Suddenly finding myself without a valid birth certificate (for myself), I have requested one from the State of Illinois, where I was born. I went online to order this, and found a site wanting to accept $45 for finding the paperwork and mailing it special to me. Instead, I went over to the State of Illinois’ website and managed to get one for $10.50, even though it will take 2 – 3 weeks to find it, and then they will strap it to some slow-moving animal for delivery, I’m assuming. 🙂
I kind of question their security though. They send a sheet of paper with the receipt of payment where I have to affix my driver’s license (which doesn’t have my maiden name on it) and my signature and fax it back to them. All I’ve had to give to confirm my identity otherwise is my date of birth, my mother and father’s full names. If I were them, I would be asking for more proof than that, like the documentation showing why my name ever changed. Just to complete the picture.
