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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6549
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 3928
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduced by:
(PH)
AN ACT CONCERNING AM ENDMENTS TO MARRIAGE
CERTIFICATES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subdivision (10) of section 7-36 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 2
1, 2021): 3
(10) "Amendment" means to (A) change or enter new information on 4
a certificate of birth, marriage, death or fetal death, more than one year 5
after the date of the vital event recorded in such certificate, in order to 6
accurately reflect the facts existing at the time of the recording of the 7
event, (B) create a replacement certificate of birth for matters pertaining 8
to parentage and gender change, [or] (C) create a replacement certificate 9
of marriage for matters pertaining to gender change, or (D) reflect a legal 10
name change in accordance with section 19a-42, as amended by this act, 11
or make a modification to a cause of death; 12
Sec. 2. Section 19a-42 of the general statutes is repealed and the 13
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021): 14 Raised Bill No. 6549
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(a) To protect the integrity and accuracy of vital records, a certificate 15
registered under chapter 93 may be amended only in accordance with 16
sections 19a-41 to 19a-45, inclusive, chapter 93, regulations adopted by 17
the Commissioner of Public Health pursuant to chapter 54 and uniform 18
procedures prescribed by the commissioner. Only the commissioner 19
may amend birth certificates to reflect changes concerning parentage, or 20
birth or marriage certificates to reflect changes concerning gender 21
change. Amendments related to parentage or gender change shall result 22
in the creation of a replacement certificate that supersedes the original, 23
and shall in no way reveal the original language changed by the 24
amendment. Any amendment to a vital record made by the registrar of 25
vital statistics of the town in which the vital event occurred or by the 26
commissioner shall be in accordance with such regulations and uniform 27
procedures. 28
(b) The commissioner and the registrar of vital statistics shall 29
maintain sufficient documentation, as prescribed by the commissioner, 30
to support amendments and shall ensure the confidentiality of such 31
documentation as required by law. The date of amendment and a 32
summary description of the evidence submitted in support of the 33
amendment shall be endorsed on or made part of the record and the 34
original certificate shall be marked "Amended", except for amendments 35
due to parentage or gender change. When the registrar of the town in 36
which the vital event occurred amends a certificate, such registrar shall, 37
within ten days of making such amendment, forward an amended 38
certificate to the commissioner and to any registrar having a copy of the 39
certificate. When the commissioner amends a birth certificate, including 40
changes due to parentage or gender, the commissioner shall forward an 41
amended certificate to the registrars of vital statistics affected and their 42
records shall be amended accordingly. 43
(c) An amended certificate shall supersede the original certificate that 44
has been changed and shall be marked "Amended", except for 45
amendments due to parentage or gender change. The original certificate 46
in the case of parentage or gender change shall be physically or 47
electronically sealed and kept in a confidential file by the department 48 Raised Bill No. 6549
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and the registrar of any town in which the birth was recorded, and may 49
be unsealed for issuance only as provided in section 7-53 or upon a 50
written order of a court of competent jurisdiction. The amended 51
certificate shall become the official record. 52
(d) (1) Upon receipt of (A) an acknowledgment of paternity executed 53
in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of section 46b-172 by 54
both parents of a child born out of wedlock, or (B) a certified copy of an 55
order of a court of competent jurisdiction establishing the paternity of a 56
child born out of wedlock, the commissioner shall include on or amend, 57
as appropriate, such child's birth certificate to show such paternity if 58
paternity is not already shown on such birth certificate and to change 59
the name of the child under eighteen years of age if so indicated on the 60
acknowledgment of paternity form or within the certified court order as 61
part of the paternity action. If a person who is the subject of a voluntary 62
acknowledgment of paternity, as described in this subdivision, is 63
eighteen years of age or older, the commissioner shall obtain a notarized 64
affidavit from such person affirming that he or she agrees to the 65
commissioner's amendment of such person's birth certificate as such 66
amendment relates to the acknowledgment of paternity. The 67
commissioner shall amend the birth certificate for an adult child to 68
change his or her name only pursuant to a court order. 69
(2) If another father is listed on the birth certificate, the commissioner 70
shall not remove or replace the father's information unless presented 71
with a certified court order that meets the requirements specified in 72
section 7-50, or upon the proper filing of a rescission, in accordance with 73
