do you know where your (original) birth certificate is?

[tabbycat31]

Let's settle this birther nonsense once and for all. How many of US could produce our ORIGINAL birth certificate if needed?

[47of74]

1. If I had to I could get the certified copy the county made me last year out right now

But the original record of my birth is down at the county courthouse.

[ChiGal]

17. Yes

It's in our safe with the rest of the family birth certificates, passports and other important papers.

[PDJane]

2. The original was destroyed by fire..........

But I carry a short form and a long form is available, as long as I wish to pay the fees for having it notarized.

[csziggy]

3. I've got the one from the hospital with my little tootsie prints

Which is not a legal form of ID. Then I've a "long form" obtained by my parents in 1963 certified by the state, and a "short form" also certified by the state that I got last month.

I had to have an official copy in order to renew my driver's license this time around so I ordered a new copy then managed to find the older ones.

[pinb1212]

16. Me too

[Kittycat]

4. I know my current birth certificate is wrong...

When I was adopted by my stepdad at 13yo, first the lawyers mispelled my first name. Then we got the birth certificate back, it read my dad (adopted father) was 9, and my mother 21 at the time of my birth. He was actually 10, and she was 20 (I know, i know), someone was having a hard time with Math that day. In any event, it was never corrected.

I should also mention that according to Social Security, I worked for 13 years without a social security card (but I did pay my taxes, LOL). From age 16 when I got my first job, until my first son was born at age 29 (approximately a dozen jobs in there, counting part-time work). They say my mother never applied for the updated card. I'm still trying to figure out how they came by that, and how I was able to work all those years - have background checks completed, etc - without ever 'supposedly' presenting a social security card. What a mess.

[SheilaT]

42. It's only in relatively recent years

that employers have required a worker to produce a social security card. For a long time they assumed that what you wrote down was correct.

And if you were filing income tax returns and they had your correct ssn on it, not producing a card was never a problem. And, if I understand correctly, the only reason you would have needed an updated card would have been because your last name changed. Surely at some point before you turned 29 you took over possession of your social security card and noticed the discrepancy?

It has happened to both my younger brother and a co-worker (they worked for different companies) that all of a sudden HR got their ss numbers wrong, totally screwing up their income taxes for a couple of years.

[MercutioATC]

5. My mother still has it.

Certified copies work fine, so I've never even thought to ask for it.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

6. I have a raised-seal copy at home.

The original is with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Vital Records. At least that's what's on the return envelope from when I requested a copy, years ago, to get a passport...

[DURHAM D]

7. Yep - and I have the original hospital bill and the canceled check.

It was in my Baby Book that my mother finally quit updating when I was about 40 and gave it to me on my 50th birthday. I guess she finally decided I could be trusted with it.

[Horse with no Name]

10. Your mom was a hardass

I'm easier on my kids. I'm making them wait until they are 35. I mean, technically, if the are old enough to become POTUS, they are old enough to be trusted with their baby books...BTW...I have their SS cards, birth certificates, as well as my grandkids official documents squirreled away too...but I break them out for special occasions like job interviews, bank accounts, mortgages, etc. ;)

[DURHAM D]

19. As it turned out - my Mother was keeping my travel log for me as well.

If I want to know, say - when I first traveled to the U.S.S.R. I can open the book and check. Its actually been very helpful.

I recently found in the book when I had my second smallpox vaccination. I couldn't remember but my Mother had the written record. I have not lived near by parents since I was 17 years old so I guess she took notes when we talked on the phone.

[Horse with no Name]

22. That is pretty awesome

I hope you let her know frequently how much you love her!

[DURHAM D]

27. She knew.

She died a few months back. She was raised on a dirt farm during the depression in the dust bowl. Maybe for that reason, travel and education was very very important to her and she didn't want us to feel it necessary to stay where we were born. As a result, when she died all of her grandchildren were scattered around the country and out of the country and could not get home at that time. She knew that would be the case so she wanted cremation and no funeral. In other words, no pressure.

