<?xml version="1.0"?>
<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>82311</law_id><section_number>32.1-257</section_number><catch_line>Filing birth certificates; from whom required; signatures of parents</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><referred_to_by><reference>63.2-1914</reference></referred_to_by><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="32.1">Health</unit><unit label="chapter" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="7">Vital Records</unit><unit label="article" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="2">Birth Certificates</unit></structure><text>
						<section id="A"><p><span class="prefix-number">A.</span> A certificate of birth for each <span class="dictionary">live birth</span> that occurs in the Commonwealth shall be filed with the State Registrar within seven days after such birth. The certificate of birth shall be registered by the State Registrar if it has been completed and filed in accordance with this section. <a id="paragraph-294971" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/32.1-257/#A"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B"><p><span class="prefix-number">B.</span> When a birth occurs in an <span class="dictionary">institution</span> or en route thereto, the <span class="dictionary">person</span> in charge of such <span class="dictionary">institution</span> or an authorized designee shall obtain the personal data, and prepare the certificate either on forms furnished by the State Registrar or by an electronic process as approved by the <span class="dictionary">Board</span>. Such <span class="dictionary">person</span> or designee shall, if submitting a form, secure the signatures required by the certificate. The <span class="dictionary">physician</span> or other <span class="dictionary">person</span> in attendance shall provide the medical information required by the certificate within five days after the birth. The <span class="dictionary">person</span> in charge of the <span class="dictionary">institution</span> or an authorized designee shall certify to the authenticity of the birth <span class="dictionary">registration</span> either by affixing his signature to the certificate or by an electronic process approved by the <span class="dictionary">Board</span>, and shall <span class="dictionary">file</span> the certificate of birth with the State Registrar within seven days after such birth. <a id="paragraph-294972" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/32.1-257/#B"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="C"><p><span class="prefix-number">C.</span> When a birth occurs outside an <span class="dictionary">institution</span>, the certificate shall be prepared on forms furnished by the State Registrar and filed by one of the following in the indicated <span class="dictionary">order</span> of priority, in accordance with the regulations of the <span class="dictionary">Board</span>: <a id="paragraph-294973" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/32.1-257/#C"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="C1" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">1.</span> The <span class="dictionary">physician</span> in attendance at or immediately after the birth, or in the absence of such <span class="dictionary">physician</span>, <a id="paragraph-294974" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/32.1-257/#C1"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="C2" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">2.</span> Any other <span class="dictionary">person</span> in attendance at or immediately after the birth, or in the absence of such a <span class="dictionary">person</span>, <a id="paragraph-294975" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/32.1-257/#C2"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="C3" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">3.</span> The mother, the other parent, or, in the absence of the other parent and the inability of the mother, the <span class="dictionary">person</span> in charge of the premises where the birth occurred. <a id="paragraph-294976" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/32.1-257/#C3"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="C1"><p><span class="prefix-number">C1.</span> When a birth occurs on a moving conveyance within the United States of America and the child is first removed from the conveyance in this Commonwealth, the birth shall be registered in this Commonwealth and the place where the child is first removed from the conveyance shall be considered the place of birth. When a birth occurs on a moving conveyance while in international waters or air space or in a foreign country or its air space and the child is first removed from the conveyance in this Commonwealth, the birth shall be registered in this Commonwealth although the certificate shall indicate the actual place of birth insofar as can be determined. <a id="paragraph-294977" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/32.1-257/#C1"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="D"><p><span class="prefix-number">D.</span> If the mother of a child is not married to the natural father of the child at the time of birth or was not married to the natural father at any time during the 10 months next preceding such birth, the name of the father shall not be entered on the certificate of birth without a sworn acknowledgment of paternity, executed subsequent to the birth of the child, of both the mother and of the <span class="dictionary">person</span> to be named as the father. In any case in which a final determination of the paternity of a child has been made by a <span class="dictionary">court</span> of competent <span class="dictionary">jurisdiction</span> pursuant to &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Judgment or order; costs; birth record" href="/20-49.8/">20-49.8</a>, from which no <span class="dictionary">appeal</span> has been taken and for which the time allowed to perfect an <span class="dictionary">appeal</span> has expired, the name of the father and the surname of the child shall be entered on the certificate of birth in accordance with the <span class="dictionary">finding</span> and <span class="dictionary">order</span> of the <span class="dictionary">court</span>.
			Children born of marriages prohibited by <span class="dictionary">law</span>, deemed null or void, or dissolved by a <span class="dictionary">court</span> shall nevertheless be legitimate and the birth certificate for such children shall contain full information concerning the other parent.
			For the purpose of birth <span class="dictionary">registration</span> in the case of a child resulting from assisted conception, pursuant to Chapter 9 (&#xA7; <a class="law" title="Definitions" href="/20-156/">20-156</a> et seq.) of Title 20, the birth certificate of such child shall contain full information concerning the mother&#x2019;s spouse as the other parent of the child and the gestational mother as the mother of the child. Donors of sperm or ova shall not have any parental rights or duties for any such child.
			In the event that any <span class="dictionary">person</span> desires to have the name of the father entered on the certificate of birth based upon the <span class="dictionary">judgment</span> of paternity of a <span class="dictionary">court</span> of another state, such <span class="dictionary">person</span> shall apply to an appropriate <span class="dictionary">court</span> of the Commonwealth for an <span class="dictionary">order</span> reflecting that such <span class="dictionary">court</span> has reviewed such <span class="dictionary">judgment</span> of paternity and has determined that such <span class="dictionary">judgment</span> of paternity was amply supported in <span class="dictionary">evidence</span> and legitimate for the purposes of Article IV, Section 1 of the Constitution of the United States.
			If the <span class="dictionary">order</span> of paternity should be appealed, the registrar shall not enter the name of the alleged father on the certificate of birth during the pendency of such <span class="dictionary">appeal</span>. If the father is not named on the certificate of birth, no other information concerning the father shall be entered on the certificate. <a id="paragraph-294978" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/32.1-257/#D"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="E"><p><span class="prefix-number">E.</span> Either of the parents of the child shall verify the accuracy of the personal data to be entered on the certificate of birth in time to permit the filing within the seven days prescribed above. <a id="paragraph-294979" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/32.1-257/#E"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>Code 1950, &#xA7; 32-353.15; 1960, c. 451; 1979, c. 711; 1983, c. 240; 1984, c. 189; 1991, c. 611; 1994, cc. 796, 919; 2020, c. 900.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
