By Jedidiah McKeehan

For some reason, babies are being born in cars all of the time in movies and TV shows, but I have yet to meet anyone who was born in a car.
I am sure if you are born in a car it makes for a great story to tell for the rest of your life, but when the birth certificate is getting filled out for that baby, there is a line that requires that you put down the city, county and state in which the child was born.
If the child was born in a car (or train or airplane), what location do you put? In fact, there is a Tennessee law that tells us what to do if this incredibly unlikely event occurs.
Tennessee Code Annotated section 68-3-304 states, “When a birth occurs on a moving conveyance within the United States and the child is first removed from the conveyance in this state, the birth shall be registered in the state and the place where it is first removed shall be considered the place of birth.
When a birth occurs on a moving conveyance while in international waters or airspace or in a foreign country, and the child is first removed from the conveyance in this state, the birth shall be registered in this state; but the certificate shall show the actual place of birth insofar as can be determined.”
What is the takeaway here? If your child is born in a car, and it somehow matters to you where their place of birth is, then do not take the child out of car until you arrive at the location you wish to put down as the place of birth.

Jedidiah McKeehan is an attorney practicing in Knox County and surrounding counties. He works in many areas, including family law, criminal, and personal injury. Visit attorney-knoxville.com for more information about this legal issue and other legal issues.