Dorothy Tannenbaum says she was born in her father’s butcher shop May 3, 1914, a time before bureaucracy had entered every crack and crevice of daily life.
Now, if only she had the paperwork to prove it.
Three weeks ago, her daughters moved Tannenbaum into an assisted living facility in Skokie. Without a birth certificate, however, the 92-year-old cannot win approval for the federal assistance she is entitled to.
So far, her family has paid the facility $7,620, money that will be reimbursed once her paperwork goes through.
First, though, Tannenbaum needs a copy of the elusive certificate.Her daughters said they went to the vital statistics bureau at the Cook County clerk’s office three times but came home empty-handed each time.
The first time, they were told they did not have the proper paperwork. The second time, they were told the notarized letter from their mom would not suffice. After being turned away yet again, even though they had a document showing power of attorney, they contacted What’s Your Problem.
“It’s very frustrating,” Tannenbaum’s daughter Ila Tattleman said. “We have all the documents necessary except the birth certificate.”
As it turns out, the birth certificate never existed.
Prior to 1916, Illinois didn’t require parents to register new births with the state.
“It used to be in Chicago, you had huge immigrant populations,” said Tim Dever, director of vital statistics at the clerk’s office.
Dever said families often recorded the birth with their church or religious institution, but not with the state. In 1916, Illinois passed a law requiring births to be registered.
Because Tannenbaum was born in 1914, the birth apparently was not documented. Ninety-two years later, it will be.
After the Problem Solver called Thursday, Dever’s office searched for Tannenbaum’s birth certificate, found none and issued her family a “no record statement.”
Friday morning, the family sent that statement, along with other documentation, to the Illinois Department of Public Health in Springfield. Dever said now that department can issue Tannenbaum’s birth certificate retroactively.
Once her family receives it, they will enroll her in Medicaid, which will pay for her care at Lieberman Geriatric Health Center in Skokie. Tattleman said she was told the government will reimburse the $7,620.
Just how Tannenbaum made it so long without a birth certificate is unclear. Tattleman said her mother applied for and received a passport in 1984. At the time, she said, a birth certificate was apparently not required.
Tattleman said she’s been told it will take two to six weeks to receive her mother’s birth certificate, but it could take slightly longer.
Tannenbaum says she was born May 3, 1914, but there is some confusion over her birthday, which could cause a delay.
Dever was unable to locate Tannenbaum’s birth certificate, but he did find her marriage license, which lists her birthday as May 17, 1915, a full year after the date she says she was born.
Tattleman said the marriage license is probably wrong. Her mother, she said, was a few weeks older than her dad, a fact she probably tried to cover up at the time.
“She was embarrassed,” Tattleman said. “There was a stigma at the time for a woman to be older than the man.”
Whichever date the state determines to be real is fine with Tannenbaum and her family, as long as it issues the birth certificate.
It’s been a long time coming.
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THE PROBLEM
Dorothy Tannenbaum, 92, and her daughters need a copy of her birth certificate to pay for her housing.
THE SOLUTION
The certificate was never issued, but it soon will be, almost a century late.
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