Family & Safety

If you were born in Cook County, you can obtain a copy of a birth certificate in several ways:

• Order online,
• Order by phone (call (866) 252-8974)
• Order by mail,
• Pick up at a local currency exchange, or
• Pick up in person at a designated Cook County office. 

The quickest way to get access to a birth certificate is to visit a county office. For the most part, you may obtain the birth certificate the same day.

Under state law, you may legally obtain a certified copy of your own birth certificate if you are of legal age, which is 18 years or older.  You can also get the birth certificate of your child as long as your name appears on the child's birth certificate.

Court-appointed legal guardians may obtain birth certificates of the children under their care if they submit a certified copy of the appointment. Certified copies of appointments can be obtained from the Circuit Court that granted the appointment. Requests made with legal guardianship papers must be made in person or through the mail.

Yes. Records are $15 for the first copy and $4 for each additional copy of the same record. Cash, debit cards, and credit cards (MasterCard, Visa, American Express & Discover) are accepted. A $1.25 processing fee is charged for debit cards, and there is a $1.75 processing fee for credit cards. Checks are not accepted.

Birth records are free of charge for:

• Individuals who are verified as homeless or unhoused,
• Residents of family violence shelters, or
• Individuals who are incarcerated in Cook County jail or the Illinois Department of Corrections and will be released in the next 90 days, or
• Individuals who have been released from Cook County jail or the Illinois Department of Corrections in the last 90 days.

A Birth Record Request Form - Form A3 must be completed and submitted to request a free birth certificate.

If you were born in Illinois but outside of Cook county, it is sometimes easiest to go through Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and not an Illinois County to get a copy of your birth certificate. To get a certified copy of your birth certificate through IDPH, use the Application for Illinois Birth Record. You will need to provide an ID, like a driver’s license (see the application for other types of ID you can use). 

You can mail the application to:
Illinois Department of Public Health
Division of Vital Records
925 E. Ridgely Avenue,
Springfield, Illinois 62702-2737

You can also order a copy online through Vitalchek.

Under state law, you may legally obtain a certified copy of your own birth certificate if you are of legal age, which is 18 years or older.  You can also get the birth certificate of your child as long as your name appears on the child's birth certificate.

In addition, lawyers acting on behalf of the person named on the birth certificate, an agent authorized by a power of attorney, and court-appointed representative can also obtain the birth certificate.

Yes. When requesting the birth certificate from the Illinois Department of Public Health, a certified birth certificate is $15 for a long-form birth certificate and $10 for a short-form certified copy. All additional copies cost $2. For more information, visit the Illinois Department of Public Health website. 

If you use the VitalChek online service to order the birth certificate, the cost can run from $12 - $55.

Yes, if you are ordering a birth certificate from the Illinois Department of Public Health website, there are fee waivers if

• You are a youth in care or a person under the age of 27 who was a youth in care as defined by the Children and Family Services Act, on or after your 18th birthday.
• You received any of the following from the Illinois Department of Corrections or the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice:
  • Release on parole,
  • Mandatory supervised release,
  • Final discharge,
  • Pardon, or
  • Aftercare release under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
• You are unhoused or experiencing homelessness. You may receive four birth records per year. You must get a document from one of the following sources to show that you are experiencing homelessness:
  • A homeless service agency,
  • A lawyer licensed in Illinois,
  • A public school homeless liaison, school social worker, or
  • A human services provider funded by the State of Illinois.
• You are a domestic violence survivor and reside in a shelter for domestic violence. You will need to get a Certification Letter for Domestic Violence Waiver . You may receive four birth records per year. The waiver must be certified by:
  • An advocate at a family violence center,
  • A licensed medical care or mental health provider,
  • The director of an emergency shelter or transitional housing, or
  • The director of a transitional living program. 

Other counties offer waivers for similar reasons. You should search for a fee waiver form for your specific county. 

You may want to use Get Legal Help to find assistance. It can be difficult to get these documents on your own. It can take 2-8 weeks to get an out-of-state birth certificate and even longer to get legal help, so be sure to start well in advance of needing the birth certificate.