Houston man's birth certificate misfiled, still without one years later
HOUSTON - It's common for people to lose their birth certificate and the hospital or the state's Department of Vital Statistics can provide a copy.
But what if you never had one to begin with?
"I legitimately have no idea what could possibly get me out of this situation," said Brandon Hughes.
He was born on Oct. 28, 2003, at Christus St. Catherine's Hospital on Fry Road which is now a Methodist Hospital.
When Brandon was born, someone at the hospital didn't file his birth certificate properly.
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"You can't request a copy of something that never existed," said Brandon's mom Sami Dehkorai. "So, what do I do? Where do I go? Who do I call?"
Hughes and his mom believe his situation is somewhat rare.
"Just based on how all the government officials we are talking to, who are supposed to know these situations better than us, the way they're reacting to it tells me that either it's extremely rare or it's just something they have never seen before," said Hughes.
"I have his actual transcript from the school which was sealed," Sami said.
She says that's what the Department of Vital Statistics in Austin wanted.
"Here's a delayed birth certificate application," she added.
But Vital Statistics said Hughes must fill that out and sign it. No problem there, except it must be notarized. Hughes says he doesn't have a Texas driver's license, state ID, or social security card so he doesn't know how he's supposed to get it notarized.
Sami says she's been trying for 15 years to get Brandon's birth certificate.
"If I've got this much documentation to show how many years back I've been sending ID after ID, notarized after notarized, copy after copy, somebody at some level should say stop sending money we need to figure out what's going on here," said Sami. "But they don't. They just keep passing the buck."
Hughes does have a certificate of live birth but says without an actual birth certificate his life is on hold.
"I can't help financially, and we're struggling," he said.
If you have any suggestions on how Brandon can solve his problem, email me at Randy.wallace@fox.com.