by Michelle Stein posted in Pregnancy

Parents who have experienced a miscarriage will soon have the option to request a birth certificate in the state of Florida.
A bill called the Grieving Families Act was signed into law yesterday, after passing in the House and unanimously in the Senate in April. Although it doesn't officially take effect until July 1, the law will allow Florida to issue "certificates of nonviable birth" for pregnancies that end after 9 weeks and before 20 weeks of gestation. But only if the parents request them.
"The parent can name the child if they have a gender or they can just name it Baby Smith," said Republican Rep. Bob Cortes, the bill's House sponsor, according to U.S. News & World Report. "It doesn't matter whether you're a Republican or Democrat, [everybody] in life has been touched through a miscarriage and they understand how important this is as part of the grieving process."
It's worth noting that parents can request a certificate even if they suffered a miscarriage before July 1. After the request has been made, the state will issue the certificate within 60 days and it will then be available as a public record.
You might also be wondering what's up with the 20-week cutoff. (I know I was.) That's because the definition of a miscarriage is the loss of a pregnancy before week 20; the loss is actually considered a stillbirth at 20 weeks or later. For stillbirths, death certificates are automatically is...