Birth Certificate
Your baby’s birth certificate is an important legal document. Milford Regional is required to complete and send the birth certificate to the Milford town clerk’s office within ten days of birth. Listed below is the information we will need from you in order to complete your newborn’s record. Please gather this information and bring it with you to the hospital. Help us ensure the completion of your baby’s birth certificate on time. After delivery, you will receive a Birth Certificate Worksheet to complete with this information. The worksheet also gives you the opportunity to secure your baby’s social security number.
If you are married, your husband will be listed automatically on the birth certificate. During your stay at Milford Regional, the birth certificate will be completed and signed by you. (See paragraph three if your husband is not the baby’s father.)
If you are not currently married and were not married within 300 days prior to the baby’s birth, and you wish to list the father on the birth certificate, you may complete an Acknowledgement of Paternity form to legally name the father and list him on the birth certificate. Both you and the father must sign this form as well as the birth certificate. If you are unmarried and do not wish to list the father, then this information will be left blank.
If you are married or were married within 300 days of the birth, but the child’s biological father is not your current or former husband, two separate legal forms, available at the Medical Center, are needed to remove the husband from, and add the biological father to, the child’s birth certificate.
- A Denial of Paternity is needed to remove the husband’s name from the birth certificate. The mother and husband must sign the form.
- An Acknowledgement of Paternity is needed to add the baby’s biological father to the birth certificate. The mother and the baby’s biological father must sign the form. This can only take place after the Denial of Paternity form is completed. Once both forms are signed, the mother and the biological father may sign the birth certificate so it can be issued listing the baby’s biological father’s name. A married mother may not remove the husband’s information or list a different father without completing both forms.
A Valid ID is Very Important
A valid driver’s license, a state ID or a passport must be presented as identification for all parties in order for the Notary Public to notarize signatures on the paternity forms.
- The ID must be active…an expired identification is not acceptable.
- Paper IDs are not acceptable.
- Both of you must provide a valid ID.
Without proper identification, you will not be able to complete the paternity forms.
Amending the Birth Certificate
If an unusual situation prevents adding the baby’s father to the birth certificate at Milford Regional, the record can be amended later for a fee at the Milford Town Clerk’s Office or at:
Massachusetts Registry of
Vital Records and Statistics
150 Mount Vernon Street - 1st Floor
Dorchester, MA 02125-3105
617-740-2600
Court Orders
If you have a court order or other legal document that names the father of the child, please call the Medical Center birth registry ahead of your arrival to find out more information regarding this document.
Resources
If you have questions about your child’s birth certificate, please contact us at:
Milford Regional Medical Center
Birth Registry
14 Prospect Street
Milford, MA 01757
508-473-1190
For questions or information about amending a birth record, please contact:
Milford Town Clerk
Town Hall
52 Main Street
Milford, MA 01757
508-634-2307
8:30AM - 4:30PM