Basic Adoption Statutory law is being amended by legislation. The change is replacing essentially one word with another.

MCA 93-17-3 requires a certificate by a doctor or nurse practitioner stating the adoptive child’s health and mental condition. This provision does not require the adoptive child be healthy, but is instead required so the adoptive parent knows IF there are any health concerns; mental or physical.

The statutory change is replacing “doctor” with “physician.”

The word “physician” in the section means a person licensed under Chapter 25, Title 73, Mississippi Code of 1972.

MCA 25-73-1 holds that “Every person who desires to practice medicine must first obtain a license to do so from the state board of medical licensure…”,

So the law change requires the child be evaluated by a licensed physician or nurse practitioner. This change eliminates “doctors” that are not licensed physicians from doing these certificates.

So Ph.D.s and J.D.s, like myself, are now excluded, by law.

I wonder what happened to prompt this change. It seems common sense as to what the statute meant and required…

Matthew Thompson and Chad King are Adoption and Child Welfare attorneys in the State of Mississippi and have never contemplated submitting a Doctor’s Certificate merely because they hold a Juris Doctorate (Doctor of Jurisprudence). And, don’t call us Doctor!