Is falsifying a name as serious as falsifying medical information?

Question

In light of a previous question I would like input on falsification. Is it really that important to name the father if all the medical information on the father's side is filled in and accurate? Can you please explain your reasoning.

Answer 1

dre day

Answer 2

I do think it's important.  I think a child should know where he or she comes from.  The truth of the matter is that medical information is important, but it's not the core of the issue.  Deep down, even if I had no medical problems at all, I need to know where I come from.  (Please note, I said "I.")  It is everyone's right to know where they come from.  If someone doesn't want to, they don't have to.  But if someone does want to, they shouldn't be lied to.  

I know that sometimes, people think we can protect our loved ones from harm.  We may lie or hide things from them, "for their own good."  But it rarely works out that way.  Honesty is important.  For children, if they aren't dealt with honestly, they can grow up mistrustful.  But lying to an adult (who has access to his or her records), in order to protect them, is to continue to treat him or her like a child.  

Is it as serious?  I don't know.  I think people lie (about all kinds of things) with good intentions.  But in general, I don't think they should.  People deserve the truth, even if it hurts.  When we lie to others to protect them, what we really do is substitute our own judgment for theirs.  We take away their freedom of choice.  In general, we ought not do that.

Answer 3

Leaving it blank would not be falsification  but putting a false name on otherwise accurate medical information casts doubt on all of it.

Answer 4

remember the story i told you about calling the name you put on my birth cert? little old lady answers, that was her husband, he had died and the family was over before the funeral? yea, right at the same time i call. she apologized to me. talk about feeling like an a**!

is it worse? i dont know. i lucked out so much during all this its hard for me to be objective.

i know the others wont understand, but i know why you lied, you did me a favor. i know that. we are a rare case, as you know. it is wrong on almost every other case except ours. who knows what would have happened had you been honest.

no matter what answers come from this question, i still thank you for what you did

Answer 5

Yeah, it's called FRAUD.

Answer 6

names are important to trace your ancestry. All countries except the US and somalia honor child rights to their ancestry.

Answer 7

It may be situational ethics and inherently wrong in a way, but if the dad was really abusive and another man was willing to go along with the deception to protect the child, I'd probably do it.

Answer 8

It will be difficult if not impossible to locate bio family on the dad's side if the kid doesn't know the dad's name.

The kid will probably resent the birth mum for not telling if she does know.

If she doesn't know, it doesn't look good for her. If she does know, I believe the child has a right to know both of his or her parents.

Medical information can change. When I met my birth dad, I found out some more medical info that I need to know, from conditions that he and his family had since developed. If I hadn't met him, I wouldn't have known that and would have been at higher risk of getting those conditions. Now I know what they are, I know how to avoid them &, and if I do get them, at least I've been warned, which makes it easier for doctors to diagnose it.

Answer 9

Having medical information filled out is not good enough.  Medical information changes.  What's true today will in all likelihood be different in 20, 30 or 40 years.  

Naming someone other than the father as the father on a birth certificate can lead to more problems.  For one thing, the incorrect medical information can later be shared.  Further, if a child grows up without his/her father, but later meets with the man whose name is on the birth certificate, both s/he and the alleged father will believe they have a relationship that is not the case.  One little lie has now significantly affected not only these two people, but the various family members of them as well.  

This sort of dishonesty also affects many more people other than adopted people.  Children whose parents split up before the birth and where the father may not know about the pregnancy, along with other circumstances where the father may be entirely out of the picture can all be affected by this sort of action.  

Ethically, it is wrong to put a false father's name or no name on the birth certificate.  If a woman knows the father's name, then leaving the space for "father's name" blank is a lie, too.  It is a lie of omission, and is just as unethical as a lie of commission.

Answer 10

Falsifying is like a sin.  There's no little or big sin, sin is sin.  A lie is a lie.  Breaking the law is breaking the law.

Answer 11

There are some isolated situations in which it might be in the best interest to name a different birthfather, such as a history of severe domestic abuse or severe drug addiction in which a birthfather is threatening to disrupt the adoption plan by seeking custody (yes, it has happened!).  But generally speaking, it is not a good idea at all.  It deprives a child from what is rightfully theirs -- the truth about who their bio parents are.  I have worked with several birthmothers who have attempted to falsify the birthfather identify, and a couple who actually did.  One case ended up in court for two years, nearly bankrupting the agency, nearly breaking the adoptive parents mentally, nearly devastating the birthmother, and most importantly -- nearly putting the child permanently in the custody of a violent, unemployed felon who was his    birthfather.  You see, not all judges, and certainly not many juries, understand the concept of "best interest" of the child.  Instead, you hear things in court like "blood is thicker than water" and similar limiting mentalities.  In this case, the child luckily stayed with the parents who were the most appropriate, and the birthmother was grateful that despite her purposefully naming the wrong birthfather to avoid a hassle, the baby remained with the parents she chose for him.

Answer 12

While I agree with LaurieDB, I would like to add that some states do not allow the unmarried mother to put the father's name on the birth certificate.  Most states didn't allow it, I think, until the late 1980s. So, the omission of the father's name may not be a choice.