Next week all the grandkids (and great grandkids) are gathering the entire family (my Dad is 93) and the community together for what their invitation refers to as a celebration of her life. My family is very talented musically (except me) and I know the celebration will involve a lot of singing as well as a lot of story telling. And, everyone has a story to tell. Actually my mother was a very good story teller as well as the family historian and one of my nephews has a lot of video of her talking about her parents, grandparents, homesteading, meeting my Dad, etc., that he has been editing for the celebration.

My Mother was generous in a thousand different ways and she saw to it that we had deep roots in the land and while I am home next week we will scatter her ashes on the farm where she grew up. While there we will take the little kids down to the buffalo wallow and look for arrowheads - just as she would have done.

[Horse with no Name]

28. I am so sorry for your loss

It sounds like she was a very wonderful lady and enriched the lives of those around her.:hug:

[Horse with no Name]

8. Yep. I got the long copy.

But I'm funny like that with official documents. Never know when you will need them.

[handmade34]

9. I keep it with me

because I live on the road

[Common Sense Party]

11. I have the original birth certificate AND my original Social Security

card, issued over four decades ago.

[RB TexLa]

12. I couldn't care, I'm fully aware that I was born.

[pinb1212]

13. It's in my safe deposit box.

[Gormy Cuss]

14. The original is filed in the city where I was born, a certified copy is held by the state,

and I have two certified copies. The certified copy is the only version that us mere mortals may possess. Originals are held by municipal entities.

[kestrel91316]

15. Other: I am only in possession of certified COPIES of my birth record,

which my mom obtained years ago from the state where I was born. I don't think any private persons in NV get their ORIGINAL - that is probably in the custody of the state from day one, and all ANYONE ever gets are certified copies.

Well, duh. That's sort of how it goes with ALL legal documents, right? The original gets filed with the county recorder or whoever, and stays on file there, never to be released. Only certified copies are given out, and THAT is why certified copies are the full legal equivalent of the original in any court in the land.

[Hekate]

18. Stuck in the safe deposit box at the bank. I gave my kids theirs and my daughter lost hers...

Good gravy, she was in her twenties at the time. Anyhow, mine is the one the hospital gave to my parents when I was born -- some sort of stiff photographic paper with white print on a black background, kind of like a negative. I am not sure how I would go about getting a replacement -- I'm pretty sure Glendale is in Los Angeles County, but these days there's so many hoops to jump through. My daughter had no end of trouble trying to get her own replacement from Hawaii in time for a cruise to Mexico.

Hekate

[csziggy]

23. To get copies, here is a link for who to contact anywhere in the US for vital records

CDC - Where to Write for Vital Records
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/w2w.htm

At the very least they tell you where to write, what information to provide, and how much it costs. Usually they also provide a link to the website for the state or territory agency.

For California:

Birth
Event: Birth

Cost of copy: $14.00

Address:
Office of Vital Records
CA Department of Public Health
MS: 5103
P.O. Box 997410
Sacramento, CA 95899-7410

Remarks: The State office has records since July 1905. For earlier records, contact the County Recorder in the county where the event occurred.

A personal check or money order should be made payable to Office of Vital Records. To verify current fees, the telephone number is [phone]. This will be a recorded message. Information on how to obtain certified copies is also available via the California Department of Public Health website http://www.cdph.ca.gov/certlic/birthdeathmar/Pages/default.aspx.

In order to obtain a Certified Copy you MUST complete the sworn statement included with the birth certificate application form, sign the statement under penalty of perjury and, your sworn statement must be notarized. If your request indicates that you want a Certified Copy but does not include a notarized statement sworn under penalty of perjury, the request will be rejected as incomplete and returned to you without being processed.

[Hekate]

24. Thanks for that info -- very useful.

:hi:

[csziggy]

25. You're welcome!

[unc70]

70. You have a photostat or rectigraph negative

Photostats were large cameras which took pictures directly to special photopaper producing the "negative" image that you have from the hospital. It took a couple of minutes for the photostat to be "developed" in chemicals and dried. You could then use a negative to produce additional positives. This technology was the standard until replaced by Xerox. Microfilm was the other standard during that period.

This photostat negative is what most of us over 40-50 have as our "original" birth certificate. This document would typically have the doctor's signature. The paper version(s) of this document would typically go to county and to the state for retention.

