How to Get a Copy of Your Birth Certificate in Missouri

To get a copy of your birth certificate in Missouri, submit a completed application, a valid photo ID, and a $15 search fee to the Bureau of Vital Records or a local county health department. You can apply by mail, online through VitalChek, or in person. Mail requests must be notarized and include a legal-size self-addressed stamped envelope. Turnaround runs anywhere from same-day at a local health department to four to eight weeks by mail.

Who Can Request a Missouri Birth Certificate

Missouri birth certificates are not public records. State law limits certified copies to people with a “direct and tangible interest” in the record.¹ In practice, that includes:

The person named on the certificate, if they are 18 or older
A parent or legal guardian listed on the certificate, or a guardian who provides court documentation of custody
Immediate family in the direct line of descent, including grandparents, adult children, and siblings, but not cousins
An authorized representative, such as an attorney acting on behalf of an eligible person

If you’re requesting on behalf of a minor, a parent or legal guardian must submit the application. Guardians should include a copy of their guardianship papers.²

Short Form or Long Form

Missouri issues two versions of the birth certificate, and the version you need affects where you can go to get it.

The short form, officially called a “Birth Certification,” is the familiar document with colored borders. It covers most everyday uses: driver’s license applications, school enrollment, insurance claims, and similar needs. Short forms are available from local county health departments, the state Bureau of Vital Records in Jefferson City, and online through VitalChek.³

The long form, officially a “Certificate of Live Birth,” includes additional details like time of birth and is sometimes preferred for genealogical research or when previous amendments have been made to the record. Long forms are only available through the state office in Jefferson City or through VitalChek. Local health departments cannot issue them. Select the “long form” option on your application, or tell the VitalChek representative directly if ordering by phone.³

Information and Documents You’ll Need

Before you fill out the application, gather:

Full name as it appears on the birth certificate, and any alternate name the birth may have been recorded under
Date of birth
City and county of birth in Missouri
Hospital name, if applicable
Full names of both parents, including each parent’s last name before their first marriage

Accuracy matters. If any of this doesn’t match what’s on file, the Bureau may need extra research time or ask you to resubmit, which can push your timeline back by weeks.⁴

Identification

For in-person requests, bring a valid government-issued photo ID such as a driver’s license, state ID card, or U.S. passport. The address on your photo ID must match the address on your application.

For mail-in requests, include a photocopy of your ID and have the entire application notarized. This is not optional. The application requires a notary’s seal and signature under penalty of perjury.⁴ Missouri caps notary fees at $5 per signature,⁵ so this won’t add much to your total. Many banks, UPS stores, and shipping centers offer notary services.

How to Submit Your Request

You have three routes. Each has different turnaround times and trade-offs.

By Mail

Mail your completed and notarized application, a photocopy of your ID, a legal-size self-addressed stamped envelope, and a check or money order for $15 payable to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Send everything to:

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
Bureau of Vital Records
930 Wildwood Drive
Jefferson City, MO 65109²

Use a mailing service with tracking. If your application has errors or missing documents, the Bureau will contact you, but that exchange adds weeks to an already slow process.

Online Through VitalChek

The Bureau of Vital Records contracts with VitalChek for online and phone orders. You’ll enter your information, upload identification, and pay by credit or debit card. VitalChek charges a convenience fee on top of the $15 state search fee, so it costs more than mail.² The payoff is speed: online orders typically process in five to seven business days before shipping, compared to four to eight weeks by mail.³

In Person

You have two in-person options, and they work differently.

At the Bureau of Vital Records in Jefferson City (930 Wildwood Drive), you must schedule an appointment by calling 573-751-6387. Appointments run from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, with the last slot at 2:30 PM. Same-day turnaround is not guaranteed at this location.² Bring your completed application, original photo ID, and payment.

Local county health departments across Missouri can also issue birth certificates, and they’re generally faster, often providing same-day service for short-form copies.³ If you just need a standard short form and there’s a county health department nearby, that’s usually your quickest option. Remember they cannot issue long-form certificates.

