Social Security Number

February 19, 2010



With each of my pregnancies I have developed gestational diabetes. With TJ and Abby, I was able to control my sugars with diet alone and I did not require medication. With Grace, things were very different. The only way I could keep my sugars under control was to eat basically only protein and very little carbs. Obviously going on a low carb diet while pregnant was not a healthy choice. If the outcome would have been different with Grace, I would have been placed on medications. Instead, the decision was made to deliver her since my health was now an issue. The perinatologist recommended I get a glucose tolerance test performed to make sure I did not go on to develop diabetes. Since delivery, I have noticed that my sugars are still not "ideal". So I headed to Odessa for my glucose test. I had to go fasting, get my blood drawn, drink 75 grams of this glucose drink, then get my blood drawn again at one and two hours after drinking the glucose. Now, for any of you who have had to do this, you completely understand when I say YUCK!!! That drink is sooooo disgusting. You have to drink it in 5 minutes or less. They try to make it test like an orange or lemon-lime soda, but it is no where near as good. The good news is I didn't get sick. Now all I have to do is wait for the results. Should get them back at the first of the week - hopefully!

Well, while in Odessa, I went to the county clerk's office to get a copy of Grace's birth certificate. I needed it to file my taxes. It looks very different from TJ and Abby's. It list the time of her birth, the place, and the physician. It lists me and Rick as the parents, and then there is a section there signed by a certifier from the hospital certifying that Grace was born alive. It does not list any other information about her, i.e. birth weight, length, etc... If your child is born alive, no matter for how brief, you are able to claim them on your taxes, but not if your child is stillborn. You just have to provide a copy of the birth certificate documenting the live birth. Just doesn't seem right to me. In my opinion everyone should be able to claim their child, wheter born alive or not. You still have to pay all the hospital and physician bills regardless of the outcome!

The day before my trip to Odessa, Rick had received a call from the funeral home wanting Grace's SSN so they could finish up their paperwork. So I decided to take a trip to the social security office to see if Grace had been given a SSN. Mind you, I did not need one to file my taxes, only a copy of her birth certificate. So I walk in there and I am immediately hit with the smell of really bad body odor!!!! I can only imagine what that place must smell like during the middle of summer -- eewww! So I wait for over an hour and finally my number is called. I explain to the attendant how we had given to birth to Grace and 30 minutes later she died. I explain about the call from the funeral home and I ask her to check to see if a number was assigned to Grace. She was unable to locate one. She asked if I filled out any paperwork from the hospital to apply for a SSN - to which my response was no. Heck, I left the hospital so quickly they had to mail me the paperwork to fill out for the birth certificate.

Then the woman proceeds to tell me that in order to get a number assigned to her I need to provide a copy of her immunization record. What???? Was she just not listening to me? My baby died 30 minutes after delivery, she did not receive any immunizations! I calmly explain that to her. Then she says I will need to provide a copy of the insurance card showing proof of insurance for her. What???? Again, does this woman not understand me? I explain once more that my baby died, therefore she was never placed on my insurance. Then she tells me in addition to the birth certficiate I will need to provide the death certificate, idenification from both Rick and I, either one of the two listed above, or copies of the medical records in order to get a SSN assigned to her. Let me just tell you I am about to lose it at this point! Isn't the entire purpose of getting a SSN assigned to you is that you were BORN a United States citizen????? Not that you died, not that you received immunizations, have health insurance, or medical records???? Why is it the IRS is satisfied with a birth certificate only but the social security office is not???? I just looked at the lady dumbfounded. I said ok, thanks for your help, and got up to leave. In reply she tells me she is sorry for my loss. I guess she finally understood that my baby had died.