District of Columbia Birth Certificate: Order a Certified Copy Online

A list that leaves out spouses

D.C. Code 7-231.25 limits certified copies to the registrant, a child, a parent, a brother or sister, a grandparent, a legal guardian and a legal representative, and the applicant must be at least eighteen unless emancipated. DC Health also accepts social workers, holders of a power of attorney and law enforcement. Unusually, it names who cannot order: cousins, nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, friends and neighbors, and spouses and domestic partners.

Proof for each relationship

The application lists the documents for each requester:

• a brother, sister or adult son or daughter: your own birth certificate
• a grandparent: your child's birth certificate, the registrant's parent
• an adult grandchild: your birth certificate and your parent's
• a guardian or custodian: a certified court order
• an attorney: a retainer agreement, bar card and a letter on firm letterhead
• a social worker: a letter on letterhead, license and photo ID

When the linking birth happened in DC, DC Health checks it electronically instead.

Shannon Place, kiosks and mailed applications

The Vital Records Division at 2201 Shannon Place SE serves walk-up customers on weekdays, with identity checks at self-service kiosks: you answer an identity questionnaire, then show one primary photo ID or two alternate IDs, or three IDs if the questionnaire fails. A mailed application needs one primary photo ID and two secondary IDs, none expired, plus proof of any name change. A power of attorney must be notarized, specific and limited in time. Records go back to August 1874.

Long form only since 2010

DC discontinued its short-form certificate on April 5, 2010, so every certified copy is the long form. The application asks for the full name at birth, both parents' full names including the mother's maiden surname, the date and hospital of birth, sex, and whether the registrant is living. Birth records open to the public 125 years after the birth, and open records from 1874 to 1898 come from the DC Archives.

Parentage, amendments and late registrations

A new record is created after an adoption, a court parentage order or a voluntary acknowledgment, and the original is sealed. Unmarried parents complete the acknowledgment in person at the Vital Records Division with both parents present, while married parents use a presumption of parentage form. Amendments are filed by mail with notarized signatures by the registrant, a parent, a guardian or the certifier; anyone else needs a DC Superior Court order, and orders from elsewhere must be domesticated in DC first. Delayed registrations are by appointment.

How it works when you order with BirthChek

Our DC form includes only the relationships DC Health accepts, separating adult sons and daughters and adding social worker, power of attorney and law enforcement. Relatives upload the linking birth certificate when the link is outside DC, and guardians and attorneys their papers. You give both parents' full names and the hospital, upload your ID and sign, and BirthChek files the request with the Vital Records Division.