Fees and Processing Times

The state search fee is $15 per certified copy. That covers a five-year search and one certified copy if the record is found.⁶ For mail requests, pay by check or money order made out to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. In-person requests accept cash, check, money order, or card. VitalChek accepts credit and debit cards and adds a convenience fee.

A realistic picture of turnaround by method:

Mail: roughly four to eight weeks, depending on the Bureau’s volume
Online or phone through VitalChek: five to seven business days before shipping
In person at a local health department: usually same day
In person at the Jefferson City office: by appointment only, and same-day service is not guaranteed

Expedited shipping is available for online orders if you need the certificate faster once processing is complete.² Errors or additional research can stretch any of these timelines.

If There’s an Error on the Certificate

Ordering a copy and fixing a mistake on the record are two different processes. If the certificate you receive has an error, how you correct it depends on the size of the change.

Small clerical errors can often be handled through a notarized affidavit submitted to the Bureau of Vital Records. The Bureau provides the correction affidavit form and instructions on what documentary evidence you’ll need. That evidence must show the correct full name and date of birth, and when possible should come from a document filed at least five years before you apply for the correction. A parent, the person named on the certificate if 18 or older, or a legal guardian can submit the request.⁷

Bigger changes need a certified court order before the Bureau will act. The regulation specifically lists these:

Changing a first name, middle name, last name, or suffix when it differs from what the hospital originally recorded
Changing a surname by three or more letters, or by even one or two letters if the pronunciation changes
Changing the year of birth
Removing a father’s name (the court must find he is not the biological father)
Changing both the sex designation and the registrant’s name when the new name is typically associated with the other sex

For any of these, you’ll petition a court, obtain a certified copy of the order, and submit it to the Bureau of Vital Records.⁷

Sealed Records After Adoption

When a child is adopted in Missouri, the state issues a new birth certificate showing the adoptive parents and seals the original. Ordering the sealed original works differently from a standard request.

Under the Missouri Adoptee Rights Act, adoptees, their attorneys, birth parents, and lineal descendants of a deceased adoptee can request a non-certified copy of the original pre-adoptive birth certificate.⁸ The copy is stamped “For genealogical purposes only. Not to be used for establishing identity.” Both adoptees and birth parents can complete a contact preference form indicating whether they want to be contacted by the other party.²

A few practical points: these requests cannot be placed online. You must submit them by mail or in person to the Bureau of Vital Records in Jefferson City, since local health departments don’t handle them. The Bureau processes them first-come, first-served, and you should expect longer processing times because of the research involved. A specific application form is required, and which form depends on whether you’re the adoptee, an attorney, or a birth parent.²

Older Records

The Bureau of Vital Records holds Missouri birth certificates from 1910 to the present. For anything in that range, follow the standard request process above.⁹

For births before 1910, the Bureau is not your source. The Missouri State Archives holds microfilmed records covering 1883 through 1893, with coverage that varies by county because Missouri didn’t require mandatory reporting from parents or medical attendants during that period. The Archives cannot issue certified copies, but the records are available for research.¹⁰ The Secretary of State also maintains a searchable online database of pre-1909 birth records, browsable by name or county.⁹ For births between 1893 and 1909, few formal state records exist, and you may need to turn to county courthouses, church records, or census data.

1
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes RSMo 193.255
2
Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services. Order a Copy of a Vital Record
3
Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services. Frequently Asked Questions
4
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Application for Missouri Vital Record – Birth/Death
5
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes RSMo 486.685
6
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Notice of Fees
7
Legal Information Institute. 19 CSR 10-10.110 – Amending or Correcting Vital Records
8
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes RSMo 193.125
9
Missouri Secretary of State. Missouri Birth and Death Records Database, Pre-1910
10
Missouri Secretary of State – MO.gov. Missouri Vital Records