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IDREN’ S BUREAU PUBLICATION NO. 332-1949

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OCT 1 9
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confidential nature
of birth records

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Children’s Bureau and

National Office of Vital Statistics

FEDERAL SECURITY AGENCY

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a policy

z

recommended
by

American Association of Registration Executives
Council on Vital Records and Statistics

and endorsed
by

Children’ s Bureau and
National Office of Vital Statistics
FEDERAL SECURITY A G E N C Y
January 1949

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office
Washington 25, D, C. - Price 10 cents

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FOREWORD
The major purpose of this statement is to point out the need for a
Nation-wide policy on the confidential nature of birth records that will:
1. Assure the confidential nature of birth records.
2. Improve the completeness and accuracy of information given in reports
of births, adoptions, and legitimations.
3. Enable the individual to secure the essential information regarding his
birth or family relationship.
4. Protect certain individuals from unnecessary and harmful revelation
of embarrassing information.
5. Assist public agencies to secure personal information required in the
administration of their programs.
This policy is recommended by the American Association of Registra­
tion Executives and the Council on Vital Records and Vital Statistics
and is endorsed by the Children’s Bureau and the National Office of Vital
Statistics. It is therefore the result of the joint effort of these four
organizations. State registration executives have approved it by a large
majority.
In some States the adoption of this policy will require new legislation.
In other States, the essential elements of the policy can be achieved by
administrative regulations under existing laws. Detailed specifications
will be necessary to make possible the translation of some of these broad
policy statements into statutory language and into administrative regula­
tion. The drafting of any necessary legislation will, of course, involve
techincal and legal questions that will have to be worked out in each case.
The State departments of health and of welfare will need to cooperate
closely in explaining the principles of this policy to the public and in
strengthening legislation and procedures. The establishment and
maintenance of satisfactory procedures for the recording of births through­
out the Nation will require the combined efforts of interested agencies
over a considerable period of time.

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I. Statement of the Problem
There are many important legal, personal, public health, and social
welfare reasons which make the complete and accurate registration of
births essential. Individuals need certifications of the facts of birth to
be used as evidence of age, of citizenship, and of family relationship.
Social and health agencies need medical and social information concerning
the child and his parents for administrative and statistical purposes.
The latter type of information, if made generally available, may be em­
barrassing or harmful to the child and his parents, particularly if such
facts as birth out of wedlock, congenital malformation, or residence of
mother or father in a penal or mental institution are shown. At the
present time, individuals are inadequately protected against the dis­
closure of this type of information.
The confidential nature of birth records can best be assured by a
comprehensive Nation-wide policy implemented by State legislation and
procedures. Through such a Nation-wide policy we can do much to
improve the completeness and accuracy of registration. Particular
attention should be given to the problems involved in the registration
and certification of birth out of wedlock, birth to unknown parents,
legitimation, and adoption. Serious deficiencies now exist in the com­
pleteness of reporting these events and in the accuracy of information
given on reports which are filed. These deficiencies result, in part, from
the fact that doctors, nurses, midwives, and parents have no assurance
that such information will be kept confidential. They know, too, what
harm the disclosure of such information can do. Their full cooperation
in providing complete and accurate reports can best be secured by the
general adoption of procedures which will protect the individual registrant
and his family.
The policy set forth in this statement should provide a basis for great
improvement in birth registration practice. However, the effect of the
policy recommendations should be reviewed periodically to determine
what progress has been made toward their adoption and incorporatiQn in
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Federal, State, and local registration practice. Undoubtedly, too, the
policy will need occasional revision and strengthening.
For example," the various discussions leading up to this policy state­
ment raised several urgent and unresolved questions which should be
investigated during the coming months. These include:
A. Should the birth card give the name acquired through usage, when
it differs from the name on the birth certificate?
B. Should the birth certificate carry the name of the father of a child
born out of wedlock as alleged by the unmarried mother?
C. What are the factors involved in obtaining on a Nation-wide basis
data on legitimacy status?
If, after investigation of these problems, it seems that the policy
should be amended, such amendments could be considered at the next
annual Work Conference of the National Office of Vital Statistics.
Certain terms need to be defined for purposes òf clarification. A list
of these terms with brief definitions is attached at the end of this document.
Sample forms are included in the appendix (p. 9—11).

