page_title: Birth certificate
section_title: United States
hierarchical_section_title: Birth certificate / United States
caption_attribution_description: English: A California informational-only long-form birth certificate, issued to Freddie Reign Tomlinson.
context_page_description: A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the birth of a person. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation of the ensuing registration of that birth. Depending on the jurisdiction, a record of birth might or might not contain verification of the event by such as a midwife or doctor.
context_section_description: In the U.S., the issuance of birth certificates is a function of the vital statistics agency or equivalent of the state, capital district, territory or former territory of birth. Birth in the U.S. typically confers citizenship by birth (non-citizen nationality in American Samoa), so a U.S. birth certificate doubly serves as evidence of United States citizenship or non-citizen nationality. U.S. birth certificates are therefore commonly provided to the federal government to obtain a U.S. passport. 
  The U.S. State Department issues a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (which does not technically certify birth but often substitutes for a birth certificate) for children born to U.S. citizens or non-citizen nationals (who are also eligible for citizenship or non-citizen nationality), including births on military bases in foreign territory.
  The federal and state governments have traditionally cooperated to some extent to improve vital statistics. From 1900 to 1946 the U.S. Census Bureau designed standard birth certificates, collected vital statistics on a national basis, and generally sought to improve the accuracy of vital statistics. In 1946 that responsibility was passed to the U.S. Public Health Service. Unlike the British system of recording all births in "registers", the states file an individual document for each and every birth.
  The U.S. National Center for Health Statistics creates standard forms that are recommended for use by the individual states to document births. However, states are free to create their own forms. As a result, neither the appearance nor the information content of birth certificate forms is uniform across states. These forms are completed by the attendant at birth or a hospital administrator, which are then forwarded to a local or state registrar, who stores the record and issues certified copies upon request.
caption: A California long-form certified copy of a certificate of live birth. This particular copy is for informational purposes only.
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