“We’re Battling Just To Keep Our Family Whole”: Black D.C. Parents Detail Struggle To Prove Child Is Theirs After Home Birth

Teresa Williams and Jeff Williams’ son JJ was “born in an inflatable tub in his Southwest D.C. living room in August 2022 without any medical assistance.” Since then, the Williams family has been living in a state of limbo, as they continue to struggle in their quest to obtain official government documents certifying their son’s existence.

As of right now, on paper, it’s like JJ doesn’t exist. “[W]e’re battling just to keep our family whole,” said Jeff.

How could this happen? Typically, in a hospital setting or if using a doula or midwife, they will fill out the birth registration paperwork for the application form so the child’s birth certificate can be issued.

While rules vary from state to state, usually a parent needs to provide evidence proving that there was in fact a “pregnancy and live birth. But D.C. typically requires two pieces of evidence per category.”

After their son was born, the Williams submitted copious amounts of documentation providing evidence of their home birth with their application for JJ’s birth certificate. But the D.C. Health Department has denied the application, citing ‘insufficient documentation.’”

This means, that they have been unable to get a social security card or passport for JJ. In addition, “[t]hey worry their family’s SNAP benefits will be revoked. They lament they’ve lost about $5,000 in unclaimed tax credits. And they fear they are one hospital visit away from losing their little boy, JJ.”

According to a 2022 report from the National Partnership for Women and Families (NPWF), “[m]ore people are choosing to give birth at home or in birth centers, with the sharpest increases among Black and Native American communities.”

During the “Why More Black Moms Are Choosing Home Births” episode of The Assignment with Audie Cornish, CNN anchor Abby Phillip spoke about her own experience, saying “I had my first child in 2021, and it was a strange experience for me because I went from personally being the type of person who was like, ‘You must have a baby in the hospital with all the medicine and all the things,’ to having a homebirth, which was totally unexpected for me. I cannot emphasize enough how much I was not a homebirth person when I first started out.”

But “[l]ike millions of Black women, I simply wanted to feel safe and stay alive when giving birth to my daughter,” added Phillip.

Given that the Williams family is not alone in their decision to pursue an alternative option, like a home birth, this scenario could become a problem for many more Black families.