How do you get a birth certificate?

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Mom of Two

See if the state he was born in has a vital records website. If it does, it might tell you how to request a copy by mail. My state that I was born in has a website displays this site Vitalchek as a secure site. I attached the link just to show you as reference.

Julie T

Check out:

www.mass.gov

Enter birth certificates in the search field

You will be directed to the:

Registry of Vital Records and Statistics

snapoutofit

Go to the site below for information on ordering documents from various cities and states. I've used it with no problems.

Mary L

You need to contact Massachusetts directly, and can certainly find the snail-mail address, an e-mail address, and phone number on the state's web site. You will need various items of information in order to indicate to the folks that you have a right to get the certificate -- stuff like date and place of birth, mother's maiden name, etc. Whether Massachusetts will take this information by internet submission or phone is up to Massachusetts, of course. (The states are quite different in how they handle these applications, and there is NO central federal source for birth certificates.) Be prepared to pay, anywhere from $5 to $25. One suggestion I always make is to get more than one copy! Although the first copy may cost a chunk, multiples requested at the same time are usually only $1 to $3 additional. Just tuck the extra(s) in a safe place like your lock box at the local bank. When you contact Massachusetts, be sure to ask how long it will take -- some states are very quick, and others are badly backlogged due to inadequate staffing levels. Also, there may be some sort of expedited service for an additional fee. About using a birth certificate, you need to be very, very careful! A certificate has all the information a person needs to set up identity theft, and certificates are a prime target for pickpockets and other thieves, particularly in some areas of Mexico, the Caribbean, and third world countries. Don't let anybody keep it or make a copy of it! Finally, your husband should really get a passport! Passports will be needed for all international travel fairly soon anyway, and a lost or stolen passport isn't nearly the problem a lost or stolen birth certificate is. Once gone, a birth certificate is gone, and cannot be changed or cancelled or replaced except in very limited circumstances provided by statute -- sex change and adoption are the biggies. A passport, on the other hand, is much more secure and easily cancelled and replaced if necessary. A passort does NOT have enough information on it to enable identity theft, and does not have enough information on it to allow the thief to get a copy of the birth certificate. So -- be very careful with a birth certificate, don't carry it around casually, keep it safe, and get a passport! I was formerly legal counsel to a state's vital records division and dealt with all sorts of issues with birth certifictes and identity theft, so please listen and be careful!

Camille

fax or send letter to hospital he was born in. the town hall of that town might have it too (but doubt it). faxing is better. more convenient for them. go online and get the hospital's fax number. good luck.

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