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Stepfather vs. birth father

Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 12:42 pm
by ajosepholsen
I'm the ward clerk, and a sister of our ward came to me asking about her records. Her record currently does not include her birth father; instead in the "parents" field of her records it lists her stepfather (whom she is sealed to) and her birth mother.

She would like her record to also include her birth father. How can I help her with this issue? Thank you in advance.

Re: Stepfather vs. birth father

Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 12:57 pm
by russellhltn
The church records only records "parents". I've never seen another "slot" for another parent.

She can record additional parents in FamilySearch and document the relationship there.

Re: Stepfather vs. birth father

Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 6:26 pm
by aebrown
russellhltn wrote:She can record additional parents in FamilySearch and document the relationship there.
That's of limited usefulness, since living people on FamilySearch.org are in a private space that can be seen only by the person who created them. If the parents die first and are marked as deceased in FamilySearch, and then the records are merged with the real records for those people, then it could end up being helpful. If the member dies first, then there will be no one to mark the private space records as deceased and no one will ever see those records and relationships.

Re: Stepfather vs. birth father

Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 7:26 pm
by russellhltn
aebrown wrote:That's of limited usefulness, since living people on FamilySearch.org are in a private space that can be seen only by the person who created them. If the parents die first and are marked as deceased in FamilySearch, and then the records are merged with the real records for those people, then it could end up being helpful. If the member dies first, then there will be no one to mark the private space records as deceased and no one will ever see those records and relationships.
True, but I was offering what could be done. Usually the parents do go first.