Using Birth Records to Find Someone

The birth records In the United States is considered to be public records which are maintained by the individual states in which the person was born. The birth certificate is the official document recording a birth. Since the birth records are public records these are also used for the demographic data compilation as well for the corroboration of the historical records. The birth records can also be used to find someone.

You can obtain the official birth certificates or birth records from a particular state, county or city from the office of the county records. These records can also be obtained from the hospitals from where the information about a birth is sourced in the form of birth certificates. 

Ways to Find Birth Records

The birth records are filed at the local registrar’s office of the county in which the person was born. Since the filing of a birth record is a civil process, the information on birth records can be found at the civil records division. A certified copy of the birth record can also be obtained from the local office of vital records. The certified copy obtained from this office is an official document which bears the official seal and signature of the state registrar which is useful for the purpose of applying for a passport as well as for driver’s license.

Local Vital Records Office

When you need to find someone by the birth records you need to first find out where the person was born and then locate the address of the local office of vital records of the state in which that person was born. You can easily locate the office of the vital records for a specific state from the website of the National Center for Health Statistics: www.cdc.gov/nchs .You can also call the National Center for Health Statistics at: (301) 458-4636. By contacting the NCHS you will also be able to find out about the fee required for obtaining a copy of the birth record from a particular state.

When you send your request for a copy of the birth record in order to find someone by using this record, you need to include certain details that would help the office of the vital records to find the record. These details include the last name, first name, date of birth, sex and the place of birth of the individual whose record your requesting for as well as the maiden name of the individual’s mother (if known) or the name of the hospital in which the individual was born. You need to also provide a valid reason for requesting a copy of the birth record as well as state the relationship with the subject of the search.

Send your request to the specific office of the local vital records with these details along with the processing fee in the form of a money order or a check payable to the office of the vital records.

Other Sources

Apart from the office of the vital records other important sources for the birth records are the social security office, the passport office as well as the local motor vehicles department.