Lost your birth certificate? Here's how to get a new, official copy.
“What’s your birth time?” My friend and celebrity astrologer Aliza Kelly asked me from across the table at a loud bar.
I’d asked her to read my birth chart — hoping to gain insight into my behaviors in life and relationships (or lack thereof). There’s just one problem: I don’t know my birth time. It’s on my birth certificate, which has been hiding in an undisclosed location in my mom’s house for the better part of 33 years.
My mom maintains that I was born “just in time for lunch, at noon.” While this does sound like me (I love lunch), I always had a sneaking suspicion that there was no way in hell I was actually born at 12:00 p.m. on the dot. I know some people in the world have to be born at an exact time like this. I just didn’t think I was one of them. But with no birth certificate to be found, I had come to grips with never being able to paint a full astrological picture for myself.
Then everything changed.
Finding out your birth time isn’t the only reason you might want to obtain a copy of your literal proof of life. You might need it for identification purposes when, say, applying to school or a job. And, like me, you might have a parent that misplaces things.
If that’s the case, I’m here to tell you that it’s possible to obtain a copy of your birth certificate. All you need is a little bit of time and roughly $70.
Long story short: replacing your birth certificate is easier than you’d think
To start, visit VitalChek, an online resource that allows you to order a range of government-issued vital records. Click “Place an Order” then scroll to “Birth Certificate,” which will take you to an online application. You fill it in with your name, birthdate and where you were born (it will ask for city and state). You’ll also need to give the reason for your order. “Sharing my birth time with an astrologer” was not an option on the drop-down menu, so I just chose “self.” Other options include employment, ID purposes, medical need and others.
Next, you’ll need to answer a series of questions, including the spelling of your legal name, your parents' names, your mailing address and a credit card number. The certificate itself cost me $45. I paid $8 for handling and another $15 to have it delivered via UPS Air. The total cost was $68.80. (Or “priceless,” depending on who you ask.)
From start to finish, the ordering process took about 10 minutes. Waiting for its arrival was a different story. I got an alert that there was a delay in processing documents, and I should expect to wait at least six weeks to receive mine. I placed the order on January 18, and at the time, the estimated ship date was April 20. By April 27, I had still not received it.
Luckily, it’s easy to reach VitalChek. I selected “Ask a Question” under the FAQs tab to inquire about the status — and someone got back to me — and shipped it that same day. It arrived the following day.
As for the burning birth time question? My mom wasn’t too far off. I was born at 11:54 a.m.– a few minutes early for lunch, it turns out.
Whatever the reason you need a new birth certificate, it’s comforting to know that there is an easy, mostly painless way to get one. And now my astrological chart makes a whole lot more sense.
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