Is altering a birth certificate illegal? Oh yes! But it still happens! Yes. Still.

John Duprie of Michigan, USA born 1956 at 12:30am I was born just after midnight. So they put 11:45pm as birth time. I think a lot of people have that done too.

Estelle Crawford of Washington, USA born Leap Day 1944 at 11:55pm 

Mary Carolyn Brown of California, USA born Leap Day 1948 at 1800 
When I was born, the doctor asked my mother if she wanted to change my birthdate to February 28 or March 1 but my mother said, "That's not her birthday. Its February 29!" - Way to go Ma!

Larry Hollingsworth of Texas, USA born Leap Day 1944 at 120AM 
My mother tried to have the doctor change the time so I would not have a Leap Year birthday.

Gerald McKenzie of Selkirk, Ontario, Canada born Leap Day  1936 at p.m. 
Mother didn't appreciate me being born on "Leap" Day, and wanted the Doctor to change it. Of course he couldn't and wouldn't. Its been a lot of fun and conversational over the years, especially getting married at 4 1/2 .

Melissa Smith of Mississippi, USA born Leap Day 1952 at 6:00AM 

Cathy Dougherty of Florida, USA born 1956 at 12:30am 

Leap Back Up!


Charlotte Dear Wolff of Indiana, USA born Leap Day 1952 at 1800 

Sharon Potts of Texas, USA born Leap Day 1956 at 5:15 am 

Mary Klimchak Jelinek of Queens, New York, USA born 1920 
I am entering this for my mother, Mary Klimchak Jelinek, who was born on February 29, 1920 in the small town of Jarembina, Slovakia. She came to the US at the age of two, and only recently discovered through a Slovak birth certificate that she was a Leap Year baby. Her "20th" birthday is being celebrated as I write this today, February 29, 2000.


I received an email that addresses this subject.

Below is a copy of that email, with permission from who sent it to me, and my response is below that. - Raenell

Hi! I am a fellow Leap Year baby (1980), I love it. My boss found out the other day and she said that her son was almost born on Leap Year (2000) and that she had to pick either the 28th or the 1st if that were to happen. Isn't that crazy? The doctors said it screwed up databases and computer systems. Have you heard of this?

Oh my! You have just pressed one of my major Leap Day *Buttons*
and I will do my best to keep from staying on my Leap Day Soap Box for too long.
:o) (but be warned - the Leap Day Lady is passionate about this!)

Yes, I have heard of that.  This is Raenell from  There are several members of the Honor Society of Leap Day Babies who tell these stories of altered birth certificates.

Some tell of the doctor or nurse suggesting the parent allow them to put the date of February 28 or March 1 on the birth certificate, and would give the parent the choice.

Others tell of their parent making the request to the doctor or nurse to put one of the alternate dates.

Parents of Leap Day Babies have even shared with us that they are the ones who made the suggestion for their little Leaplings birth certificate.

Most of them say their reason is to protect the child from the problems the date of February 29 will bring into their lives. I have a list of just a few of the things we Leap Day babies have gone through. The following was told to us by members of the Honor Society of Leap Day Babies (HSOLDB):

-  There are 2 members of the HSOLDB who are trying to get their birth certificate corrected from one of the alternate dates to February 29, the actual day they were born on.


-  There are members who say they have a birth certificate with February 29 on it, and a drivers license with one of the alternate dates.  Too many Leap Day babies let that happen.  Don't take a drivers license with someone else's birth date on it.  It's not right.  There is no reason we can't have the correct date of birth on our drivers license. (The reasons they give are not acceptable) (Period)


-  Some have February 29 on their birth certificate and were not told they were born on that date until later in life. One member said she was 13 when she found out. Another said they were an adult.


- There are many members of the HSOLDB with a drivers license that has one of the alternate dates on it.  All because their government agency, the Department of Motor Vehicles, doesn't have a computer system that accounts for this extra day happening.

This extra day has been happening every four years (with the exceptions, of course) for
Since before Jesus Christ!


That's why I do what I do here. One of my missions in life is to bring about Leap Year Day Awareness  (LYDA).

It's about time the government agencies, and everyone else, program their computer programs for Leap Day. It's just going to keep happening... every four years. Why do we keep making it so hard on everyone. The problem is that people just don't know what this day is and why it's there. I want to change that.

People have complained about this date and I understand their complaints. They need to understand though, that if this extra day doesn't exist, our calendar will be out of balance with the seasons.

We haven't had the proper education on the subject so people see it as a nuisance instead of something worthy of celebration.

February 29 is on the calendar for one reason. To keep the calendar in balance with the seasons so we can have the same seasons at the same time each year.

February 29 also has a name. It's called Leap Day, or Leap Year Day. And it is spelled with lower case letters. Well, if Leap Day is the Name of this day, then it deserves to have the first letters capitalized just like New Years Day is, and Groundhog Day.

But alas, it's not even on the calendar anyway!  This is another mission that people tease me about (and that's OK, I can handle it) February 29 deserves to have the words Leap Day written in that box. If they can put Groundhog Day in print, then Leap Day is to be in print also. For if it were not for that extra day, we wouldn't be able to predict, with such precision, when to expect that groundhog!

I'm not going to cure any major diseases on these little missions'O'mine, nor am I going to achieve world peace. Accomplishing those things are not my goal. I do this because it deserves to be done.  I think God put the passion for it in my heart.  I'm glad because I'm having fun with it.

I've been asked if I would be this passionate about it if I were not born on Leap Day. Well, I'll never know that. I do know that when I did research on why my birthday wasn't on the calendar, I found some really interesting facts about February 29.

I wondered why it doesn't get the attention it deserves. It's because people don't understand what it is. So, that's where I come in. I want to educate the world on why we have this extra day, February 29, Leap Day.

I have been accused of doing this for therapy because I don't *get* a birthday and it's been said that I am just trying to get attention. Both couldn't be further from the truth. First of all, I, we Leap Day babies, *get* a birthday. We just don't always celebrate it ON our birth date. Second, I don't want the calendar to say Raenell Dawn Day. I want it to say Leap Year Day.

It's frustrating at times. Mostly though, I'm really having a lot fun spreading Leap Year Day Awareness. Some people just don't get it at all, and others do. The ones that do, make up for the ones that don't.

I'd like to encourage my fellow Leap Day babies to call up the elementary schools in your area and offer to volunteer to talk about Leap Day to one of their classes this year. I've done this. It was great fun. When, back in LY1996, I told a 3rd grade class of 9 year olds that I was 9 too you should have seen all the little faces looking up at me from the floor. We had a good time with it.

Education is the key. And no, it's not rocket science. So just have fun with it. Learn about it for yourself before you go into any classrooms. Be ready. There are some pages on our website that will be very helpful in that area.

You may also contact me if you'd like. I'm always happy to hear from people, and to help in this area.  If you do anything, like go into schools, or do something else, to spread Leap Year Day Awareness, I hope you'll share it with us.

I Leap, therefore I am,


Leap Back Up!
