§ 7-48 — Birth certificates: Filing requirements.

Connecticut § 7-48

• Jurisdiction: Connecticut
• Title 7: Municipalities
• Ch. 93: Registrars of Vital Statistics

Text

(a) Not later than ten days after each live birth which occurs in this state, a birth certificate shall be filed with the registrar of vital statistics in the town in which the birth occurred and the certificate shall be registered if properly filed, by manual or electronic systems as prescribed by the commissioner. On and after January 1, 1994, each hospital with two hundred or more live births in calendar year 1990, or any subsequent calendar year, shall electronically transmit birth information data to the department in a computer format approved by the department. Each birth certificate shall contain such information as the department may require and shall be completed in its entirety. Medical and health information which is required by the department, including information regarding voluntary acknowledgments of paternity and whether the child was born out of wedlock, shall be recorded on a confidential portion of the certificate to be sent directly to the department. Such confidential records may be used for statistical and health purposes by the department or by a local director of health, as authorized by the department, for records related to the town served by the local director of health and where the mother was a resident at the time of the birth of the child. Such birth certificate and confidential records may be used internally by the hospital for records transmitted by the hospital for statistical, health and quality assurance purposes. The department shall give due consideration to national uniformity in vital statistics in prescribing the format and content of such certificate. (b) When a birth occurs in an institution or en route thereto, the person in charge of the institution or such person's designated representative shall obtain all available data required by the certificate, prepare the certificate, certify that the child was born alive at the place and time and on the date stated either by signature or by an electronic process approved by the commissioner and file the certificate with the registrar of vital statistics in the town in which the birth occurred, not later than ten days after such birth. The physician or other person in attendance, and the physician, institution or other person providing prenatal care, shall provide the medical information required by the certificate not later than seventy-two hours after the birth. (c) (1) When a birth occurs outside an institution, the certificate shall be prepared and filed by the physician or midwife in attendance at or immediately after the birth or, in the absence of such a person, by the parent of the child, pursuant to the provisions of section 19a-41-1 of the regulations of Connecticut state agencies. (2) If the parent is unable to provide the information required to prepare and file the certificate pursuant to the provisions of section 19a-41-1 of the regulations of Connecticut state agencies, such parent may, prior to the child's first birthday, petition the court of probate for the district where the birth is alleged to have occurred for an order requiring the registrar of vital statistics for the town where the birth occurred to create and file the certificate. The petitioner shall include with the petition the affidavits and other documentary evidence submitted to the registrar pursuant to the provisions of section 19a-41-1 of the regulations of Connecticut state agencies. Such court shall schedule a hearing and cause notice of the hearing to be given to the following persons: (A) The petitioner; (B) the parent or legal guardian of the child, if the parent or legal guardian are not the petitioner; (C) the registrar; and (D) any other person as the court may determine has an interest in the hearing. The registrar or the registrar's authorized representative may appear and testify at such hearing. The petitioner shall have the burden of proving the parentage of the child and that the birth occurred on the date and at the place alleged by the petitioner. If the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence the parentage of the child and that the birth occurred on the date and at the place alleged by the petitioner, the court shall issue an order directing the registrar to prepare, register and file the certificate. (3) In any proceeding under subdivision (2) of this subsection, the court, on the motion of any party or on the court's own motion, may order genetic testing, as provided in sections 46b-495 to 46b-500 , inclusive, to determine parentage. The petitioner shall be responsible for the cost of any such genetic test required by the court, except the department shall pay such cost for any petitioner who is found by the court to be indigent. If the results of such test indicate a ninety-nine per cent or greater probability that a person is the parent of the child for whom a registration of birth is sought, the results shall constitute a rebuttable presumption that the person is, in fact, the parent of the child for whom a registration of birth is sought. (d) When a birth occurs in a moving conveyance and the child is first removed from the conveyance in this state, the birth shall be registered in this state and the place where the child is first removed shall be considered the place of birth.

Legislative History

(1949 Rev., S. 570; 1967, P.A. 146; 1971, P.A. 323, S. 1; P.A. 73-45; P.A. 77-614, S. 323, 610; P.A. 79-434, S. 2; P.A. 84-8; P.A. 93-105; 93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-7, S. 3, 38; P.A. 01-163, S. 10; P.A. 04-255, S. 3; P.A. 08-66, S. 1; 08-184, S. 46; P.A. 24-68, S. 1.) History: 1967 act deleted specific reference to sex of child and parents names, age, color, residence, birthplace, occupation etc. and required consideration be given to national uniformity; 1971 act added provisions regarding use and disposition of confidential information, effective January 1, 1972; P.A. 73-45 required parents' social security numbers on birth certificates except as provided in Sec. 7-50; P.A. 77-614 substituted department of health services for department of health, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 79-434 deleted provisions regarding filing of certificate by doctor, midwife or parents and provisions enumerating contents of certificate, replacing them with general statements and added Subsecs. (b) to (d), inclusive; P.A. 84-8 amended Subsec. (a) to require the department of health services to destroy the confidential portion of a birth certificate at the end of three years, rather than one year; P.A. 93-105 amended Subsec. (a) to require electronic transfer of birth information after January 1, 1994, for hospitals with 200 or more live births in calendar year 1990; P.A. 93-381 replaced department of health services with department of public health and addiction services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-7 amended Subsec. (a) by requiring birth certificate to contain information re voluntary acknowledgments of paternity and whether child was born out of wedlock, effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 01-163 amended Subsec. (a) by making technical changes, adding provision re filing by manual or electronic systems as prescribed by the commissioner, deleting provision re destruction of confidential portion at the end of three years and adding provisions re use of confidential records and amended Subsec. (b) by making a technical change, revising provisions re preparation of certificate and certification of birth and adding provisions re information provided by a person in attendance, the institution or a person providing prenatal care; P.A. 04-255 amended Subsec. (a) by requiring all birth certificates to be completed in their entirety; P.A. 08-66 amended Subsec. (a) by substituting “The Social Security number of the mother and father” for “Medical” re information recorded on a confidential portion of the birth certificate; P.A. 08-184 amended Subsec. (a) by substituting “Medical” for “The Social Security number of the mother and father” re information recorded on a confidential portion of the birth certificate; P.A. 24-68 amended Subsec. (c) by designating existing provision re birth certificate preparation and filing requirements for births occurring outside an institution as Subdiv. (1) and replacing “father or mother” with “parent of the child” and reference to regulations of Connecticut state agencies, adding Subdiv. (2) re petitions for court order to create and file birth certificates and adding Subdiv. (3) re court orders for genetic testing. Admissible to corroborate accusations of paternity in bastardy action. 93 C. 321. Cited. 98 C. 543. Cited. 9 CS 297.