Skip to Content

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 10 § 35.2 - Confidentiality of Birth Records

Link to the law
This will open in a new window

This regulation states that certified copies of a birth certificate are to be issued only when requested by court order, when the person (or guardian) whose birth certificate it is requests it, or upon specific request to the commissioner of health by state or federal agencies for official purposes.  The regulation allows issuance of birth certificate only for proper purposes, and not when it is requested for commercial purposes or to satisfy idle curiosity.
 
The regulation further requires that all confidential information for medical and health use furnished with a certificate of live birth be detached from the actual birth certificate portion.  The regulation further requires that the State Commissioner of Health record such medical and health confidential data on appropriate storage media for scientific research only, and then destroy that portion of the data.  No issued copies of birth certificates should contain this medical and health information.


Current as of June 2015