I Forgot to Send in My Baby's Birth Certificate

Updated on August 09, 2010
B.T. asks from Jefferson City, MO
10 answers

I am a new mom. I had a difficult pregnancy (I had to have emergency sergery shortly after giving birth). Needless to say it left me rather overwhelmed and a little spacey. I was under the impression that my child's social security card would be sent to me in a few weeks after the hospital had sent in the paper work. I never recieved it. I was waiting for the card before I took the mother's copy of her birth certificate to the local office to get the one from the state. I found out I was supposed to do this within thirty days after her birth and she is now two months old! What can I do to get this straightened out and get my baby her birth certificate and SS card? Has anyone else had this problem? I would appreciate hearing how other moms may have handled this.

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More Answers

G.R.

answers from Dallas on

it happen with my twins
you need to get the birth certificate first ,call them and ask in the birth certificate office what you need to have the birth certificate and then go to the SS office an bring the certificate so they can make a carrd for your baby ,i did this when my kids were 6 months.

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K.K.

answers from St. Louis on

um, i think my sons SS card came in the mail, not sure how long after he was born, but I had to fill out a form to receive his Birth Certificate. I got two copies and paid $15 for each copy. I did not do that until he was about 2 years old. I hope this helps. If you have not gotten the SS card yet, I would call the hospital and just ask them what goes on, and what steps you need to take, thats what I did about the BC. Good luck and enjoy the little one!

B.A.

answers from Saginaw on

Yes, In Michigan you automatically get SS cards in the mail shortly after giving birth. You also fill out birth certificate info before leaving the hospital and then its up to you when you pick them up. I didn't pick up mine until I need my oldest birth certificate to start school (when she was 4).
I am not sure how other states do it, but hopefully someone can help you out. I'm sure there has to be a way to do it though. I would call the SS and Birth certificate offices and see what they say.

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M.M.

answers from Minneapolis on

I do not know how your state works... Here in Minnesota, you fill out the birth certificate paperwork and we summit that to the state. IF the parents checked yes on the birth certificate worksheet; then the state gives the information to SS and SS mails the card to your home. I do not know how it works if you have to summit your own birth certificate information to the state. I know you have a year to register the child's birth, so I would think you should be able to go and get that information in and then once the official birth certificate is obtained then go and apply for a card at SS. They will then mail you the card. Good luck and sorry you have so much foot work to do. Sure is making me appreciate Good Ole Minnesota a lot more... Congratulations on the birth of your baby.

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K.L.

answers from St. Louis on

It has been more than 24 years since my son was born, so I don't know if it still works the same way. Birth certificates, as I recall, are issued and maintained by the county, not the state. To get answers to your questions about the birth certificate, you might try getting out the phone book and looking under county offices in the Blue Pages for the county's department of statistics and vital records. If I am remembering right, Jefferson City is in Cole County. I am in St. Louis County. I don't know if each county names its departments the same way, so you might just call the Cole County Court House and ask which department you need. Once you get to the department of vital records, they should be able to help you. In my experience, the county and state workers in Jefferson City are generally very friendly and helpful.

The Social Security Administration is a federal office. You can find a SS office or check the status of your application online at: http://www.ssa.gov/.

Good luck, and don't let the paperwork worry you too much. No one asked to see my son's birth certificate until we registered him for kindergarten and you probably won't need the SS# until you file taxes after January 1st, 2011. You will need to have that number to claim a child as a dependent. I know the wheel of government offices can sometimes move slowly, but if you make the inquiries with these two offices, you should have plenty of time to get it all worked out.

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S.S.

answers from Cincinnati on

that is really confusing, we got sent a SS card for our son 3 wks after he was born and we didnt have to do anything except check a box on the hospital admission form that said we wanted a SS number for him. We didnt get a birth certificate till he was about 2mnths old and all we did was have to go down to our local vital records office it took about 5 min. I do know that an adult who looses their SS card or is worried that the number has been stolen can get a new #. what office did you go to. Was it the SS office or the vital records office, because you will probably have to speech to someone at the SS office directly

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B.S.

answers from Springfield on

When my son was born (home birth) they sent his SS card but I didn't pick up his birth certificate until his sister was born 2 1/2 years later. Of course that was a lot of years ago and the "system" is probably more tech now. But I wouldn't sweat it too much - it will get straighted out before tax time.

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S.B.

answers from Chicago on

I too was told the hospital would take care of the ss# request, but tax time came and we still had not recieved oneso I went down to the SS office and they did not have it on file, so I completed another request. I needed my son's birth certificate (official state issued copy you can get from your county clerk's office) and another piece of ID for him (like an insurance card) and my ID. The only problem was that if the hospital also decided to send in the request they would cancel each other out. That never happened and we got the card in the mail about a month later. I'm not sure why the hospital never sent the request, but I was able to get it on my own. To my knowledge there is no time limit for this sort of thing, and if you have the official birth certificate it shouldn't be a problem. Good luck!

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A.F.

answers from Columbus on

My children's ss card came automatically, maybe the hospital messed up and didn't submit your form? I would look up your local social security office and call them to see what you need to do to have it sent.
Here's a link to request the birth cert. http://www.dhss.mo.gov/BirthAndDeathRecords/birthdeath.pdf

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H.J.

answers from Minneapolis on

Call the number on the birth certificate sheet and get that part straightened out you have up to a year to change a babies name so It should be no problem that you are late. And then you will most likely have to now physically go into the SS office with her birth certificate to get the card. Again not a big deal but just a pain in the butt to have to do the extra step. Sorry you had a rough pregnancy and issues afterward, I know all too well what you are going through as I have a similar situation spending weeks in the hospital after birth of child who is now three months old with an extremely rough pregnancy the only thing for me is it was my third so I new what was happening and had a hubby that new what needed to be done.

Congrats on your new addition and I hope you are doing much better!

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