Apologies in advance for the length of the post -- it’s a complicated scenario:
I was adopted in 1990, when I was 16. My birth certificate was amended to reflect my new (post-adoption) last name. However, my name was never changed with the Social Security Administration. So my social security number is still associated with my old (pre-adoption) name.
I’ve used that SSN in conjunction with my new name for my entire adult life -- to secure employment, IDs, a passport, etc.
I never had a problem, and honestly the fact that SSA had my name “wrong” never occurred to me, until recently, when I tried to renew an expired state ID, and was unable to do so because the name on my ID and birth certificate did not match the name SSA has associated with my SSN.
I made the -- as it turns out, tremendously stupid -- error of mailing my name change application and required documents to my local Social Security office. This included: my state ID, my health insurance card, my original birth certificate (old name), my amended birth certificate (new name), and a notice from the Dept of Health certifying the name change. All originals, no copies, as mandated by the SSA.
In any event: the package was lost. The tracking information shows it as received at the correct SSA address, but (after much back and forth) the folks at the SSA office tell me they have no record of receiving it, and that their best guess is that they denied the application for some reason and mailed it back to me, but that the USPS failed to deliver it because they sent it care of my old name. Maybe it bounced back and forth a couple of times, no one knows.
I’ve called around at my local USPS branches: no luck. At this point, the documents appear to be lost.
So: I can’t get an ID, because of the SSA name mis-match and the fact that I now lack the proper proof-of-identity documentation. And I’m not sure I can get the SSA name mis-match fixed, because the relevant ID documents are lost.
What I have remaining in the way of identifying documents are:
- photocopies of the ID & documents I mailed
- my original social security card (old name)
- an expired passport (new name)
- agreement & consent to adoption court documents
- a certified reproduction of my birth certificate (new name)
I’ve ordered a replacement insurance card and another birth certificate from the state I was born in (since it was amended, it’s in the new name).
I need to go back to SSA to figure out how to effect the name change, but so far they’ve mostly just recited requirements I can read on ssa.gov.
So before I try again, I’d like to have some idea whether or not the documents I have remaining might be sufficient to effect the name change. And if not, is there some other avenue to pursue?

