How Birth Certificates Work in Alabama

The Center for Health Statistics began filing Alabama birth certificates in 1908, and the Department of Public Health's birth certificate page states the restriction that governs everything else: by Alabama law, birth certificates are confidential records with restricted access for a hundred and twenty five years from the date of birth. Inside that period a certificate may be obtained, on payment of the proper fee, by the person named on it, their mother, father or legal guardian, their husband or wife, their son or daughter, their sister or brother, and the legal representative of an authorized person.

Identification is required to obtain a restricted certificate, and the department publishes its identification requirements separately. Three routes exist: post to the Center for Health Statistics in Montgomery, in person at any county health department in the state, or online and by telephone through the service provider the department uses, which charges its own fees. The county counter is the fastest, because most birth certificates can be issued while the applicant waits. Local offices that issue vital records appear on the Alabama county pages.

  • Fifteen dollars to search: the fee includes one certified copy or, where nothing is found, a certificate of failure to find.
  • Six dollars for extras: each additional copy of the same record ordered at the same time.
  • A hundred and twenty five years: the period for which an Alabama birth certificate stays restricted.
  • Any county, while you wait: every county health department issues certified copies and most are produced on the spot.

Written by SearchSystems.net from Alabama's own systems: the Alabama Department of Public Health birth certificates page, the department's vital records pages, the federal where to write for vital records page for Alabama, each read on October 15, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.

What the fee buys

Alabama charges fifteen dollars to search for a birth certificate, and the department is explicit that this includes one certified copy of the record or a certificate of failure to find, so the money is spent either way. Additional copies of the same record ordered at the same time cost six dollars each. Expediting a request costs a further fifteen dollars. Cheques and money orders are made payable to the Center for Health Statistics, cash should not be sent, and fees are not refundable.

Because a failed search still costs the full fee, the department asks applicants to provide as much identifying information as possible, and the list it publishes is worth working through before sending anything.

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The information the search runs on

The department asks for the full name of the person at birth, the date of birth and sex, the county or city of birth, and the hospital of birth, with the instruction to write home where the birth did not happen in a hospital. It asks for the full name of the mother or parent before first marriage and the full name of the father or parent before first marriage, which is how the record is matched where surnames have changed. And it asks for the applicant's own name and signature, their relationship to the person whose certificate is being requested, the address the certificate should be posted to, and a daytime telephone number.

A postal application uses the downloadable form, which the department also publishes in Spanish.

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Keepsakes, and what they are not

Alabama sells keepsake birth certificates in three designs for forty five dollars, and describes them as intended only for framing and display. They are not identity documents and will not be accepted in place of a certified copy, so a family wanting both needs to buy both. The distinction matters because the keepsake is more expensive than the certified copy it resembles, and a grandparent ordering a gift may assume the child now has a usable certificate.

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Adoption, and the sealed file

Alabama has a well defined set of adoption routes. An individual born in Alabama who was adopted may obtain informational copies of their original birth certificate from a sealed file on reaching the age of nineteen, and the department publishes separate guidance for adoptees. A birth parent may place information in the sealed file of a child who was adopted after an Alabama birth, which is how contact information or a medical history can be left for the adoptee to find.

An adult adoptee who needs a birth certificate for legal purposes follows the ordinary certified copy route, since the current record is the operative one. And adopting parents or their attorney may request a certified copy of the adoptee's new birth record following a recent adoption.

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Foreign adoptions and surrogate births

Two further certificates exist for families formed in particular ways. The Center for Health Statistics may prepare and register a certificate of foreign birth on request from an adoptive parent or from an adopted individual aged nineteen or older. It is available for a child who automatically acquired United States citizenship after a foreign adoption and who holds a certificate of citizenship under the Child Citizenship Act, and once the required documentation and fee arrive the centre prepares a certificate showing the child's new name and the names of the new parents.

After a surrogate birth in Alabama, a new birth certificate recording the legal parent or parents is created, with the department publishing its own guidance on that process.

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Corrections, and documents for use abroad

Errors on an Alabama birth certificate are put right through an amendment process, while other changes are made through legal actions, with the department publishing information on making corrections. For foreign use, apostille and exemplified copies are routinely required, and in Alabama they consist of a birth, death, marriage or divorce certificate signed by the State Registrar together with an additional certification signed by the Alabama Secretary of State.

The department notes that certain restrictions apply to apostille and exemplified copies of birth and death certificates, so anyone needing one for a visa, a foreign marriage or a dual citizenship application should read that guidance before ordering the underlying certificate.

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Questions about Alabama birth certificates

What does an Alabama birth certificate cost?
Fifteen dollars to search, which includes one certified copy or a certificate of failure to find, six dollars for each additional copy ordered at the same time, and fifteen dollars more to expedite; fees are not refundable.
Who may obtain one?
The person named on the certificate, their mother, father or legal guardian, their husband or wife, their son or daughter, their sister or brother, and the legal representative of an authorized person.
How long are Alabama birth records restricted?
A hundred and twenty five years from the date of birth, after which the confidentiality restriction no longer applies.
Where can I get one quickly?
At any county health department in Alabama, where most birth certificates can be issued while you wait; the department publishes a map of the offices that handle vital records.
Can an adopted person see the original record?
Yes. A person born in Alabama who was adopted may obtain informational copies of their original birth certificate from the sealed file on reaching the age of nineteen.
What is a keepsake certificate?
A decorative document in one of three designs costing forty five dollars, intended only for framing and display rather than for proving identity.

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Alabama's other records guides on this site are the Alabama public records law guide for the state's records statutes, the Alabama death records guide for the same centre, the Alabama court records guide for the judicial system search, and the Alabama county pages for every county office.