Birth certificate: Encyclopedia - Birth certificate

Birth certificate

In most countries, a birth certificate is an official legal identity document usually containing most of the following information:

• Name at birth
• Date and time of birth
• Sex
• Place of birth
• Birth registration number (NHS number in UK)
• Legal parent(s) (including in UK, parents' occupations, and places of birth, and maiden name of the mother)

The certificate is issued shortly after a person's birth, usually after the mother's physician files the required forms with the appropriate government agency. To obtain a birth certificate for a newborn is normally compulsory.

In the UK the full birth certificate is issued on request for a small fee, but otherwise the 'short' certificate, which omits parents' details, is normally issued.

The official birth certificate is usually stored at a government record office, although some people actually have their birth certificate with them in a wallet or purse. (This is not a good idea! It is very dangerous to keep your birth certificate in a place other than a very protected place, such as in a safe or a secured and trusted bank.) In Canada and the United States of America, it is stored with the government of the receiver's state or province. In some American states, the responsibility for such records has been delegated to counties. In England & Wales, it is stored at the local register office (usually covering an area of about 100,000 people) and also at the General Register Office.

A person can obtain a copy of their own certificate, and in many places, a member of the general public can obtain a copy of anyone else's birth certificate upon paying a small fee.

The birth certificate is used to authenticate one's identity and nationality, and assist with obtaining government-issued identity documents such as a passport or driver's license. Holding a birth certificate makes it easier to prove citizenship in nations where citizenship depends upon location of birth. For family historians, the detail of the parents (including mother's maiden name) included on a full certificate is very useful in linking between generations.

See also

• Death certificate
• Marriage license

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Birth certificate", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki