[Chickensoup]

in adoption, the orignial birth certificate is sealed and a new certificate is issued with the adopting parents names. Even if you adopt a ten year old and were not married then the child’s birth certificate would reflect you as parents.

It is a legal fiction.

[kdot]

thanks for the clarification. It seems that the document isn’t a certificate of birth, rather one of ownership, like a title to a house listing the current owners.