Pennsylvania Birth Certificate: Order a Certified Copy Online

Who can order a Pennsylvania birth certificate

Pennsylvania's list of eligible applicants is one of the broader ones:

• the person named on the certificate
• a spouse, a parent or a step-parent
• a brother, sister, half-brother or half-sister
• a son, daughter, step-son or step-daughter
• a grandparent or great-grandparent, a grandchild or great-grandchild
• someone holding a power of attorney, and an attorney or other legal representative

Applicants must be sixteen or older for mail and in-person requests, and an emancipated minor may apply. When the registrant has died, a family member who is not on the list can still apply by including a copy of the death certificate. Behind the list sits the Vital Statistics Law, which ties every copy to a direct interest in the record's content.

Replacement and duplicate Pennsylvania birth certificates

A replacement or duplicate is a fresh certified copy of the same record, and it is ordered exactly like a first one. The state prints it on security paper with a raised seal, and it is accepted for a passport, employment, a driver's license, a Social Security card and school, and it satisfies REAL ID requirements. When no matching record can be found, the state issues a no-record certification instead. The original report of live birth itself is not released and becomes public only after one hundred five years.

What the application asks for and how ID is checked

The application asks for your current legal name, address, email, telephone and relationship to the registrant; the name at birth and any later name from an adoption or court order; current age, date of birth and sex; the county, municipality or hospital of birth; both parents' names, with each parent's last name before first marriage; and the intended use. No notary is involved: you sign a statement that the information is accurate, subject to the law against unsworn falsification. A valid photo ID showing your mailing address is expected, and expired IDs are refused. Without a photo ID, two current documents with your name and address, such as a recent bank statement, pay stub, utility bill, lease or tax form, are accepted.

Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and births before 1906

Statewide registration began in 1906, and the Division of Vital Records issues every Pennsylvania birth from that year on, whether it happened in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh or a rural township. For an earlier birth, the courthouse of the county where it took place is the place to ask. The state also runs several branch offices for in-person requests. Researchers should note that once a record is public, non-certified copies come from the State Archives, while certified copies still come only from the Division of Vital Records.

Adoptions and changes to a record

When an adoption is reported to the state, the original record is sealed and a replacement record is created; the state asks families not to order a copy until it confirms the update. Adult adoptees and their descendants can request a non-certified copy of the original record, on which a birth parent may have asked for their name to be redacted. Corrections and changes of parentage use separate request forms, and a court-ordered change of parentage needs a certified copy of the order.

How it works when you order with BirthChek

In the BirthChek form you pick your relationship from the options we offer for Pennsylvania and fill in the birth details, including each parent's name before marriage. You add photos of your ID, sign on screen and authorize us to file on your behalf. We check the details against the state's requirements, file the request with the Division of Vital Records and keep your order page up to date until the certificate is mailed to you.