How to Find Birth Records in Alabama

Birth records are registered all over the US and they are a great way to find someone’s date of birth. They are accessible to the public. This article will look at how to find birth records in Alabama. There are ways to find birth records on the web.

Every state in the US keeps birth records. The laws governing access to such records vary from state to state. This then need that you first find out how that particular state laws operate as well as where those birth records are.

Vital Records in Alabama

Birth records, death records, marriage records, adoption records and death records all constitute vital records. These signify important events in a person’s life. They are kept for a long time and come in handy for genealogical research. You can find vital records from a number of sources in Alabama.

The state department has been keeping birth and death records since 1908. Marriage records has been documented from 1936 and divorce records from1950.

Birth Records in Alabama

From 1881 to 1908, counties in Alabama were requested to register births by the state of Alabama. It is not all births that were registered at the time since counties were reacting very slow. Some of the recorded births are missing or destroyed. The child’s name was not included back then. Birth records registered around the 1920s do have names. These records can be found from the County Court where the registration took place.

Alabama Department of Health

This is one source of birth records in Alabama. The Centre for Health Statistics gathers and offer health related information for the state of Alabama.

These are records such as birth, marriage, divorce and death certificates that took place in the state of Alabama. The Vital Statistics Image Oriented Network (VISION) makes it possible to obtain vital records from all counties in Alabama.

It takes about 30 minutes to obtain most vital records from the Center for Health Statistics in Alabama using the county health department. It takes about 7 – 10 days to get them through mail.

Birth Certificates

Birth certificates are confidential for about 125 years after the date of birth. They can be accessed by the following individuals:

• Person whose name is on the birth certificate.
• Mother, father or legal guardian of the birth certificate owner.
• Daughter, son of the person on the certificate.
• Brother or sister to the person on the certificate.
• Legal representative of the person who has been authorized.

Identification has to be produced to have access to birth certificates.

VitalCheck Network Inc

It must be noted that the Center for Health Statistics does not directly deal with requests online but do so using an independent company named VitalChek Network Inc. There are charges associated with using this service.

This vital records agency issues out certified copies of birth certificates in Alabama which can be used for proof of citizenship, social security, passport, travel, school registration, personal identification, divers license and any other legal needs. Apostilles or certifications such as the authentication with the Alabama Secretary of State is not available from this site. You will need to contact the Alabama Vital Records.

To be able to locate birth certificate in Alabama from the Center for Health Statistics, you must provide the following:

• Full name of the person.
• Date of birth.
• County or city of birth.
• Sex/ Gender.
• Hospital of birth.
• Full names of Parents (father and mother) before marriage.
• Your name and signature.
• Your valid identification (such as a driver’s license).
• Relationship to the person whose certificate you are looking for.
• Address where certificate could be mailed.
• Your phone number.

Birth Certificate of Adopted Individuals in Alabama

Adopted individuals who were born in Alabama can get a copy of their birth certificates which are kept in a sealed file once they are 19 years old. Birth parents can also add details on the sealed file of the adoptee. A certified copy of a birth certificate may also be requested by adopting parents or their legal representative.

All in all, birth records can be obtained by three ways in the state of Alabama. You may choose to order online, by mail or visit in person.

To order online, you might need the services of VitalChek. This can be done using a debit or credit card. To order by mail, you will need to download the mail in application. To get the birth records in person, you will need to go to any Alabama state county health department. It is possible to have the birth records process as you wait.

Other Alternatives

Since birth records are really hard to come by, it might be a good idea to go for other alternative records that might keep such records. Birth records information can be found on marriage certificates, death certificates and cemetery records.

These are some of the ways on how to find birth records in Alabama that you can use. This article covers on where to find them and how. It worth mentioning though that these searches come at a price.