Birth Certificate Searches

Birth Certificate Searches can be required for a variety of reasons. People can search for a birth certificate for themselves if they don't have a copy. They might also search for a certificate for a friend of relative if they are doing genealogical research. There are those out there who use birth certificates for fraud. Because of this the ability to search for a living person?s certificate may be limited in order to prevent abuse. For example, if a person was attempting identity theft, a copy of the birth certificate of the person who's identity they were attempting to steal might be helpful, so having some protection in place to prevent unauthorized searching, as is the case in most places in the United States, is needed. For other countries it may be much less protected, so birth certificates form these countries should always be given heightened scrutiny before they are accepted as bone fide.

Another type of birth certificate search is for those belonging to people who are now dead. This is a very common thing to do when doing historical research. For example, the researcher might be documenting the history of a small town in New England, and a list of birth certificates for residents could prove invaluable in determining the history of the local families. It should be noted however, that various communities and societies keep these records in different ways, so searching may not be something that can be done quickly or easily. Many societies encourage or even require some kind of documentation of each child that is born, often for purposes of tax collection, but these might be recorded by each family (as was done in early U. S. history by many families who kept records of important events in the family Bible) or perhaps kept at a central government registry. Obviously the records would be much easier to search if located at a central registry.

In the modern United States, most states keep records of births on a county by county basis. These were typically kept in the county courthouse or records office, so to search for a birth certificate it was necessary to know in which county the person was born. Even though the records are still often kept in each county, many states now have a centralized computer list that can at least direct the searcher to the correct county. Another problem that can hamper the would-be searcher is that in past times, it was not uncommon for a county courthouse to burn, and to have all the records destroyed. This makes it almost impossible to carry out birth certificate searches for people born in those counties before the fire and the destruction of the records.

Searching for public records can be a rewarding, but frustrating experience. Remember your goal, and don't give up to easy or too soon.