Most of us take for granted that we either have our birth certificate in our possession or can get our hands on a copy fairly easily by filling out a form and paying an application fee.

Not so for Adam Williamson.

The 72-year-old Mathews County man knows when and where he was born, but since his mother gave birth on the way to the hospital, she was never issued a birth certificate. For about 25 years, he and good friend Deirdre Dunn have been working with officials in South Carolina (where Williamson was born) to get a copy of that vital document.

A birth certificate is used for everything from establishing citizenship and providing identity to getting a passport, driver’s license or Social Security card.

This especially posed a problem when Williamson lost his Social Security card and could not remember his SSI number. Dunn helped Williamson obtain it but was told that they would not be able to without his birth certificate and that there was nothing they could do for him...