There are laws that you will never know about until it happens to you, and unfortunately I am now aware of the laws of "birth certificates" and "death certificates" of stillborns.
A stillborn child is not issued a birth certificate. Even though the child is born, just not born breathing.
I will be issued a fetal death certificate. Because in the US, a baby is a fetus until birth, and because the baby died in utero, she is considered a fetus.
Most states do not issue any kind of birth certificate for a stillborn child. Some issue a "Stillbirth Certificate" and some issue the much more preferable "Birth Certificate resulting in Stillbirth". The state of Georgia will issue a "Birth Certificate resulting in Stillbirth" if you request one, but it is not standard, and should be.
So, to recap: my child was born. She just happened to not be breathing. To add insult to the injury of losing my sweet baby, the government does not recognize my birth, thereby not recognizing me as a mother to my baby girl. Even though my body bears the scars of a birth, my breasts are making milk for the baby born still into my arms and my arms ache to hold the baby I carried for 7 months, I am not a mother.
I am a mother of two and will be until the day I have more children, no matter what our government says.
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2 comments:
Damn right.
I was going to say exactly what she said.
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