Adding a Father to the Birth Certificate

To often, Father's think that signing an Affidavit of Parentage form is all that is needed to be a 'legal father' of a child, and that there is nothing further for him to do.  Wrong!!!

Besides the issues of 'custody,' 'child support,' and 'visitation rights' that all Father's must deal with AFTER the Affidavit of Parentage form is signed, there is at least one more major issue:

If you are lucky, the Father and the Mother will co-sign an Affidavit of Parentage at the hospital, and the hospital staff will see that it is properly registered with the Central Paternity Registry (see below, for the address). Once the Affidavit is registered, the birth certificate will be issue with the Father and Mother's name on it.

Adding a Father to the Birth Certificate !

The problem occurs for many Fathers, when he is not available to sign the Affidavit at the hospital, and the Affidavit is filed . . . and the birth certificate is issued without 'any Father' listed, or 'another male' is listed as the Father.

Application to Correct a Certificate of Birth

A Father needs to understand that 'birth certificates' are not automatically changed when an Affidavit of Parentage is filed.  The one exception is when the Affidavit is completed in the hospital soon after the birth of the child, AND BEFORE the birth has been reqistered.

Changes to a registered birth record can be requested based upon a propertly completed Affidavit, BUT the birth record correction must be requested on a separate Application to Correct a Certificate of Birth.  These Applications to correct a birth certificate are available from the office of the county clerk, and from the Office of the State Registrar -ie:

Central Paternity Registry
Office of the State Registrar
Michigan Department of Community Health
P.O. Box 30195
3423 North M.L. King Blvd
Lansing, MI 48909

A birth certificate can be changed to reflect the father listed on this Affidavit of Parentage if no other man is recorded on the birth certificate as the child's father.  Should a conflict exist, a court determination of paternity may become necessary.