§ 5071. Birth certificates; who to make; return
(a) On or before the fifth business day of each live birth that occurs in this State,
the attending physician or designee, naturopathic physician or designee, or midwife
or, if no attending physician or designee, naturopathic physician or designee, or
midwife is present, a parent of the child or a legal guardian of a mother under 18
years of age shall file with the State Registrar a report of birth in the form and
manner prescribed by the State Registrar. The State Registrar shall register the report
in the Statewide Registration System if it has been completed properly and filed in
accordance with this chapter. The portion of the registered birth report that is not
confidential under section 5014 of this title is the birth certificate.
(b) At the time of the birth of a child, each parent shall furnish the following information
to enable completion of the report of birth required under subsection (a) of this
section: the parent’s name, address, and Social Security number and the name and date
of birth of the child.
(c)(1) Whoever assumes the custody of a live-born infant of unknown parentage shall file
a report of birth with the State Registrar in the form and manner prescribed by the
State Registrar.
(2) If the child is identified and a certificate of birth is found or obtained, the report
and any certificate created under this section and copies thereof shall be deposited
with the State Registrar and kept confidential, to be opened upon court order only.
(d) The name of the father shall be included on the report of birth and on any birth certificate
of the child of unmarried parents only if the father and mother have signed a voluntary
acknowledgment of parentage or a court or administrative agency of competent jurisdiction
has issued an adjudication of parentage.
(e) When a birth certificate is issued, a parent or parents shall be identified with gender-neutral
nomenclature. (Amended 1959, No. 329 (Adj. Sess.), § 27, eff. March 1, 1961; 1979, No. 142 (Adj. Sess.), § 7; 1989, No. 220 (Adj. Sess.), § 26; 1997, No. 63, § 18, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; 2013, No. 183 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2017, No. 46, § 20, eff. July 1, 2019; 2023, No. 158 (Adj. Sess.), § 2b, eff. June 6, 2024.)