We went to the town hall yesterday and, after swearing under oath with our right hands raised that no cases were pending for Ngo Minh Hanh, nor was anyone looking for her, our daughter was officially given a new legal name:
BEATRICE MINH HANH FORONDA
I felt a little sad to say goodbye to her Vietnamese identity, but I feel good that we are keeping her middle and first names as her one new middle name. We weren't sure if we'd keep one or both, but when we heard the nannies calling her "Minh Hanh" over and over on the day we met her, there was no question. Whenever we meet anyone who is Vietnamese and they ask her name, we still respond with her Vietnamese name, "Minh Hanh." The next step is to get her a new birth certificate, and then, the real proof that she exists....a Social Security Card. Then even the IRS will agree she's real!
1 comment:
You don't have to say goodbye to her Vietnamese identity per se because the national cultural identity is reenforced through the upbringing.
'Within the family, filial respect is seen as the highest moral virtue in Vietnam, while venerating mothers and fathers is regarded as a manifestation of "national cultural identity."'
-From the Winter 2009 Journal of Vietnamese Studies
http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/abs/10.1525/vs.2009.4.1.49?prevSearch=authorsfield%3A(Ph%C6%B0%C6%A1ng%2C+Ph%E1%BA%A1m+Qu%E1%BB%B3nh)&searchHistoryKey=
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