Many people may not remember this day, the day you were born; and if you were born in the United States of America like me, your parents were most likely bombarded with paperwork the moment you were born. That is all so you could be identified. Not only so the nurses don’t confuse you for another baby, but so you could be identified for the rest of your life. From doctor visits, to school enrollments, to applying for a driver’s license, and none of this would be possible without your birth certificate. A birth certificate consists of your name, birthdate, where you were born, and some more information, but none of this gives any insight as to what your personality is like.
For your parents to figure that out, they will have to watch you, study you, and expose you to different experiences and see what you like and don’t like. I bring this up because in my opinion, personality is just as important as paperwork, if not more, when it comes to figuring out who someone is. Now what if you never got a birth certificate? Maybe you weren’t born in a hospital, or maybe you were born out of the country where stuff like that is handled differently. Does that mean you don’t have an identity?
Believe it or not, not everyone is born in a hospital which results in the absence of a birth certificate and few other new-born identification papers. Many people give birth out of the country, meaning it’s likely birth paperwork is handled differently than in the United States of America. Other people do not believe in medicine or just don’t enjoy the feeling of being in a hospital and resort to delivering their baby in their own home. This results in disadvantages for that newly born human. With the absence of birth paperwork like a birth certificate, there would not be any legal records of the child and will hinder its ability to get a job, file, and even get their hands on medical treatment, making the person’s life complicated as well as difficult to get through especially as they grow.
Nowadays, identity is a very complicated and complex subject to talk about. This is because for many people, identity and personality are associated with what makes a person themselves. However, identity is the fact of being who or what you are born to be. I believe a birth certificate is important to your identity but only a piece to who an individual’s identity is. You may not have a birth certificate which identifies your name, birth date, parents, and other information but another individual can easily identify you with your face, beliefs, and personality. What I am trying to say is identity extends far beyond only a documented piece of paper of your birth. Therefore, although some people lose or don’t receive their birth certificate, it is impossible for a person to lose their identity or to just simply not have one.
