It has just made me curious, because I 've need to know the legalities of it that's all.Why is it that most of you people , who by the way are suppose to be here to help us who do not know the law to find out more, are smart asses toward the people you give the answers to , that's really annoying, or is it that you get so rapped up in you legal talk that you don't know how to carey on a civil conversation.
To the ones who replied straight forward, Thank You.
Grasshopper, I agree with you completely, it is as if lawyers (and those who think they are Perry Mason) don't get enough digs and winnings in the office/court room so they have to come here to do it.
Now to your point, and I don't believe your name is really Schmidty, but if it is, it is a great German Name!
Here's how the same thing happened to me:
In high-school biology class, we were discussing dominant and recessive genes. We were going through the hair and eye color of my sisters and my parents and my teacher, Mr. Dodd, said, "Scott, that's impossible! You better have a talk with the postman!" And everybody got a good laugh. I had suspicions that my "DAD" wasn't my real "FATHER." I let those feelings go for about 2-3 more years and then one day I said to my mom's sister, "And I don't even then my dad is my real father!" It became suddenly quiet. I had learned the awful truth.
When I confronted my mother she took me to a park and explained to me that "DAD" wasn't my real father, but that he has been everything a father should be to me. She further explained HOW his name is on my birth certificate as my father.
Back in 1969 (when I was born), my mother got pregnant (so did 2 other woman by the same man!). When my mom confronted the sperm donor, he was confronted with a choice of who to marry. He didn't pick my mom (my grandfather didn't carry a shotgun until he decided to put it to his head and kill himself many years later, but I digress).
When I was born, my mother was asked the name of the father. My mother replied, "Father Unknown." And from 1969 to 1974 my name was probably the same as my mom's.
In 1974, my mother and her newly married husband along with my great-grand-mother went down to the county registrar's office. In that office they filed a piece of paper (no court necessary) and swore under penalty of perjury that the statements they were making to be the truth. On that paper, my Dad was added as my "FATHER" and it has remained there since then.
Now, technically, what they did was illegal because they lied. My mother knew this man wasn't my father and she knew who the dad was.
Now my birth name, as far as the hospital would have been concerned, would have been whatever my mother wanted it to say, but tradition in that scenario would be my mother's maiden name. Probably also true for you.
As far as the "adoption" issue, I'll leave that to the polite legal advice you got here earlier... it isn't unheard of as adoptions aren't free. Think of the benefits that you gain (in some senses)... but then there are also the detriments, like the feeling of having been lied to for so many years and not knowing who to trust and believe any more.
On your issue number 4, guess what, it's going to bother you until you can deal with it. If dealing with it means confronting you mother or father, you might have to do that. You may want to seek some mental health counseling because these issue can have life-long effects (and believe me the prudes on here are going to jump ALL OVER ME for this las part). I know you can't "get over it," but in time it will be easier. If your situation is like mine, where your birth certificate had been amended and the old one sealed, you will more than likely have to go to court. If at court you can prove that the person on the birth certificate is not your real father, it may be an issue for the court to decide how to undue what has been done, but again, I'll leave that to the legal gurus with all the attitude to address.
I was fortunate that I found out who my father really was, but only after he died in a plane crash. His girlfriend, at the time, was also pregnant (He had good sperm) and she wanted to insure a piece of his estate went to this unborn child. When he was pronounced dead, a request was made (and I'm sure it wasn't legal) that a sample of his blood be taken for paternity testing of the unborn child. In the resulting estate case, my grandmother (my real father's mother who was pissed at my mom for cutting her off from me when I was young - and who was pissed at me for taking charge of her bungling of my father's estate) contested my claim to my real father's estate. I had my blood drawn and was found to be 99.97% likely to be his child... they tried to argue that there still was that .03% chance and that if my mother had donated a sample there'd be more certainty. The court ruled for me and I fought that battle and represented myself (BTW) and did rather well! But it isn't for the faint of heart.
I hope I've shown you more compassion in my response than others, there are a lot of people out here in situations just like this, some want to know, others don't seem to care, maybe they all became lawyers
