2014 Vermont Statutes
Title 18 - Health
Chapter 103 - BIRTH RECORDS
§ 5071 Birth certificates; who to make; return

§ 5071. Birth certificates; who to make; return

(a) On or before the fifth day of each live birth that occurs in this State, the attending physician or midwife or, if no attending physician 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 town clerk a certificate of birth in the form prescribed by the Department. The certificate shall be registered if it has been completed properly and filed in accordance with this chapter.

(b) At the time of the birth of a child, each parent shall furnish the following information on a form provided for that purpose by the Department of Health: the parent's name, address, and Social Security number and the name and date of birth of the child. The forms and a copy of the birth certificate shall be filed with the Department of Health on or before the fifth day after the birth of the child.

(c)(1) Whoever assumes the custody of a live-born infant of unknown parentage shall complete a certificate of birth as follows:

(A) name of the child as given by the custodian, and sex;

(B) approximate date of birth as determined in consultation with a physician;

(C) place of birth as place where the child is found;

(D) in place of certifier, the custodian shall sign and indicate "custodian" rather than "attendant," with date and address; and

(E) parentage data and other child's data items shall be left blank.

(2) If the child is identified and a certificate of birth is found or obtained, the certificate created under this section and copies thereof shall be sealed and deposited with the Commissioner of Health, to be opened upon court order only.

(d) The name of the father shall be included on the 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.)