If you were born at home like I was, I believe that the photostat I have was made by the State of NC and mailed back to my parents. The document would have been prepared by the doctor and mailed to the State, much like the procedure for marriages.

I also have "certified" copies made much later by the county on special paper with seals -- roughly the same as the Obama one we have seen.

[Hekate]

72. Oh, *that's* what it is! I'm sure someone must have told me at some point...

... but it's so obsolete that I haven't been able to retrieve it from my memory for several decades, and it really bugs me to lose a term like that, because the word tells the story.

I was born in a So Cal hospital, the Glendale Sanitarium -- that's another truly obsolete word. My husband's twin brothers, though, were born at their parents' home in Belgium, with a midwife.

Thanks!

Hekate

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. I actually have two, the original one issued in Mexico City

plenty of copies, no raised seal, OH NOOOEEESSS... and my naturalization certificate, yes, raised seal. It acts like a birth certificate

[slackmaster]

61. A Naturalization Certificate is better ID than a foreign BC

It's one of only a few documents that cannot be legally copied.

[havocmom]

21. The ORIGINAL was kept in the county where I was born. I have a copy of it

It is in a safety deposit box a long way from here.

[baldguy]

35. And when most people say "original" they mean "copy"

Unfortunately, they don't know this.

[havocmom]

43. EXACTLY. I would wager darned few have their 'original' birth certificate

up to and including all the pompous FAUX riot inciters and their regrettably sad followers.

[pipi_k]

62. Yeah, that's what I don't get about this whole ORIGINAL thing...

The original is usually kept in the city/county archives.

Whenever I've applied for a birth certificate, I've always gotten a "true attested COPY" of it.

never the original.

Same thing with my marriage license. I had three copies. Which one was the "original" copy? Duhhhhh....

the original copy is kept in the state/town where I got married.

[DRoseDARs]

26. Mine was destroyed when my birth hospital was burned down by the same people faking Obama's.

I guess I'm a foreign-born Muslim too. :(

[ezgoingrl]

29. Yes, it is at the Oklahoma Department of Vital Statistics

all anyone gets is a copy of the original.

[tavalon]

30. Of course, I have both my original one and the one where my stepmonster

adopted me and changed my name. I've often wondered what sort of magical mischief I could wreak with that.

[AsahinaKimi]

31. Its in the baby book

My mom bought a baby book, a few months before my birth. She kept a diary in it, had all the medical information in it, the doctor, the nurses, and hosptial. The book has a lock of my hair, my foot print, photos and probably my birth certificate in it. (I haven't looked but I am sure its there..)I thought that was a super nice thing to do for a kid, and to give it to me years later when I would appreciate it more.

[and-justice-for-all]

32. It is at my momma's house...

but I think its a FAKE!

[MindPilot]

33. Sure, Not

I have a copy of my Naturalization papers someplace I think. But your post made me realize I don't have a clue where my son's birth certificate is.

[Milspec]

34. I lost my old black photostat some time a ago

Got my new one 3 years ago form MO, looks just like Obama's

[Hannah Bell]

36. i have the original, but it has the wrong birthdate. or else i've been celebrating the wrong

birthday my entire life.

[madokie]

37. I never had one until I joined the Navy

Had to get a birth certificate to prove who I was they said. I did I am and now I have no idea where it is.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

38. The original is still with the board of health of NYC, but my certified copy of the

original is with me.

[WolverineDG]

39. The original is in County Vital Statistics Office or the courthouse

Can't remember which.

I can only get a certified copy, just like everyone else. :eyes:

dg

[Tracer]

40. Just my Birth Certificate????!!!! Try this!:

This is what I needed to collect in order to get an Irish passport:


• The completed and notarized Passport Application Form
• Mother’s Irish Birth Certificate
• Mother’s Certificate of Marriage
• Mother’s Death Certificate
• My Birth Certificate
• My Marriage License (for name change)
• Two passport photographs
• Copies of all above original documentation
• Notarized copies of:
- My current U.S. Passport
- My passport photo
- My current Massachusetts Driver’s License
- Two utility bills showing my current address

Even Obama would have had trouble with that list!

