's stamp without proper identification. And the state now bars
undocumented individuals from getting driver's licenses, which would have
satisfied the notary requirements.

The end result? Said Hernandez, "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." (The Tennessean, 6/1/2008)

In the same article, Vanderbilt University sociologist Katherine Donato
states, "What they are doing is constructing paternity around legal
[immigration] status."

Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the Tennessee chapter of the American
Civil Liberties Union, states in the article, "Do people really think there
are men sneaking into delivery rooms wanting to claim paternity?" . "What
you will have is fathers with no access to their children's school records,
health records or being formally involved in their lives."

Since the change in policy, Tennessee birth certificates without a father's
name have increased by 10%.

While we take no position on the broader immigration debate in the US, we
absolutely believe that mothers and fathers should be treated the same under
the law in almost every respect. And, we believe that state and other
governmental entities are far too quick to insert government power into the
family, as most parents who've been through family court can attest all too
well.

Stephanie Hernandez subsequently married the father, but the marriage
certificate is still not good enough for Tennessee's vital records office to
put Dad's name on the birth certificate. Their remedy for the family? Get a
paternity test and then petition family court to establish paternity and to
change the child's last name.