Ohio · Certified copy
Ohio Birth Certificate: Order a Certified Copy Online
We prepare your application and file it with the Vital Statistics, Ohio Department of Health. The office mails the certified copy to you.
- Secure payment
- Encrypted data
- Email support
- Private service — not a government agency
Ohio at a glance
- Issuing office
- Vital Statistics, Ohio Department of Health
- Who can order
- 11 relationships · see the list
- Standard processing
- 21–30 Business Days
- What you need
- Photo ID, names, date and place of birth, parents' names
- Expedited processing
- Set by the office
- 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. Ohio issues it for births recorded in the state.
Ohio birth certificate: an open record any applicant can order
Ohio is one of the few states where birth records are open. State law says the state registrar or a local registrar shall issue a certified copy to any applicant who signs an application, apart from a short list of records the law removes from public view. The confidential medical section is the exception.
What "open records" means under section 3705.23
Most states limit certified birth records to the person named and close family. Ohio does not: section 3705.23 of the Revised Code directs the registrar to issue a certified copy to any applicant who submits a signed application. Records the law has taken out of public view, for example after certain adoptions or legal changes, are excluded. The part of the certificate reserved for medical and health use is released only to the registrant, either parent, a guardian, a lineal descendant, or law enforcement and prosecutors. A certified statement that no record exists is given only to someone asking about their own record or to the guardian of a minor.
Cleveland, Cincinnati and the local health districts
The state office holds births from December 20, 1908 onward; for an earlier birth, the probate court of the county is the place to ask. Ohio also has more than one hundred local vital statistics offices, run by city and county health districts, that issue copies in person, so a birth in Cleveland, Cincinnati or a smaller town can often be picked up locally. Some of those offices state that they can issue a record for anyone born anywhere in Ohio, not only in their own county.
Certified copy, abstract or heirloom: which Ohio record to ask for
A certified copy, which Ohio law also calls a certification of birth, shows at least the name, sex, date and place of birth and the registration date, and courts treat it as prima facie evidence of those facts. Copies ordered online from the state are abstracts that the state describes as valid for every legal use in the United States, passports included. Requests for genealogy, dual citizenship, international legal business or a marriage abroad go through the mail application instead. The state also sells an heirloom certification in several decorative designs, which the law also treats as prima facie evidence.
What the Ohio application asks for
The state's application asks for the full name exactly as it appears on the original record and any later name, the date of birth, and the city and county of birth. For each parent it asks for the name, including the name before first marriage. You choose a reason from a short list, such as passport, driver's license, school, work permit or dual citizenship, and give your name, email, mailing address and telephone, then sign. The birth application itself has no notary block and no sworn statement.
Adoption files, paternity and corrections
Ohio's rules for adoption files depend on when the adoption was finalized. For adoptions before 1964, adult adoptees and their lineal descendants may request the file; for those between 1964 and September 1996, adoptees aged eighteen or older and their descendants may; for later adoptions the adoptee must be over twenty-one, with a role for adoptive parents in some cases. The file usually contains the original birth certificate. Minor spelling or data-entry errors are fixed with a notarized birth affidavit filed with the state; other corrections need a probate court order. Paternity can be established by an acknowledgment, an administrative order from the county child support agency, or a court order.
How it works when you order with BirthChek
Even though Ohio does not restrict who may order, BirthChek still asks who you are to the person on the certificate, because the state's records and our own files need it. You enter the names, date and county of birth and each parent's name before marriage, upload a photo ID, and sign along with the limited power of attorney that authorizes us to file. We check your answers against the state's application, file the request and post every step on your order page until the copy is mailed.
Facts checked October 24, 2026 against the sources below.
Sources
- Ohio Revised Code section 3705.23: certified copies — Ohio Legislative Service Commission
- How to order certificates — Ohio Department of Health – Vital Statistics
- Application for certified birth record copies (HEA 2709) — Ohio Department of Health – Vital Statistics
- Heirloom certificate application — Ohio Department of Health – Vital Statistics
- Adoption file information — Ohio Department of Health – Vital Statistics
- Changing or correcting a birth record — Ohio Department of Health – Vital Statistics
- Where to write for vital records: Ohio — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Where to get a Ohio birth certificate: state and local offices
Certified copies for births recorded in Ohio are issued by the Vital Statistics, Ohio Department of Health.
We take orders for births anywhere in Ohio, including Cleveland and Cincinnati.
Replacing a lost or damaged Ohio 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 Ohio birth certificate
- You, the person named
- Brother
- Daughter
- Father
- Husband
- Mother
- Other
- Sister
- Son
- 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 Ohio birth certificate
- Adoption (US Only)
- Driver's License
- Employment
- Genealogy/Family History
- Government Assistance/Benefits
- Housing
- Identification
- Income Tax
- Inheritance/Estate Settlement
- Insurance
- Legal Purposes
- Marriage (US Only)
- Passport
- Personal Records/Use
- Retirement
- School
- Social Security Card/Benefits
- Sports
- Travel
What you need to order a Ohio 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 Ohio birth certificate?
About ten minutes. Have your photo ID nearby.