II. Explanation and justification of policy
A. All birth records

1. A birth certificate, giving complete and accurate information, should
be filed promptly by the attendant at the birth of every child. All
important facts pertaining to the child’s identity should be recorded
and the record verified or reviewed by the parents, or parent.
Every person needs a birth certificate. It m ust be accurate with
respect to all of the essential facts. Review by parents of the certificate
and verification of the facts stated in it, particularly the personal and
family identification items, should increase the correctness of the
information.

2. All birth records should be considered confidential documents which
would be open to inspection (except as specified in succeeding sections)
only by the registrant, if of legal age; his parent or parents, guardian,

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or their legal agents upon approval of the official custodian of vital
records; or upon court order.
3. Certified copies of the complete birth record should be issued (except
as specified in succeeding sections) only to the registrant, if of legal
age; his parent or parents, guardian, or their legal representative;
health and social agencies upon approval of the official custodian of
vital records; or upon court order. Health and social agencies at the
discretion of the custodian may be permitted to receive information
necessary to provide services for the mother and child.
The public interest does not require that birth records, which are
essential personal records, be open to public inspection. Evidence of
citizenship, age and name, the most comm on uses of the birth
certificate, can be provided without inspection of or a copy of the
complete birth record. The registrant and his parents should have
access to the complete record. Social and health agencies may have a
need for a certified copy of the birth record; however, whenever possible
they should use the standard confidential verification form. The
necessity and right of all other agencies or persons to inspect the
complete certificate should be decided by a court of law.

4. A birth card should be used and accepted throughout the country
for most certification purposes. The birth card should contain only
the name, sex, place of birth, date of birth, date of filing, and birth
certificate number. All birth cards, including those for persons born
out of wedlock or of unknown parentage and for legitimated or adopted
persons, should be uniform in color, size, arrangement, and wording
of items.
A birth card would be adequate in the vast majority of cases in which
a copy of the birth certificate is now required. The name identifies
the person, the date of birth shows age, and the place of birth shows
citizenship. If issued in a uniform format, the birth card will pro­
tect the individual from unnecessary disclosures of such facts as
birth out of wedlock, unknown parentage, and others involving stigma
or embarrassment.

5. A standard confidential verification form should be accepted and used
by all official agencies requiring parentage information.
All government agencies should accept a confidential verification of
the facts of birth in lieu of certified copies of the complete certificate.
Official requests for information on parentage should be limited to
cases where national security or the rights and welfare of the indi­
vidual require such information.

6. Nation-wide adoption of these policies will in themselves be of great
assistance in solving the special problems involved in the registration
and certification of facts for children born out of wedlock^ children of
unknown parentage, adopted children, and legitimated children.
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Protection of the confidential nature of all birth records is essential
to adequate protection of records of persons whose records contain
embarrassing or stigmatizing information. It would be useless, for
example, to refuse to issue a certified copy of a birth certificate of a
child born out of wedlock, if such copies were routinely issued for
persons born in wedlock. The difference in procedure would in
itself strongly suggest difference in status.

B. Birth records of children born out of wedlock
1. Information concerning legitimacy status and medical details should be
recorded on a separate section of the original birth certificate. If it
is considered desirable to detach this section, after processing for sta­
tistical and administrative purposes, it should be cross-referenced by
number with the remaining part of the certificate.
Placing such items as legitimacy status and medical details in a
separate section of the birth certificate will assist in preventing unin­
tentional release of such data in making confidential verifications
or in reproducing parts of the birth record. This section of the
certificate may be detached after processing for statistical and admin­
istrative purposes and after cross referencing by number to the re­
mainder of the certificate.

2. The mother of a child born out of wedlock should enter on the birth
certificate the surname by which she wants the child to be known. If
documentary evidence of a change of name is presented later to the
State registrar, he should make an amendatory birth record.
The child’s interest requires that he be given a name.
be the mother’s maiden name.

It need not

3. The right to inspect or to secure a certified copy of the original birth
certificate o f a person born out of wedlock should be restricted to the
registrant, if of legal age; his parents or parent, guardian, or their
legal representative; health and social agencies upon approval of the
official custodian of vital records; or upon court order.
The restriction of the rights of inspection and complete certification
is particularly important in these cases.

