Missouri · Certified copy
Missouri Birth Certificate: Order a Certified Copy Online
We prepare your application and file it with the Bureau of Vital Records, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. The office mails the certified copy to you.
- Secure payment
- Encrypted data
- Email support
- Private service — not a government agency
Missouri at a glance
- Issuing office
- Bureau of Vital Records, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
- Who can order
- 11 relationships · see the list
- Standard processing
- 7–10 Business Days
- What you need
- Photo ID, names, date and place of birth, parents' names
- Expedited processing
- 3–5 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. Missouri issues it for births recorded in the state.
Missouri birth certificate: short form, long form and St. Louis
Missouri birth records are not open to the public. A certified copy goes to someone with a direct and tangible interest: the registrant, family in the direct line of descent up to but not including cousins, a guardian, or an official representative. Mailed applications must be notarized, and the long form comes only from the state office.
Direct and tangible interest in Missouri
Missouri's rules define immediate family for birth records as relatives and in-laws in the direct line of descent, stopping before cousins, and the applicant must be able to name at least one parent on the record. A parent or guardian applies for anyone under eighteen, while an emancipated minor may apply with proof. A foster parent with custody papers and a stepparent who shows the relationship can also apply. A man who is not named as the father on the record is not entitled unless he holds custody or guardianship papers or a power of attorney from the mother.
Short form or long form
The default Missouri birth certificate is the short form, called a birth certification and also known as an abstract, which serves for a driver's license, school and most identification needs. The long form, the certificate of live birth, is available only from the state office and is the one suggested for genealogy, for records that were changed in the past and for apostilles. Delayed birth records are issued only in long form.
St. Louis, local public health agencies and the state office
The state office holds births from January 1, 1910 and issues both versions. Local public health agencies across Missouri issue short-form copies of births from 1920 onward. In St. Louis the city's Recorder of Deeds, not the health department, issues birth certificates, and for births anywhere in Missouri; it also has certified transcripts of earlier city births. For births before 1910 in St. Louis City, St. Louis County or Kansas City, the city or county health department is the place to ask.
What the Missouri application asks for
The application asks for the full name and any other names used, the date and place of birth, the hospital and sex, both parents' names including each one's surname before first marriage, and your name, address, contact details, purpose and relationship, with a box for the long form. It is signed under penalty of perjury, and a mailed application must be notarized; electronic and remote online notarization are accepted. In person, one photo ID or two alternative documents such as a vehicle registration, an insurance card, a pay stub or a utility bill will do.
Adoptees, paternity and corrections
Under the Adoptee Rights Act, adoptees, their attorneys, birth parents and lineal descendants can obtain a non-certified copy of an original birth record stamped for genealogical purposes only; other sealed records need a court order. Paternity is established by acknowledgment or court order, and legitimation by notarized affidavits with a marriage certificate. Errors are fixed with a notarized correction affidavit, while a name change requires a court order, and amended or delayed copies are marked as such.
How it works when you order with BirthChek
BirthChek collects the details the Missouri application asks for, including each parent's surname before first marriage, and offers the relationships the state rules allow, separating maternal and paternal grandparents. You upload your ID and sign the authorization that lets us act for you. We file with the state office, and your order page shows the request from review until the certificate is on its way.
Facts checked October 24, 2026 against the sources below.
Sources
- Order a copy of a vital record — Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services – Bureau of Vital Records
- Application for a Missouri birth or death certificate — Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services – Bureau of Vital Records
- Frequently asked questions — Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services – Bureau of Vital Records
- RSMo 193.255: copies of records — Missouri Revisor of Statutes
- Correct or amend a vital record — Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services – Bureau of Vital Records
- Birth certificates — City of St. Louis – Recorder of Deeds
- Where to write for vital records: Missouri — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Where to get a Missouri birth certificate: state and local offices
Certified copies for births recorded in Missouri are issued by the Bureau of Vital Records, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
We take orders for births anywhere in Missouri, including St. Louis and St. Louis County.
Replacing a lost or damaged Missouri 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 Missouri birth certificate
- You, the person named
- Attorney · proof needed
- Child
- Father
- Grandchild
- Guardian · proof needed
- Maternal Grandparent
- Mother
- Paternal Grandparent
- Spouse
- 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 Missouri birth certificate
- Adoption (International)
- Adoption (US Only)
- Correction
- Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB Card)
- Driver's License
- Dual Citizenship/Immigration
- Employment
- Genealogy/Family History
- Government Assistance/Benefits
- Housing
- Identification
- Income Tax
- Inheritance/Estate Settlement
- Insurance
- Legal Purposes
- Marriage (International)
- Marriage (US Only)
- Passport
- Personal Records/Use
- Retirement
- School
- Secretary
- Social Security Card/Benefits
- Sports
- Travel
What you need to order a Missouri 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 Missouri birth certificate?
About ten minutes. Have your photo ID nearby.