[Bluenorthwest]

41. It would not take my vote. But mine is at the Registrar's office

My copy, the best they can make, really sucks. If I were being vetted, it would look fake as hell. Last time I used it, the registrar's office has to send a letter confirming it was accurate. The birthers would totally reject mine as being a fake, no question. It looks sort of fake, so I'd not blame them.
The registrar's office was apologetic about the state of the document. But it looks bad.
My neighbor is in early 20s. No certificate at all. My mother never had one, there was not one made, and frankly there is a family disagreement among the older folks about what day she was actually born. None of my grandparents had any such documentation, none of them. Two were born here, and had nothing ever. Two born in the old country, and the records were not reachable back then, if they existed at all.

[Retrograde]

77. My "original" doesn't have a seal or embossment

and was issued by the City of Buffalo rather than the State of New York: for reasons known only to themselves they didn't like to emboss things back then. (One of my sister's, 31/2 years younger than me, isn't embossed either, but her twin's is.) My second copy, also from Buffalo, goes as far as to say that they'll certify that my birth in the city was recorded: it doesn't mention my parents or my sex.

[SoCalDem]

44. At some point when one is a young adult, everyone should send for a certified copy

of their own.....and even get a passport. You never know when you might need it, and it's easy to go online to your birth-state and order one.

I just had to send for our marriage certificate (haven;t seen the original since March 1970 :)..,,and it turns out I needed it for my pension papers :)

If I croak, my husband might need that $253.87 a month (the survivor benefit):rofl:

[tabbycat31]

46. I have my original

I battled my parents for it since moving to NJ because I knew I needed it in order to change my drivers license. Now it's in a sheet protector in a file cabinet of mine.

I honestly don't know what they mean by "short form" or "long form" because mine's got very little info on it. It has my name, dob, place of birth, my mom's maiden name, and my dad's full name, and that's it (NY, March 1980)

[SoCalDem]

51. There are actually TWO issued.. One is the hospital one given to the parents

it's the one with the cute little foot prints, and depending on the hospital, other information.

The one kept at the seat-of government has the other information..parent's birth places, other names used etc, the doctor's info, the details that later on , become really important.

Hospitals do not all use the same format or forms so the state "tidies" things up by standardizing the info.."just the facts, ma'am..just the facts".. they don't need the gold seals, with the lithograph picture of the hospital, or the foot prints or poem that was on my husband's hospital birth certificate:rofl:

The state wants to know.. male/female..date of birth, place of birth , parents ethnicity..stuff like that..

[tabbycat31]

53. mine has nothing about my parents ethnicity, religion, etc

no little footprints either. Perhaps I should scan it and post it here (blacking out most stuff). Obama's birth certificate has more info on it than mine does (and I'm 19 years younger)

[SoCalDem]

54. Mine was issued by the military, so maybe it's different.. It's an ancient

black photo-y thing..tiny and almost unreadable (white scratchy lettering on it.. looks like a negative.,.but they accepted it for my passport.. Even though I hate the picture, I'll just be using my passport from now on:)

the next certificate in MY future is the "bad" one.. the one I'll not live to see:(

[DemReadingDU]

63. same here - marriage certificate

Married since 1970. We had the papers from the church we were married in, but it never occurred to me that we needed an official marriage certificate, until we started talking about retirement and social security. Thankfully, we just went to the county courthouse where we were married, and got a certified copy. Only $2.
We were amazed at all the info contained on the certificate.

[SoCalDem]

65. Kansas is ripping me off!! Boo Hiss

Charging me $12.00 and I had to enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope too :rofl:

[DemReadingDU]

68. oh, but birth certificate with raised seal is $18

you only get born once, but can have multiple marriages
:P



oops, price increased from $15 to $18

[justiceischeap]

45. I seem to have lost mine along with my baby book.

I still haven't told my mother. :(

[michreject]

47. yes and I could get it right now

BTW, I'm 56.

[slackmaster]

48. I assume it is on file with the Kansas State Department of Health

I have a certified copy that I keep in a safe at home.

BTW it's called Certificate of Live Birth.

K&U because this is beating a dead horse.

:kick:

[dorkulon]

49. Mom lost my BC and SS card.

Now all I have is a driver's license, and I'm baffled as to how I can get a new passport without 2 forms of ID.

