Birth certificate

What It Means

A birth certificate is the official record of a birth, registered with the vital records office of the state or territory where the baby was born. For a hospital birth, it's built from a worksheet the parent fills out plus medical details from the hospital's charts, and then filed with the state. Families use it to prove a child's age, citizenship and who the parents are. The copy agencies ask for is a certified one, which carries the issuing office's seal or stamp.

How People Say It

• "Did the hospital give us the birth certificate, or do we order it?"
• "We need the long one with both our names for the passport."
• "I ordered three certified copies so we're not stuck later."

The Breakdown

What the rule says. Birth records are kept permanently by a state vital statistics office or a city, county or other local office, and each state sets its own forms, fees and rules on who may order. No federal agency hands out birth certificates. The CDC publishes a Model State Vital Statistics Act that states can use as a template, and it has a birth certificate filed within 5 days of the birth. Your state's own deadline may differ.

For a newborn, step by step

1. At the hospital, fill out the worksheet staff give you for the birth certificate. Check the spelling of the baby's name and both parents' names before you hand it back.
2. During the same birth registration, you can ask for a Social Security number. The state passes the birth details to SSA, which assigns the number and mails the card.
3. Hospital staff complete the medical part and file the record with the state or local vital records office.
4. Order certified copies from the vital records office of the state where your baby was born, online, by mail or in person. The CDC's "Where to Write for Vital Records" lists each office with its fees.

What to have ready when you order (CDC)

• The full name on the record
• Both parents' names, including the mother's maiden name
• The date of birth
• The city or town, county, state and hospital of birth
• Your relationship to the child and why you need the copy
• A daytime phone number

Good to Know

For a passport, the State Department accepts a U.S. birth certificate only when it shows the issuing office's seal or stamp, the full name, the date and place of birth, the parents' full names, and a filing date within one year of the birth. It doesn't accept a mobile or electronic birth certificate. For a certificate filed more than a year after the birth, the State Department asks for Form DS-1010,000 stepsA popular daily step goal that began as the name of a 1960s Japanese pedometer; later studies find health benefits begin well below it. See more as well. Rules, fees and processing times vary by state, so check your state's vital records office before ordering.

Related Terms and Categories

• Social Security card

  The card from the Social Security Administration that shows the Social Security number assigned to a person, used for work, taxes and benefits.

• Passport for kids

  A U.S. passport for a child under 16. The child applies in person on Form DS-11 with both parents' consent, and it's valid for 5 years.

• Newborn

  A baby in the first 28 days of life, the stage doctors also call the neonatal period.

• Tax dependent

  A qualifying child or qualifying relative you can claim on your federal tax return, which can open credits and a better filing status if every IRS test is met.

• Life admin

  The everyday paperwork and planning that keeps a life and a household running, such as bills, taxes, forms, renewals and appointments.

Planning and life admin