Kentucky · Certified copy
Kentucky Birth Certificate: Order a Certified Copy Online
We prepare your application and file it with the Office of Vital Statistics, Department for Public Health, Cabinet for Health and Family Services. The office mails the certified copy to you.
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- Email support
- Private service — not a government agency
Kentucky at a glance
- Issuing office
- Office of Vital Statistics, Department for Public Health, Cabinet for Health and Family Services
- Who can order
- 15 relationships · see the list
- Standard processing
- 10–15 Business Days
- What you need
- Photo ID, names, date and place of birth, parents' names
- Expedited processing
- 6–10 Business Days
- Proof of relationship
- Required for some relationships
A certified copy is the document most agencies accept for a passport, a driver's license, school enrollment or benefits. Kentucky issues it for births recorded in the state.
Kentucky birth certificate: one state office and a short application
Kentucky law lets the state registrar issue a certified birth certificate to any applicant, so the VS-37 form asks for your relationship without listing proof documents. Only the Office of Vital Statistics in Frankfort prints certified copies, for births from 1911 onward, and it issues no plain photocopies or informational versions.
A record open to applicants, not a closed list
Many states restrict birth certificates to a short list of relatives. Kentucky's statute is different: KRS 213.136 directs the state registrar to issue a certified copy to any applicant, and neither the statute nor the state regulations list required relationship documents. The Office of Vital Statistics still says requests are subject to its eligibility and identity checks, and the application asks how you are related to the person named. Births become public records outright a hundred years after the birth.
What the VS-37 application asks for
Kentucky's application is brief. It wants the full name at birth, date of birth, sex and age at the last birthday, the Kentucky city, county and hospital of birth, the mother's maiden name and the father's name, and the original name if the person was adopted. You add your relationship, name, phone, address and signature, and there is no notary block. For a certificate held at will call, the pick-up person shows a government photo ID.
Louisville, Lexington and the office in Frankfort
Kentucky does not let county offices print birth certificates. Certified copies come only from the Office of Vital Statistics, which holds births from 1911 and delayed records filed for earlier births. In Lexington, the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department offers verifications and applications but sends certified copies to Frankfort, and Louisville residents also order from the state office. Local registrars register births and handle paternity paperwork rather than issuing copies.
Certified copies only, and where older records are
Every copy the state office issues is certified; it does not provide photocopies, non-certified copies or electronic copies. For family history, the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives holds city birth records from before 1911 for Louisville, Lexington, Covington and Newport, and the Kentucky Historical Society has county records from 1851 to 1862.
Adoption, acknowledgments and delayed records
After an adoption, a legitimation or a court determination of paternity, Kentucky issues a new certificate and seals the original, which only a court order opens; an adult adoptee may petition the Circuit Court to inspect the adoption records. A sworn acknowledgment by both parents adds a father without marking the certificate amended, while other corrections are marked amended and name changes need a court order. A birth registered a year or more late is marked delayed, and very late registrations need affidavits from people at least ten years older than the registrant plus an old supporting document.
Kentucky's paternity and correction forms
Kentucky uses three numbered forms to add a father: VS-8, VS-8B and the three-way VS-8C, all under the state regulation 901 KAR 5:070. The same regulation lets the office fix an obvious error during the first year without the full amendment process. Registrations made seven or more years late go on form VS-B-5, backed by affidavits from two people at least ten years older than the registrant and by a document that is itself at least ten years old.
How it works when you order with BirthChek
Our Kentucky form follows the VS-37: you enter the county and hospital of birth, the mother's maiden name and the father's name, choose your relationship and sign. You upload your ID so the identity check is already done, and BirthChek files the request with the Office of Vital Statistics in Frankfort.
Facts checked October 24, 2026 against the sources below.
Sources
- Birth certificates — Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services – Office of Vital Statistics
- Application for a certified copy of a birth certificate (VS-37) — Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services – Office of Vital Statistics
- Walk-in, mail and web orders — Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services – Office of Vital Statistics
- KRS 213.136: certified copies — Kentucky General Assembly
- KRS 213.131: disclosure of records — Kentucky General Assembly
- Genealogy — Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services – Office of Vital Statistics
- Birth and death records — Lexington-Fayette County Health Department
- Where to write for vital records: Kentucky — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Where to get a Kentucky birth certificate: state and local offices
Certified copies for births recorded in Kentucky are issued by the Office of Vital Statistics, Department for Public Health, Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
We take orders for births anywhere in Kentucky, including Louisville.
Replacing a lost or damaged Kentucky birth certificate
A replacement is simply a new certified copy of the same birth record. You answer the same questions as for a first copy and nothing on the record changes. Order one when your copy is lost or damaged, or when you need more than one copy for applications running at the same time.
Who can order a Kentucky birth certificate
- You, the person named
- Attorney · proof needed
- Brother
- Daughter
- Father
- Grandparent
- Guardian · proof needed
- Husband
- Mother
- Other
- Sister
- Son
- Spouse
- Wife
- My relationship is not listed · proof needed
Relationships marked "proof needed" must send proof of the relationship with the application; we tell you what counts after you order.
If your relationship is not listed, the office may refuse the application or ask for a court order.
Reasons to request a Kentucky birth certificate
- Adoption (International)
- Adoption (US Only)
- Driver's License
- Dual Citizenship/Immigration
- Employment
- Genealogy/Family History
- Government Assistance/Benefits
- Identification
- Income Tax
- Inheritance/Estate Settlement
- Insurance
- Legal Purposes
- Marriage (International)
- Marriage (US Only)
- Passport
- Personal Records/Use
- Retirement
- School
- Social Security Card/Benefits
- Sports
- Travel
What you need to order a Kentucky birth certificate
- A photo ID: driver's license, state ID, passport or military ID
- Full name on the certificate and date of birth
- City or county of birth
- Both parents' names, including the mother's maiden name
- A debit or credit card
- Proof of your relationship, for the relationships marked above
Prefer to order directly? Find the office in the CDC directory
Ready to order your Kentucky birth certificate?
About ten minutes. Have your photo ID nearby.