Indiana Birth Certificate: Order a Certified Copy Online

Direct interest and the proof Indiana expects

Indiana law defines a direct interest as a documented and verifiable financial or legal interest, or immediate kinship. The state's checklist explains what each relationship sends:

• Grandparent: the birth certificate of your child who is listed on the record.
• Sibling: your own birth certificate.
• Child, grandchild, aunt or uncle: birth certificates that show the relationship.
• Spouse or stepparent: the marriage certificate.
• Guardian: sealed guardianship papers.
• Attorney: a letter on letterhead stating the direct interest, or court documents.

Requests that lack these documents are returned.

Standard or long form: which Indiana birth certificate to choose

Indiana prints two sizes. The standard certificate is the smaller one used for a driver's license or REAL ID, a passport, school, Social Security and benefits. The long form is a full page and adds the time of birth, the attendant and certifier, the hospital, and the parents' birthplaces and dates of birth; it is the one to ask for when getting married abroad, applying for dual citizenship or immigration, requesting an apostille or doing genealogy. If a long form cannot be produced for a record, the state sends a standard copy.

Indianapolis, Marion County and local health departments

The state has birth records from October 1907; for an earlier birth, the local health department of the county of birth is the only source. The state office has no walk-in counter, so in-person service runs through local health departments such as Marion County's in Indianapolis or the department in Fort Wayne. Indiana law allows a local health officer to issue a copy from the electronic system whatever county the birth was filed in, though some departments still refer out-of-county requests to the state.

What the Indiana application asks for and accepted ID

The application asks for the full name at birth and any other name, whether the person was adopted and the name after adoption, the city, county and hospital of birth, the date of birth, whether the person has died, and both parents' full names including maiden names, plus your purpose, relationship, the form you want, whether an apostille is needed, and your signature and contact details. A copy of the front and back of your ID goes with it, and the address must match. Accepted primary IDs include a driver's license or state ID, a US military or veterans ID, a passport and a Mexican consular ID; without one, two secondary documents such as a signed Social Security card, a voter card or a vehicle registration may be used.

Confidentiality, genealogy and adoptions

Birth records in Indiana are confidential. A 2025 law opens them to public inspection ninety-nine years after the record was created, and the state's long-standing genealogy rule covers people who would be over seventy-five and have died, with proof of death. After an adoption the state amends the birth certificate; an original is unsealed only by a court order, and the Adoption Matching Registry lets adoptees register at eighteen and request information at twenty-one.

How it works when you order with BirthChek

Because Indiana asks almost every relative for proof, BirthChek builds that step in. You choose your relationship from the state's list, which includes aunts, uncles, stepparents and court-appointed individuals, enter the birth details, upload your ID and sign. If you are not the registrant or a parent, your order page then asks for the documents for your relationship, and we check them before we file the request.