4. In the case of births out of wedlock to nonresident mothers, copies of
the birth certificates should not be transmitted to the local registrar
in the place of the mother’s residence. If desired for statistical pur­
poses, a statistical report without personal identification should be
used.
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An unmarried woman frequently goes to another town so that the
birth will not be known in her own locality. In some States this
creates no problem because births are filed locally by place of occur­
rence, not by place of residence. However, in some States local
registrars are required to send copies of certificates for nonresidents
to the registrar in the place of residence. Where the mother or
hospital knows this is the practice, the residence information will
probably be falsified. 'Therefore, such nonresident reports should
be confined to statistical information, without the names of the child
and mother. Routine notifications of birth registration and queries
should not be mailed to unmarried mothers for the same reason.

C. Birth records of children of unknown parentage
1. A birth certificate should be filed for every child of unknown parentage
and should show all known or presumed facts relating to the birth.
Information about the circumstances under which the child was found
should be filed in a supplementary report to assist in later identifica­
tion. A person of unknown parentage should be able to secure a
birth card identical in format and content to other birth cards. If the
child is later identified, the State registrar should make an amendatory
birth record, and the original birth certificate should be sealed and
filed separately.
The interests of the child require that every effort be made to deter­
mine all the facts of birth. The assistance of a social welfare agency
should be enlisted in this process. If this is impossible, such facts as
can be determined or approximated should be recorded. The child
should be given a name.

2. The right to inspect or to secure a certified copy of the original certifi­
cate of a person of unknown parentage should be restricted to the
registrant, if of legal age; parent or parents if later identified, guardian,
or their legal representative; health and social agencies upon approval
of the official custodian of vital records; or upon court order.
(See section A, paragraphs 2 and 3.)

D. Legitimated and adopted children
1. State laws should stipulate that the State registrar shall accept evidence
of the marriage of the parents, together with an acknowledgment in
writing of paternity by the father as satisfactory evidence of legiti­
mation.
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The purpose of such statutory provision is to relieve the registrar
of the necessity of adjudicating the evidence. In most cases, legiti­
mation recorded on the basis of this evidence will stand.

2. Complete reports of all court decrees of adoption and legitimation and
annulments thereof should be sent to the State registrar on standard
forms prescribed by him. These reports should be filed within a
specified time limit and should contain sufficient information to identify
the original birth certificate and to enable an amendatory birth record
to be prepared, showing the essential facts about the adopting parents
and the new name of the child if so desired by the adopting parents.
These reports should be made by the clerks of court to the State
registrar in the State of legitimation or adoption at the end of each
m onth. Use of a standard form by the various court clerks would
improve the completeness of the report and assure its adequacy for’
registration and statistical purposes. It is very important that the
child’s original birth certificate be identified so that his complete
birth record will be available to him when needed.

3. The original birth certificate of an adopted or legitimated child should
be sealed and an amendatory record showing the new status of the
child should be placed in the regular file. The amendatory record
should be used in making certified copies.
To protect the person, all certifications for routine purposes should
be made from the amendatory record and not the original certificate.
The original certificate should be sealed to prevent its use except in
the cases specified in section D, paragraphs 7 and 8.

4. Each State registrar should forward reports of adoptions and legitima­
tions, or annulments thereof, for out-of-State births to the State
registrar in the State where the child was born. In the State of birth,
the State registrar should seal the original certificate and file an
amendatory record indicating the new status of the child.
Routine reporting of adoptions and legitimations to the State
registrar in the State of birth is essential both to complete the person’s
birth record and to prevent duplicate registration which is detrimental
to the individual’s own interests and to the efficiency of the vital
registration system.

5. Standard forms for the reporting by courts to State registrars of legiti­
mations and adoptions should be developed and adopted by all States.
Interstate reporting and the compilation of national statistics on
legitimations and adoptions would be facilitated by the use of a
standard form by all States.

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6. If certifications are issued by local officials their record should conform
to the record in the State office. The local registrar should be required
to maintain the confidential nature of all birth records in the same
degree as is required in the State ■office.
So long as it is possible to secure certifications from two or more
different sources, great care m ust be taken to assure that the several
records are identical and show the latest status of the person. It is
also essential that in such cases the records in the local office be fully
protected from inspection by the public.

