BirthDetails

Ever wonder about the history of birth records & certificates?

Not long ago, I was wondering the same thing. After doing some research, I was intrigued to find that recording and archiving birth records is a practice that dates back thousands of years, particularly in Egypt, China, Greece, and Rome. Initially, birth records were used to calculate the amount of people they could recruit into the military. They also used birth records & certificates for tax purposes.

However, it wasn’t until 1853 that the United Kingdom made it mandatory to register certified birth records for each citizen. In the 1900s, the United States followed suit.

Prior to that time, birth records were generally written down by doctors, midwives, or priests. Documents were not certified or recorded by the government, and it was very common for documents to be lost or destroyed. Therefore, there was no “official record” of any citizens until they reached adulthood and started paying taxes or joined the military.

Now, hospital staff is required by law to submit birth records & certificates to the United States government. These documents are kept in large databases that store the records in type print or ledger. Throughout the years, this process has been improved and simplified. The invention of photocopying in the 1960’s made it easier to copy and transfer birth records. The invention of computers likewise made things incredibly easy, because documents could be stored as data, savings tons of space in office buildings and making it easier to manage and track the documents. However, to date most government agencies have not made the full transfer over to digital storage.

Probably the most prominent turn of events in the history of birth records & certificates is the invention of the internet. Not long after the internet went mainstream, websites started popping up offering access to all kinds of birth records and other public records. For the first time, visitors were able to look up the birth records of anyone in the country with only a few clicks of the mouse. Most of these websites involved paying a small fee, but some of them were, and still are, free.

What started out as a couple of websites soon multiplied into dozens. Now people may become overwhelmed with the choices they are presented with. Offering birth records & certificate websites online with state-of-the-art databases and search functions now allow people to retrieve the birth records they need in a very short period of time. No more waiting around for weeks just to see if Vital Records will ever get back to you (after sending them $30+). No more doing any actual physical work to get the records– no traveling to courthouses or government agencies.

It can all be done from the comfort of your own home, and by far the best place to conduct these searches is Birthdetails.com!