Birth certificate offices house and safeguard all birth record information of everyone born in that particular parish, county, or borough. These offices have a tremendous task in front of them: to balance requests for birth certificates against the security considerations that grow more crucial every day. In these days of identity theft and growing threats to national security, they must be more vigilant than ever to make sure that birth records don't fall into the wrong hands.
To fulfill this double duty, birth certificate offices generally forbid any person, other than the one named on the birth certificate, access to that birth record. This means that you cannot obtain a certified copy of that birth certificate, nor even view those birth records. The only exceptions are the parents and sometimes the spouse of the named person, the legally designated representative of that person, and, occasionally, persons researching a birth record for historical or genealogical purposes.
Dealing with the Birth Certificate Office
As you may have already guessed, dealing with the birth certificate office does not rank at the top of anyone's list of fun things to do. These offices are often tremendously overburdened with requests for birth certificates, and cannot take the time to treat you as anything other than a number. Thus if you have special requests such as a time deadline, they will probably not be able to accommodate you.
Don't give up in frustration yet. There is a way around these bureaucratic government offices. Though they ultimately will still be the ones issuing your birth certificate, you can be spared the hassle of dealing with them at all. The way to do this is to enlist the services of a reputable online company that specializes in quickly obtaining birth certificates for the people that request them.
