Friday, November 2, 2012

Stillbirth Certificate

Yesterday, I decided to order Carpenter a Stillbirth Certificate. 

Today I am more affirmed in the belief that the government is an unfeeling machine.

First, I found the vital records website, and looked up the form myself.  I easily found what I was looking for, and chose the PDF to fill out.  Except...

In plain English it says "A stillbirth certificate costs $24 for events occurring prior to 2001."  There is not another word regarding stillbirths post-2001.  So I called the phone number.  Except...

There's not even a menu option for stillbirths.  You can choose from Live Birth, Marriage, Divorce or Death.  And that's it.  So I took a gamble and chose Live Birth.  Except...

They have no clue.  I was sent on a wild-goose-chase of voicemails and automatic operators, pressing 0 all along the way, begging for a human.  I finally got a human. Except...

She had no clue.  Well, she pretended to have a clue.  And she was nice.  But clueless.  I had to read the form to her three times to get her to understand why I was concerned about the "prior to 2001" comment.  I asked her repeatedly if the certificate were still offered to families whose babies died after 2001, and she said, "I'm sure.  We get requests for those forms."  But...do you get them for babies post-2001?  She had no clue.  I thought about going ahead and getting the information I might be able to use.  Except...

My phone lost the signal.

I'm going back to bed now...right after I write to my congresswoman.

2 comments:

  1. Something similar happened to me... it's been over 3 1/2 months since Gabriel died, and I still haven't received his death/stillbirth certificate. When I tried to call to get information, the guy on the phone said he would transfer me to the right person, but instead he hung up on me. Hmmmm, maybe incompetence has something to do with the delay. I'm not sure what state you live in, but Gabriel's stillbirth certificate was around $20... I ordered it through my mortuary.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ugh, Catherine. I hope you get Gabriel's soon! An email to my congresswoman was responded to almost IMMEDIATELY, so now I know exactly what I need to do. It's only $24, and if I want it this month, it's an additional $15! Not bad at all. I guess you just have to keep going over people's heads to get answers. Hugs to you. Can't wait till we both get ours!

      Delete