the provisions of section 46b-172. The commissioner shall thereafter 74
amend such child's birth certificate to remove or change the father's 75
name and to change the name of the child, as requested at the time of 76
the filing of a rescission, in accordance with the provisions of section 77
46b-172. Birth certificates amended under this subsection shall not be 78
marked "Amended". 79
(e) When the parent or parents of a child request the amendment of 80
the child's birth certificate to reflect a new mother's name because the 81 Raised Bill No. 6549
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name on the original certificate is fictitious, such parent or parents shall 82
obtain an order of a court of competent jurisdiction declaring the 83
putative mother to be the child's mother. Upon receipt of a certified copy 84
of such order, the department shall amend the child's birth certificate to 85
reflect the mother's true name. 86
(f) Upon receipt of a certified copy of an order of a court of competent 87
jurisdiction changing the name of a person born in this state and upon 88
request of such person or such person's parents, guardian, or legal 89
representative, the commissioner or the registrar of vital statistics of the 90
town in which the vital event occurred shall amend the birth certificate 91
to show the new name by a method prescribed by the department. 92
(g) When an applicant submits the documentation required by the 93
regulations to amend a vital record, the commissioner shall hold a 94
hearing, in accordance with chapter 54, if the commissioner has 95
reasonable cause to doubt the validity or adequacy of such 96
documentation. 97
(h) When an amendment under this section involves the changing of 98
existing language on a death certificate due to an error pertaining to the 99
cause of death, the death certificate shall be amended in such a manner 100
that the original language is still visible. A copy of the death certificate 101
shall be made. The original death certificate shall be sealed and kept in 102
a confidential file at the department and only the commissioner may 103
order it unsealed. The copy shall be amended in such a manner that the 104
language to be changed is no longer visible. The copy shall be a public 105
document. 106
(i) The commissioner shall issue a new birth certificate to reflect a 107
gender change upon receipt of the following documents submitted in 108
the form and manner prescribed by the commissioner: (1) A written 109
request from the applicant, signed under penalty of law, for a 110
replacement birth certificate to reflect that the applicant's gender differs 111
from the sex designated on the original birth certificate; (2) a notarized 112
affidavit by a physician licensed pursuant to chapter 370 or holding a 113 Raised Bill No. 6549
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current license in good standing in another state, an advanced practice 114
registered nurse licensed pursuant to chapter 378 or holding a current 115
license in good standing in another state, or a psychologist licensed 116
pursuant to chapter 383 or holding a current license in good standing in 117
another state, stating that the applicant has undergone surgical, 118
hormonal or other treatment clinically appropriate for the applicant for 119
the purpose of gender transition; and (3) if an applicant is also 120
requesting a change of name listed on the original birth certificate, proof 121
of a legal name change. The new birth certificate shall reflect the new 122
gender identity by way of a change in the sex designation on the original 123
birth certificate and, if applicable, the legal name change. 124
(j) The commissioner shall issue a new marriage certificate to reflect 125
a gender change upon receipt of the following documents submitted in 126
the form and manner prescribed by the commissioner: (1) A written 127
request from the applicant, signed under penalty of law, for a 128
replacement marriage certificate to reflect that the applicant's gender 129
differs from the sex designated on the original marriage certificate, 130
along with an affirmation that the marriage is still legally intact; (2) a 131
notarized statement from the spouse named on the marriage certificate 132
to be amended, consenting to the amendment; (3) a notarized affidavit 133
by a physician licensed pursuant to chapter 370 or holding a current 134
license in good standing in another state, an advanced practice 135
registered nurse licensed pursuant to chapter 378 or holding a current 136
license in good standing in another state, or a psychologist licensed 137
pursuant to chapter 383 or holding a current license in good standing in 138
another state, stating that the applicant has undergone surgical, 139
hormonal or other treatment clinically appropriate for the applicant for 140
the purpose of gender transition; and (4) if an applicant is also 141
requesting a change of name listed on the original marriage certificate, 142
proof of a legal name change. The new marriage certificate shall reflect 143
the new gender identity by way of a change in the sex designation on 144
the original marriage certificate and, if applicable, the legal name 145
change. 146 Raised Bill No. 6549
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2021 7-36(10)
Sec. 2 October 1, 2021 19a-42
Statement of Purpose:
To allow marriage certificates to be amended to reflect changes
concerning gender.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]