Louisiana Birth Certificate: Order a Certified Copy Online

Who may order a Louisiana birth certificate

The Louisiana Department of Health keeps births confidential and follows R.S. 40:41, which limits copies to the person named, close family and people named in a court proceeding. The department's list of close family is the current spouse, the mother and father, an adult child, a sister or brother, a grandparent and a grandchild.

An attorney may order with a written declaration on letterhead showing the bar roll number. Another adult ordering for a child needs a judgment of custody; notarized custody papers and provisional custody mandates are refused. Anyone else needs an Authorization Release of Records signed by an entitled person, with that person's ID.

Long form or short-form birth card

Louisiana issues two certified versions, both with a raised seal. The long form shows the hospital, the parents' full names, their birthplaces and their ages. The short form, called a birth card, carries only the name, date and parish of birth, the father's initials and the mother's last name and first initial, and the state warns that some agencies will not accept it. For a passport, dual citizenship or any agency that wants the parents' details, choose the long form. A commemorative certificate signed by the Governor is also sold, through the central office only and under the same eligibility rules.

New Orleans, Jefferson Parish and East Baton Rouge

The Vital Records Registry's central office on Poydras Street in New Orleans serves walk-in customers and is the only place that handles amendments, adoptions and delayed birth records. Many parish Clerks of Court also print long and short forms through the state system. In Jefferson Parish the Clerk issues them at Metairie, Gretna and Harvey, though some records older than 1983 must first be updated by the state. In Baton Rouge, the East Baton Rouge Clerk of Court issues birth certificates at its City Hall location on a walk-in basis.

Identification for the S1 application

The application asks for the name at birth, date of birth, sex, city and parish, the father's name and the mother's full maiden name, then your relationship, contact details and signature, with no notary. You attach a copy of one primary ID, such as a driver's license, state ID, military ID, passport, naturalization certificate, or even a high school yearbook or school ID. Otherwise two secondary documents work, for example a Social Security card with a W-2, a vehicle title, an insurance policy, a pay stub, a DD-214 or a certified voter registration.

Genealogy, adoptees and paternity

The registry does not take genealogy requests; once a birth is a hundred years old it moves to the Louisiana State Archives, whose records before 1911 cover Orleans Parish only, since statewide registration became mandatory in 1918. Louisiana-born adoptees aged twenty-four or older can obtain a non-certified copy of their original birth certificate, and only the adoptee may ask; birth parents can file a contact preference form. A father can be added through an acknowledgment of paternity, signed before a notary and two witnesses, or by court order.

How it works when you order with BirthChek

Our Louisiana form offers the relationships the state accepts, with an attorney or custody holder uploading the declaration or judgment of custody. You enter the parish of birth and the mother's maiden name, upload your ID and sign, and BirthChek files with the Louisiana Center of Vital Records and Statistics.