7. The right to inspect or to secure a certified copy of the original birth
certificate of a legitimated child should be restricted to the registrant,
if of legal age; his parents or parent, guardian, or their legal represent­
ative; or upon court order.
(See section A, paragraphs 2 and 3.)

8. The right to inspect or to secure a certified copy of the original birth
certificate of an adopted child should be restricted to the registrant, if
of legal age; or upon court order. The right to inspect or to secure a
certified copy of the amendatory birth record of an adopted child should
be restricted to the registrant, if of legal age; the parents or parent by
adoption or their legal representative; social and health agencies upon
approval of the official custodian of vital records; or upon court order.
The reasons for careful protection of the record of an adopted
child are similar to those previously mentioned. In many cases, the
original certificate will show that the child was born out of wedlock
or that its parents are unknown. It is desirable, also, that the natural
parents and adopting parents should remain unknown to each other»

E. Certification of records during interim period
1. When the system of certification by birth card and confidential verifi­
cation for all routine purposes becomes well established, issuance of
certified copies of the complete original or amendatory certificate will
be limited to specifically authorized persons. During the interim
period before this procedure is in full operation, all photostatic or
typed copies of the complete birth certificate should be identical in
form, color, wording, and arrangement of items. For legitimated and
adopted persons the certified copy should be made from the amendatory
birth record. Persons born out of wedlock and persons of unknown
parentage cannot be completely protected when complete copies are
issued, because of the difference in parentage information, but no other
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distinction should be made on such copies. The section which includes
the question of legitimacy should be excluded in making certified
copies, except in cases in which issuance of a complete certified copy is
permitted.
Regardless of the precise method used in making certifications, all
possible protection should be given individuals against unnecessary
disclosure of embarrassing facts. The confidential nature of such
information is almost impossible to maintain when photostatic copies
are made of certificates for persons born out of wedlock or born to
unknown parents. Legitimated and adopted children can be pro­
tected only if certifications are made from the amendatory record and
if this record does not differ in any way from all other birth certificates.

F. Program of statistics and research
1. Nation-wide adoption of these basic policies and procedures should be
accompanied by the development of correlated statistics of births out
of wedlock, births of unknowti parentage, legitimations, and adoptions
for all States.
At the present tim e, national statistics on the incidence of births
out of wedlock are incomplete. At least 15 States do not require
reporting of this item, and the accuracy of reporting in the other
States is open to serious question. National data concerning adop­
tions are far from complete and information on legitimations simply
does not exist. This information would be valuable to social agencies
interested in the magnitude of the problem and the extent to which
children are being absorbed into normal family units. If all States
adopt procedures which fully protect the confidential nature of birth
records, the development of interrelated statistics of births out of
wedlock, births to unknown parents, adoptions and legitimations for
the entire country would be practical and desirable.

III. Definition of terms
Original Birth Certificate— the record which gives the facts concerning
the child and his parents as of the date of birth.
Certification— an officially issued document stating that the facts certified
correspond to those in documents which are on file. ,

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Birth Card— a short certification of only those facts of birth which con­
stitute evidence of name, age, and citizenship.
Confidential Verification— official verification of certain facts of birth
requested by an official agency or by the registrant.
Sectional Birth Certificate— a certificate form which clearly separates the
items required for personal identification from the items used primarily
for medical or statistical purposes.
Amendatory Birth Record— a new record, which is identical in format
with an original certificate and which shows the present name and
parentage of a person after adoption, legitimation, or other legal
change of status.