[a la izquierda]

50. I voted "no, it has been misplaced."

I used a "Registration of vital statistics" form when I got my California drivers' license (when I moved there at age 22), when I got married and when I applied for a passport.

But maybe I wasn't really born in NJ in 1977.

[flyarm]

52. I have my original, my hubby's and my adult son's ..and raised seal copies as well

after all my son needed his for many reasons..like school, college, little league!

I was a flight crew of a Major Airline and when i needed a new passport I had to show it to get my clearances to fly...and new airline ID

My husband has worked in Canada and he had to show the Original to get his working Visa's.

what is such a problem getting an original certified BC with raised seal??????????

No problem whatsoever!

[imdjh]

55. i had to prove my citizenship in 1987 to CONTINUE working for my US employer.

After the ordeal of having to go get it from the state, I decided it would never be lost again.

[JoePhilly]

56. I'm pretty sure that NO ONE has their original BC ... its not yours.

I'm pretty sure that the "original" remains on file as an official document where ever you were born.

I think the best you can do is get a "certified copy".

Think about it ... if they give it to YOU ... what is to prevent you from altering it??

What is to prevent some one from FABRICATING a new one?

Part of what makes it OFFICIAL is that it is NOT maintained by the individual.

[unc70]

79. It is difficult to fabricate a ;photostat, even a personal one.

Altering the typical certified copies from your county is trivial, even with the special papers and seals.

Agree that "original" is file with government; same as deeds, marriages, etc.

[Lochloosa]

57. Can't answer this one. It was lost in the '94 flood in Albany, Ga

So I know where it is, the Albany landfill, and I can get/have a copy.

[Mojorabbit]

58. I don't have mine

I was born on an Air Force Base in Bermuda that no longer exists. I have no idea how I'd go about getting a copy but I imagine if I dig deep enough the military might have info on how to start.

[LynnTheDem]

59. The original is on file at Vital Statistics. A certified copy I have.

No one gets originals, do they???

[pipi_k]

60. My ORIGINAL birth certificate is nearly 57 years old....

I can get all the copies I want, but the original?

Fat chance.

[DemReadingDU]

64. Certified copy with raised seal

I assumed that is what the poll is about. There is no way any courthouse would give someone the Original.

[pipi_k]

66. Exactly...although sometimes I have gotten a copy with a raised seal, but

It's sort of the same as the raised seal that a Notary Public might use...given to the person in charge of the records at the time...

The person in charge of vital records in the city where I was born has changed so many times since then. If the original person is still alive, he/she has to be older than dirt by now. :7

[DemReadingDU]

69. lol

I'm sure the person in charge of vital records has changed many times in the town where I was born.

Yeh, older than dirt.

:P

[DevonRex]

67. I'd bet that most people don't know where their ORIGINAL bc is.

They may still have their first certified copy. I guarantee that very few people have contacted their states' vital records offices to find out if they still retain the originals.

[brendan120678]

71. I have the document that...

the Village of Johnson City, New York mailed to my parents 2-3 weeks after my birth.
It has my name, DOB, time of birth, parents names, town of birth, seal of the Village of J.C., and Clerk's signature.

I've always considered that to be my Birth Certificate, and used that to obtain Drivers Licenses, Passports, and my Work Permits when I was a teenager. I think that it would pass muster if I ever tried to run for President.

[KatyaR]

73. I have a certified "Certificate of LIve Birth" issued by the State of Oklahoma.

Of course, Freepers would think it's a forgery because it doesn't show my mother's birthplace, which is obvious proof that I'm an illegal alien. (She was from Arkansas, which some people think it's another country anyway, but that's beside the point.)

[DailyGrind51]

74. I keep the originals of all imporatant documents in a file cabinet

and scanned into my HD.

[Beaverhausen]

75. Yes, and it's titled - "certificate of live birth"

Pennsylvania 1959

[Blue_Tires]

76. got a copy years ago for my passport application

still have one at the house...

and my mom still has the paper from the hospital the day i was born...

[graywarrior]

78. It's so old it would crumble if brought out into the day light.

It's hidden somewhere in my files. And get this....it does not include my middle name and I do not use my first name....EVER. I could never be president based on that issue.