2. Birth records can prove to be highly
useful tools for a number of reasons.
You may have misplaced your birth
record and need another copy to apply
for a passport, for example. Or you may
be looking for your birth parents.
Finally, you may be interested in
performing genealogy searches for your
ancestors.
3. Whatever the reason, obtaining
birth records, either for yourself or
for a relative, is a fairly simple
process, given the conveniences of
the internet.
4. Your State or Local Vital Records Office
Because there is no national database
for birth records, you must go through
your state or local vital records office to
obtain an official, raised seal birth record.
However, the process is a fairly
straightforward one.
5. Simply head to your state or local vital
records office, armed with your checkbook
and as much information as possible on the
person’s birth record you are interested in
obtaining. It makes the process much
easier if you have some key information so
that the vital records department can easily
locate the birth record in question.
6. It is important to recognize, however, that
most states prohibit the release of a birth
record unless you are the person listed on
the birth record. The individuals that can
obtain a birth record include: the
spouse, power of attorney or legal
representative of the person in question, the
parent, sibling or stepparent of the person in
question, the grandparent/grandchild of the
person in question.
7. Some of the information requested by the
vital records office may include: first and
last name, name of the individual’s
parents, city in which the birth took
place, and the individual’s birth date. It is
not necessary to have all of this
information; it just facilitates the process.
8. The vital records office will ask you to fill
out a form for the birth record request.
Along with the completed form, they will
likely ask for a small fee to produce an
original birth record. Although birth
records are vital records that are free to
the public, the vital records office will
request a fee to cover their
administrative costs.
9. Depending on the state in which you
live, and depending on how busy the
vital records office is, you may be able
to receive your birth record that day.
Otherwise, they will likely mail it to
you.
10. Birth Records Websites
There are many birth records
websites that allow you to accomplish
the same thing, as they generally just
do the legwork for you. Websites are
ideal for ordering birth
records, especially if the birth record
in question is out of state.
11. Websites that perform birth records searches
often ask for key information in order to
facilitate the process. Therefore, once
again, the more information you provide, the
easier it is to have a successful
match. Websites work in different ways;
some offer memberships, thereby allowing
you to search many different people for a
period of time (this is often ideal for
genealogy purposes), while others simply
charge a flat fee for performing the search
and providing you with a copy of a birth
record.
12. Often times, many of the websites that
perform these searches use state or local
agencies to find the person in
question. They can therefore often
provide you with a raised seal birth
certificate, sent directly to your home, in a
matter of weeks.
