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A Dunedin woman has described being on the phone with her crying daughter after she was denied a driver’s licence due to a spelling error on her birth certificate.
It’s the second time the state has incorrectly spelled the daughter’s name of Māori origin since she was born in 2003.
“It’s her identity, it’s such a ridiculous mistake,” she told the Herald.
Kate Timms-Dean gave her daughter Madeleine Dean a third name, Pounamu, when she was born - the name’s meaning is “even though it’s small, it’s a treasure”.
She filled out a paper form through the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) to provide details of her daughter’s name at the time and posted it to the Government agency.
What she received back was an official birth certificate for Madeleine, with the Māori name spelled “Poundmu”.
“I don’t know how it happened - if the handwriting was unclear, maybe a clerical error but it was done quickly at the time,” she said.
Keen to do it properly the second time, Timms-Dean made a trip down to her local DIA office and had the name typed out on a computer, ensuring the name was spelled properly.
Madeleine Dean's birth certificate, with her Māori name spelled incorrectly.
The name was given the green light, a rectified birth certificate was provided and that was the last Timms-Dean thought of the matter.
Almost two decades later, at the end of 2019, Timms-Dean requested a copy of her daughter’s certificate as she’d lost the rectified copy and a duplicate arrived in the mail.
“I thought it was all sweet at the time, so I just handed it off to [Madeleine],” she said.
Two weeks ago, Madeleine went off to sit a test to secure a learner’s licence for driving. Timms-Dean said she received a call from her daughter, who was in tears as she explained there was an issue with her personal details.
The birth certificate they’d ordered in 2019 had, again, spelled Madeleine’s name as “Poundmu”.
“It was such a specific error, I knew it was that name again and was like ‘what the heck?
“I couldn’t fathom it was still there, she was upset because of course we’d never told her [about the mistake] because it was sorted. She had no idea, the poor thing.”
Timms-Dean emailed Births, Deaths and Marriages, overseen by the DIA with a simple explanation of the spelling error and her desire to have it corrected.
Kate Timms-Dean (left) speaks Māori and has a PhD in Māori studies, she said her daughter's name has significance.
She received a response a week later, telling her it would take nine months to even consider legally changing the name.
The news left Timms-Dean, who is of Māori descent and has a PhD in Māori studies, feeling confused and upset.
“Māori names are important, when you create a name in our culture you finish the creation of it, so there’s a significance to it,” she said.
“So from that perspective, yeah, I’m pissed off. We chose that name with love and meaning behind it, but I’d be equally as peeved if it was her first name.”
She has limited options, force her daughter to wait nine months while the DIA consider changing her name, or have her daughter apply for a licence with an incorrectly-spelled name.
Timms-Dean is leaning towards the latter option.
“I’m a Māori language speaker, so it’s important to me. But my kid is also important to me - it’s frustrating but you have to be practical.”
The Herald approached the DIA about Timms-Dean’s case, to which general services manager Julia Wootton confirmed she was aware of the matter.
She said the mistake was a clerical error, which meant the case has been classified as “Urgent” and will take priority above other requests.
“My understanding is that this is being looked into, and the customer should be contacted today by our team,” she said.
Wootton said those who need to have a detail corrected in their birth certificate should contact the Births, Deaths and Marriages team and request urgency in some cases.
Those cases include if there’s a certificate needed for medical care, need financial assistance or need to travel urgently.
