During the late summer and early spring, the PA Department of Health’s (PDH) vital records office often sees spikes in birth certificate orders due to sports registration and the new school year. Ordering your child’s certificate now can help you to avoid the rush later.  Birth certificates can be ordered through the mail with an Application for a Birth Certificate with a printable/fillable PDF or online through the PA Vital Records’ official storefront. In person requests are not required, certificates can be mailed to you, and most orders are processed within two weeks. 

If your child was born in another state, you will need to request their birth certificate from that state. See the National Center for Health Statistics’ website for contact information.

The PDH Bureau of Health Statistics and Registries is the official custodian of the Commonwealth’s vital records. Third-party vendors may offer vital records services for an extra fee and claim they can get you a copy of your vital record much quicker. However, they generally use the information you provide to submit an order on paper or online back to PDH. To avoid those extra fees and processing steps, it is recommended you apply directly through PDH.

For additional information, including information on how to modify or amend a child’s birth certificate, please visit the Department of Health’s Records webpage. If you would like to share this information with your educational communities, PDH has created a graphic to share on your social media profiles. 

Click here to Vital Records Information.