Mother might have been adopted?

Question:

Mother might have been adopted?

My mother died 13 yrs ago, she was told by my long gone grandmother, that she was adopted. My mother was born in NY, in 1924, and she haad to apply to NY state for a copy of her birth certificate when she was applying for social security.
They sent her a copy, and on it it says the names of my grandparents, however, it also asks"number of children born to this mother incuding this child" and it was entered: 0(in handwriting.
There is also a discaimer of at the bottom saying the entire certificate might not be accurate, or true.
My mom was the oldest of 7 children..All of my life I have wondered if my grandmother lied to her in anger.
Anyone know where I can really find out if my mother was really adopted? I have serious doubts she was, however, IF she was, where can I get this information, or can I get it at all?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Some general info that may help. Since your mother was born in 1924, if you can find the 1930 census of for your grandparents that MIGHT give a clue. Unfortunately, the 1930 census doesn't include the #children born, #alive that earlier census years did. But look under relationship - if it says "Daughter" then it doesn't tell you anything. But it could say "Adopted" then you would know.

Remember a birth certificate is just a transcription of information filled out on an application. Transcription errors happen all the time. Also, when filling out the application, the person may have not recognized the part "including this child" or might not have filled that in at all. That there is a birth certificate that identifies your grandmother and grandfather as parents, well, that is very unusual for an adopted child. MIGHT happen if this was a couple accepting a child immediately after childbirth, but still very unsual.

There is another possibility that has happened more times than you would imagine. Find the marriage date of your grandparents. Then do the math. If the date of your mother's birth is less than 9 months from the date of your grandparent's marriage, this could be an unusually common "face saving" decision by your grandmother. In many parts of society and religions (especially in the 1920s), being born out of wedlock was, well, "not a compliment". Your grandmother could have been claiming adoption to explain the problem with the daughter's birthdate relative to their marriage date. Being adopted was often considered to be less of a stigma and embarrassment than being conceived (and possibly born) out of wedlock.

Unless there is some critical need, you really won't be able to find the answer unless you happen upon a letter or some other family record by chance. But if there is a critical need (your grandmother or mother - or other siblings and their descendants may have had a medical condition that could be of importance to later generations) then really the only way to determine this is to run a DNA test on you and one of your aunts/uncles or niece/nephew. But that is really going to extremes unless there is a critical need to know.