My baby is almost 8 weeks old and while in hospital, right after the birth, we filled out the application for a birth certificate and the hospital staff said it would be send out shortly. Now, almost 8 weeks later, we still haven't received the certificate so I wonder how long usually take to get it in the mail at home? We live in Colorado, btw. Thanks.
Thanks everybody for the information. I did not know I should request one. Thanks a bunch!
If you only filled out the application you won't get a birth certificate sent to you. You have to fill out a request and there is a fee per certificate.
They send info out - but you have to request and pay for a copy from your county clerk office... they don't just send you one.
Yep, call the county court house or Vital Records offices. I had to go pick up my children's birth certificates for a nominal fee. They were not mailed out. But we live in Texas.
Congrats! I agree, call your county records office.
In Illinois, these are not mailed out. You have to go to the county court house and request (and pay for) them. It's not automatic. Also, you have to say who you are, how you are related to the person and why you are asking for one.
Colorado allows you to order the birth certificate online. If you google this, you'll come to a page that has the link. There is a surcharge for that so if you'd like to avoid that, you can print and mail an order form or go to a county office and request it there.
I had to go pick my kids up. They didn't mail them out
We had to go purchese my daughters after she was born. You have to go to the city hall in the city she was born in
Call your county court house or Vital Records office, which is where most birth certificates are filed.
Congrats on the new baby :)
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That's crazy that you guys had to pay for the first birth certificate! We didn't, and it was mailed to us shortly after the birth, even for the children we had at home this was the case. We've had to pay for copies since then, but not the first one.
The hospital did their part. They sent out the birth certificate application/registration. That's all they had to do. It's now YOUR job to go to town hall of the city the hospital is in, go to the clerk's office, and get the birth certificate. That's how it works.
Lusy:
You should be able to contact your local vital records office or go on line to this website:
http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/CDPHE-CHEIS/CBON/125...
and order the birth certificate yourself.
It's possible you didn't pay the fee for the birth certificate when you filled out the paperwork.
Congratulations on your baby!
I am not sure how it works in the states, but in the UK we had to go to the local registers office and register the babies birth there before getting the long form birth cert.
What you signed was the birth registration, which was sent to your state registrar's office, all the information will be on the birth certificate. When you go into your local vital records office you will purchase a birth certificate. CA, for one, used to send out a version of it for free, a keepsake really, it wasn't for any legal proof of birth. They no longer do.
You need to go into a county office of vital records to apply for a certificate, show proof (ID) that you are the mother (or your husband the father), and pay a fee. The second site states the price as $17.75, plus a $9 fee if you use a credit card.
http://cdn.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/CDPHE-CHEIS/CBON/125...
http://genealogy.about.com/od/vital_records/p/colorado.htm
Now if I'm wrong and you paid in the hospital, I would take your receipt to your county office with you as proof.
Congrats on your new baby!
