[PA Engineer]

If Obama’s mother was getting a divorce in Hawaii, and had to prove to the judge there was a child produced from the marriage, then why did she have to send to Kenya to get that proof? She could have just obtained the birth certificate in Honolulu if he was born there. Even she knew she had to get the document, even a copy, from the place of birth.

Great point missed by everyone. BTTT.

[nathanbedford]

Depending on the timing, she might not have known that her husband would not contest the divorce and default. Even if she knew who he was in default, she could not know whether he would attempt to reopen either before or after final judgment. If there was a chance that he might intervene in the litigation, she ran the risk that Barack Obama Senior would expose her birth certificate fraud in Hawaii. So, even if Obama's mother had already obtained a fraudulent Hawaii birth certificate for Barack Obama, she may have concluded it was too risky to use in the divorce case.

She was evidently avoiding her husband and the relationship that must've thoroughly broken down by the time of the divorce proceeding and it is likely that she would be insecure about trusting him, not knowing whether he would be offended that Barack's Hawaiian citizenship was being used instead of his Kenyan citizenship. She simply could not rely on his silence.

Alternatively, she might not have secured the fraudulent Hawaiian birth certificate until after the divorce case because she was simply unaware of how easy the procedure might be and only learned from her attorney as another Freeper has suggested.

Of course it is also possible that Barack Obama was born in Hawaii and that the Kenyan certificate is a counterfeit. It is also possible that no birth certificate was needed or used in the Hawaii divorce case at all.