Received Emily’s California Birth Certificate

On Saturday, we received in the mail a certified copy of Emily’s birth certificate from the State of California (Department of Health Services, Office of Vital Records) based on the adoption order signed by the judge at the adoption hearing on April 3. The official title of the certificate is a “court order delayed registration of birth”. On it is Emily’s new name, Emily Jian Kawada (the name change was approved at the adoption hearing). We received this document a lot sooner than expected. We had been told it took up to 10 months after an adoption hearing for a new birth certificate to be processed.