Pennsylvania has laws about who can order birth certificate copies.
A birth certificate is one of the most important documents an individual can be in possession of; however, if an original birth certificate is missing, a copy may be obtained. Certified copies of birth certificates are acceptable for various uses such as personal identification, employment, passport application and social security. Before an individual applies for a copy of a birth certificate in Pennsylvania, there are a few important rules to understand.
Vital Records
The Pennsylvania Department of Health's Division of Vital records maintains birth and death certificates from 1906 to the present. Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know law protects and restricts the release of these private, vital records and therefore they cannot be searched for online. The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records enforces the state's Right-to-Know law, which gives citizens and the media the right to public information -- birth certificates are one of 30 exceptions to this law.
Who Can Request a Copy
Obtaining a copy of an individual's Pennsylvania birth certificate is limited to certain people: the person named on the birth certificate who is 18 or older, a legal representative, husband or wife, parent or step-parent, sibling or half-sibling, child or step-child, grandparent or great-grandparent, or Power of Attorney. In cases where a step-parent or step-child apply, a marriage certificate supporting the relationship is also required.
If the named person is deceased, a family who is not an immediate family member must submit a copy of the death certificate in order to apply for a certified copy of the birth certificate. Geneaology research often leads to hunting for birth certificates; there is a special designation on the application to notate the request is for research.
Order
A certified copy of a birth certificate can be ordered online, through mail or in person at a public location in six cities in the state: Erie, Harrisburg, New Castle, Philadelphia, Scranton and Pittsburgh. As of November 2010, the fee is a $10, although the fee may be waived for those serving in the armed forces.
Special Circumstances: Adoption
Pennsylvania's state law regarding birth certificates is of controversy in the adoption community: birth records have been closed to adult adoptees since 1984. According to a representative of American Adoption Congress, "Adopted persons are the only ones in our culture who do not retain the right to their birth certificates." Once an adoption is final, an adoptees' rights to his original birth certificate is relinquished.
Act 1984-195 and 28 Pa. Code 1.49 allow release of the birth certificate to the adoptee, adopted parents or legal guardian only if both biological parents have given consent with a completed and filed a valid Biological Parent Registration Identification Form. Church records -- baptism and marriage -- may also offer information leading to finding one's birth parents.
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