Under section 216(h)(3) of the Act, the biological child^[1] of a number holder may be deemed to be the number holder’s child if, during the number holder’s lifetime, the number holder acknowledged in writing that the child was his or her child. See 42 U.S.C. § 416(h)(3)(A)(i)(I), (B)(i)(I), (C)(i)(I); 20 C.F.R. § 404.355(a)(3); POMS GN 00306.100, GN 00306.105. The POMS provides a list of evidence that the agency will consider to be evidence of the number holder’s written acknowledgment for purposes of section 216(h)(3), and a child’s EAB Numident record and full birth certificate are on this list in POMS GN 00306.105C.

The EAB process is a program that allows parents to complete applications for SSNs for their newborns as part of the hospital birth registration process. 20 C.F.R. § 422.103(b)(2); POMS RM 10205.001B, RM 10205.005B, RM 10205.505. “When the hospital representative asks for information to complete the birth certificate, he or she also asks the parents if they would like the State’s vital statistics office to forward information to SSA to assign an SSN. If the parent agrees, the hospital representative checks a block on the form indicating that the parent wants an SSN assigned to his or her child. The hospital forwards this information to the State’s vital statistics office along with birth certificate information. The State vital statistics office then provides SSA with an electronic record used to assign an SSN and issue a card.” POMS RM 10205.005B; see also Social Security Numbers for Children, SSA Publication No. 05-10023 (Oct. 2022).^[2] Thus, the same information collected by the State’s vital statistics office for the State-issued birth certificate, which includes the names of the child’s parents, is also transmitted to SSA as part of the EAB process. See POMS RM 10205.001B, RM 10205.005B, RM 10205.505.

POMS GN 00306.105C.3 instructs that the child’s EAB Numident record constitutes evidence of written acknowledgment of paternity for purposes of section 216(h)(3) when the following criteria are met:

The [child’s] Numident constitutes evidence of written acknowledgment if it:

• •

  includes an iteration that shows a “6” in the form code (FMC) field of the INTERNAL line, indicating an Enumeration at Birth (EAB) record;

• •

  shows the number holder’s name in the mother’s name at birth (MNA) or father’s name at birth (FNA) field of the EAB Numident, setting aside minor discrepancies as described in GN 00203.020A.2.C;

• •

  does not show a name other than the number holder’s name in the same field (MNA or FNA) in iterations following EAB; and

• •

  the number holder’s written consent was required by the State during the EAB process. Contact the State Bureau of Vital Statistics (BVS) or use a relevant precedent opinion to determine if written consent was required. For more information, see GN 00306.120 [setting forth agency policy on use of a birth certificate as proof of written acknowledgment or a court order].

POMS GN 00306.105C.3.

Our focus is upon the final criteria as to whether the number holder’s written consent was required by the State during the EAB process. In determining this issue, POMS GN 00306.105C.3 instructs the agency to use a relevant precedent opinion to determine if written consent was required by the State and refers the agency to POMS GN 00306.120 for more information.

POMS GN 00306.120 sets forth agency policy on use of a birth certificate as proof of written acknowledgment or a court order for purposes of section 216(h)(3) child determinations. Like POMS GN 00306.105C.3, this provision instructs that the agency may use a birth certificate to presume that there has been a written acknowledgment or court determination of paternity if a precedent opinion shows that applicable State law requires the written acknowledgment or court determination of paternity in order for a father’s name to be listed on a non-marital child’s birth certificate. POMS GN 00306.120B.2.

Thus, in this opinion, for policy set forth in POMS GN 00306.105C.2, 3 and POMS GN 00306.120B.2 relating to use of the EAB Numident and birth certificate as evidence of a number holder’s written acknowledgment for 216(h)(3) child status, we will set forth Illinois law on whether written consent was required to identify a father of a non-marital child on the birth certificate. As noted above, the same information collected by the State’s vital statistics office for the State-issued birth certificate, which would include any father’s name, is also transmitted to SSA as part of the EAB process. See POMS RM 10205.001B, RM 10205.005B, RM 10205.505.

The Illinois Vital Records Act provides that each live birth in Illinois must be registered within 7 days of the child’s birth with the local or subregistrar of the district in which the birth occurred. 410 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 535/12(1). When a birth occurs in an institution, the designated person in that institution must obtain and record all of the personal and statistical particulars relative to the parents of the child that are required to properly complete the live birth certificate; shall obtain the required personal signatures on the hospital worksheet; shall prepare the certificate from the worksheet; and shall file the certificate with the local registrar. 410 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 535/12(2). Upon the birth of a child to an unmarried woman, the institution at the time of birth is required to provide an opportunity for the child’s mother and father to sign a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity form and provide documents that explain the rights and responsibilities that arise from signing a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity form. 410 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 535/12(5).

With regard to including the name of the father on the birth certificate, the law provides:

Unless otherwise provided in this Act, if the mother was not married to the father of the child at either the time of conception or the time of birth, the name of the father shall be entered on the child’s birth certificate only if the mother and the person to be named as the father have signed a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity form in accordance with subsection (5).

410 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 535/12(4).^[3] Thus, to be named as the father on the non-marital child’s Illinois birth certificate, both the father and mother must provide written consent by signing a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity form. The signing and witnessing of the voluntary acknowledgment of parentage form conclusively establishes a parent-child relationship in accordance with the Illinois Parentage Act. 410 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 535/12(5)(a); see also 750 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 46/301 (“A parent-child relationship may be established voluntarily by signing and witnessing of a voluntary acknowledgment in accordance with Section 12 of the Vital Records Act and Section 10-17.7 of the Illinois Public Aid Code.”); In re Parentage of G.E.M., 890 N.E.2d 944, 954-955 (Ill. App. Ct. 2008) (finding that the father established parent-child relationship when he prepared the “electronic birth certificate worksheet” at the hospital with the mother after the child’s birth and completed the prerequisite acknowledgment of paternity as required by the Illinois Vital Records Act); In re Reyes, 860 N.E.2d 456, 458 (Ill. App. Ct. 2006) (finding that because the child’s mother was not married to the father at the time of the child’s birth, the father’s name on the child’s birth certificate was circumstantial evidence to find that he signed a written acknowledgment of parentage).

This requirement in the Illinois Vital Records Act for the father’s and mother’s written consent in 410 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 535/12 has been unchanged since 1993 and existed in prior versions of Illinois statutory law since 1962. See POMS PR 01210.016 Illinois A. PR 02-031 State Law Regulations Regarding Appearance of Father’s Name on a Birth Certificate of a Nonmarital Child (Feb. 13, 2002) (advising that since 1962, Illinois law has required written consent to name the father on a non-marital child’s birth certificate); People ex rel. Wisneski v. Thomas, 319 N.E.2d 559, 560 (Ill. App. Ct. 1974) (noting that the statute in effect since 1965 provided: “If the mother was not married to the father of the child either at the time of conception or birth, the name of the father shall not be entered on the certificate of birth without the written consent of the mother and the person to be named as the father.”).

Consequently, for a non-marital child born in Illinois, in applying agency policy set forth in POMS GN 00306.105C.2, 3 and POMS GN 00306.120B.2 relating to use of the EAB Numident and birth certificate as evidence of written acknowledgment for 216(h)(3) child status, Illinois law requires a father’s written consent to be identified as the father of a non-marital child on the birth certificate. See 410 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 535/12(4). As noted above, the same information collected by the State’s vital statistics office for the State-issued birth certificate, which would include the father’s name, is also transmitted to SSA as part of the EAB process. See POMS RM 10205.001B, RM 10205.005B, RM 10205.505.