Appendix

(Actual size o f card)

T H E B IR TH R E G IST R A T IO N CARD

Above is the standard birth card as approved by the American As­
sociation of Registration Executives. It is a handy pocket-sized card
which can be carried by the individual and used in a vast majority of
the cases for which a copy of the birth certificate is now required. It
is a certification of name and birth facts as recorded on the official regis­
tration. All State birth cards look essentially alike, and the format is
quite similar from State to State. A primary advantage in the use of
this card in contrast to a certified copy of the birth certificate is that it
does not disclose facts concerning birth out of wedlock, adoption or
medical facts of birth irrelevant to certification.
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(194$ Revision o f Standard Certificate)

CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH
2. U SU AL RESIDEN CE O F M O TH ER (Whamdoaa mothar IfraT)
t . STATE
>•CITY (XI outaida corporata li
OR
TOWN
. FULL NAME OF (if n o t k
HOSPITAL OR
INSTITUTION

d. STREET (If rural, giva location)

3. C H I L D 'S N A M E
(TYPE OR PRINT)
4. SEX

ft (First)

c. (Last)

b. (Middle)

Sa THIS BIRTH
SINGLE Q

b, COUNTY

CITY (If outaida corporata limita, writ# RURAL u d give townablp)
OR
TOWN

I. » I l l RURAL and give township)

5b. IF TWIN OR TRIPLET (ThiasbiM bom»
TWIN | )

TRIPLET Q

« * □

»

□

6. DATE
OF
BIRTH

»» □

(Month)

(Day)

(Year)

FATHER OF CHILD
7. FULL NAME

ft (Tint)

9. ACE OU Uaaaof lU l Nrtk)

b. (Middle)

10. BIRTHPLACE (Stata or foreign country)

1. COLOR OR RACE

ft (Last)

lift. USUAL OCCUPATION

lib . KIND OF BUSINESS OR INDUSTRY

___ _________________YEARS

M O TH E R O F C H IL D
12. F ULL MAIDEN NAME

M. AGE UU lima of this birth)

ft (Firn)

13. COLOR OR RACE

IS. BIRTHPLACE (ftaaa or favole» a

16. CHILDREN PREVIOUSLY BORN TO THIS MOTHER (Do N O T Include thto cbUd)
a. How many OTHER b. How many OTHER cbil- c. How many children were
children ara now liv* d m were bom alive but are stillborn (bom dead after
iw dead?
30 weeks pregnancy)?

_____________________YEARS
17. IN F O R M A N T

i t s . S IG N A T U R E

18b. ATTENDANT AT BIRTH

□'

I hereby certify that
this child was bom alive
on the date stated above.
19. DATE REC'D BY LOCAL

_n 1°™*"I

____________ MIDWIFE I__ I (Specify)
ltd. DATE SIGNED

20. REGISTRAR'S SIGNATURE

21. DATE ON WHICH GIVEN NAME ADDED
BY
(Ragiatrar)

FO R M E D IC A L AN D H E A L T H USE O N L Y
(This section M U S T be fitted out)
22a. LENGTH OF PREG-

NANCY

22b. WEIGHT AT BIRTH

________________WEEKS,_________ LB.________ 02 .

23. LEGITIMATE

p i

YU

LJ

p-|

NO U

(SPACK FOR ADDITION OP MEDICAL AND. HEALTH ITEMS»BY INDIVIDUAL STATES)

(Reduced from sheet 8 " x 7 " )

T H E CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH

Above is shown the 1949 revision of the Standard Certificate of Live
Birth. Birth certificates are required in all States and they all have
the same general informational content as found in the Standard Cer­
tificate.

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APPLICATION FOR CONFIDENTIAL VERIFICATION OF BIRTH

Kama o f V ita l Kecord O ffice _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Address

__________________

City and ¿ ta te

_____________
Oat*____________________________It,

M o <b*ii#flh
Nemo of Agency

or other* identification
-

be PIaC8<1 bo,ow-

________________________________ ___________

Street end No_____ ____ ___

_________________________________— ------

City end State-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Reduced from letter size)

T H E A P PLICATION FOR C O N FID E N T IA L V ERIFIC ATIO N OF B IR TH

The above form is designed to provide a simple method of verification
of birth facts to official agencies to whom copies of records are issued
free of charge, and who have a legitimate interest in parentage. The
form can be initiated by the agency or individual, sent to the vital rec­
ords' office for verification and then sent direct by that office to the
agency. The advantages of the form are that it produces economies in
State office procedure, speeds up verification, and minimizes problems
arising from unwarranted disclosures of facts concerning birth out of
wedlock and adoption.

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U . S . G O V E R N M E N T P R IN T IN G O P P I C I : U S O


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