15 NOVEMBER 1946, Page 17

A BETTER BIRTH CERTIFICATE

Sire—Janus regrets that a child's birth certificate reveals whether he is legitimate or not, and states that no solution has yet been found. A solution of this matter occurs to me, but it is so simple that it seems impossible that it has not already been considered. The object of a birth certificate is, surely, to establish a child's birth and parentage. This could be achieved, after a slight alteration of the birth-certificate form, by entering, in all cases, the mother's maiden name, thus giving some evidence of the nationality of both parents, and avoiding the issue as to whether the parents were actually married or not.—Yours faithfully, 6ost Duncan House, Dolphin Square, R. M. BAINES.,