Secret, off-the-grid babies

So I asked my doctor wife (not my doctor- she is my wife and she is a doctor that sometimes helps bring babies into the world), "Do babies come out of their mommies with Social Security Numbers?

If not, do you know when they get a birth certificate, and when they get a social? I'm contemplating the pros and cons of having an "off-the-grid baby." Once I know when they receive socials, and if they can bypass this when born at home, I can ask dad about property ownership and bank accounts, as well as IRS law.

Health care and education might be a problem, too, but there is home schooling, and Jehova's Witnesses, the Amish, and Christian Scientists have pioneered the "no healthcare" waters, right?"


To which she replied, "i don't know how birth certificates work, really. when i deliver a baby, i have to sign a paper certifying the birth, but that paper then goes to some administrative office and the certificate that mom and dad get is issued to them several days later. as far as social security numbers go, i do know that parents have to apply for that separately, and children aren't required to have them."

So, this leaves many unanswered questions. Primarily, I wonder at what point a U.S.-born person is required to be documented. I mean, wouldn't be a neat gift to a child to give them the option of citizenship and tax payment?

Why am I wondering this? Because of the immigration debate, and thoughts about representative government. Do undocumented immigrants always want citizenship? If not, why?