Birth certificate is mandatory for every child born in the United States. The original certificate can be obtained from the Vital Records Office of the state in which the child was born. You may be charged with a small fee for getting the certificate. There are various types of birth certificates. Some types are not accepted for official uses. The birth certificate is one of the most important documents required for obtaining your passport or a driving license. The certificate is also known as a vital record. It gives a lot of information about you regarding your name, the place where you were born, the time, date, gender, name of the hospital, state, city, parents’ names, their occupations, your weight and length, the date of birth registration, the birth registration number and the name of the official who registered the birth, etc. Though the document alone cannot prove your identity, it is used for the purpose. The different types of birth certificates are given below.
Souvenir birth certificate
In the United States, parents get a souvenir birth certificate from the hospital when the child is born. This certificate has the newborn baby’s real footprints on it. If required you can even get the signature of the delivery doctor on this document. This is not considered as an official broth certificate. The parents should complete various other procedures and paperwork to receive the legal certificate.
Certified birth certificate
The certified birth certificate is also known as the long term certificate, book copy or the photostat copy. This is the actual certificate or original birth document completed by the attending doctor and given by the hospital. This certificate has various details including the complete name of the child, date of birth, gender, time, race, birth place and other details. The signature of the delivery doctor and one of the parents is also there on the certificate.
Short birth certificate
This type of certificate may not be accepted in most cases. A database is used for storing all the information present in the original certificate. The short form is only a proof that an original certificate actually exists. It is known by many other names like Certification of Birth, Certificate of Live Birth, Certificate of Birth Registration, etc.
Birth certificates online
The best thing about the birth certificates is that you can locate them online too. You must first contact the state or city’s health department in the locality you were born. This is one of the best ways to locate your authentic birth certificate. Go to the Official Vital Records website in order to search for the document from the database. Click on link that says ‘Search Birth Death and Marriage Records’. You will be able to see a screen with a list of options that will direct you to the required page. Type your first and last name or as it is given on the certificate, choose the year from the box provided, give other details like the name of the state where you were born and then hit the search button. The result will be displayed accordingly.
When you find the right certificate, you may need to buy the certificate for getting the copies, etc. The State’s Health Department will help you to buy the copies. The price may vary according to the states. If the certificate belongs to another state it may be difficult to obtain. You can get the original certificate only from the state where you were born.
Replacement birth certificates
Most of the US citizens are not aware that they can get the replacement birth certificate from their own state. For this, they have to contact their state’s health department. However, the fact is that the department may not maintain all the records. People who are 75 or older may be able to get the records. The state has a rule that says that it keeps the files from 1900s and forward. Sometimes certain local copies are ruined due to various natural calamities like flood, fires, etc. Some people believe that the replacement certificates can be obtained from the hospital where they were born. But, the hospitals are not allowed to do so. It can be done only by the state record department. It maintains the birth records. If you want a replacement certificate you can speak to the concerned person here and get it after submitting certain details like your complete name, place of birth, date of birth, parents first and last names, etc. People who can legally obtain the certificate for you are your parents, spouse, grandparents, sisters, brothers or legal guardian.
