How to Search for Birth Certificates
Birth certificates are important records that everyone should have on file. Birth certificates are just as important as Social Security cards, as they serve a significant purpose in authenticating your identity. These records can usually be found within the Vital Records sector of your city's health department. Birth records can also be located through online vital record resources.
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Instructions
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Contact the state health department in the city and state you were born in. This is the most accurate way to search for and locate birth certificates and authentic birth records. (See resources for contact information by state.)
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Access the "Official Vital Records" website to search for birth certificate database.
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Click the "Search Birth, Death & Marriage Records" link that will be presented in the list of options at the top of the screen. A pop-up window will appear and redirect your browser to the birth records database.
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Type the first and last name of the person the birth certificate is for, in the data forms that will be provided. Enter the name as it should be on the birth certificate.
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Provide the birth year in the designated data form box. Select your country in the drop-down menu bar, and enter the state where the birth took place in the next drop-down menu bar that will appear. Then, click the "Search" option.
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Scroll through the list of search results and click the most compatible result to the information you entered.
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Tips & Warnings
Once you've found the birth certificate information you need, you will be required to purchase the information for viewing and obtaining copies. Purchase is required whether you contact the state's health department or retrieve records on line. Prices vary depending on the state. (See VitalRec.com link in resources.)
In some cases, these records may be difficult to obtain if you were born in a state other than where you currently reside. Authentic birth certificates can only be obtained from the state and county or parish you where born in.
Please be advised that some birth certificate search sites have not been verified. Some sites are indeed scams, as they charge you to search and obtain records, but never deliver after you've paid.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit birth marriage and death image by Warren Millar from Fotolia.com
