2016 Birth Certificate Changes
The VS 10D Certificate of Live Birth
will change on January 1, 2016. The revisions
are required pursuant to Assembly Bill (AB) 1951 (Chapter 334,
Statutes of 2014). The revised
birth certificate contains new check boxes in items 6D and 9D, where each
parent may self-designate his or her relationship to the child. The relationship
check boxes are optional; either parent may select mother, father, parent, or
leave the box blank. The boxes may be completed with an X, a check mark, or
completely filled in; no more than one box may be marked for each parent. For more information, please refer
to All
County Letter 15-11.
Other 2015/2016 AVSS changes are summarized in a comparison of online help
messages. Online instructions for the fields in the line beginning with
6A were referred to as "FATHER/PARENT" before 2016, but as "PARENT NOT GIVING BIRTH" after 2015. Similarly, the fields in
the line beginning with 9A were referred to as "MOTHER/PARENT" before 2016 but as "PARENT GIVING
BIRTH" after 2015. In other words, from 2016 forward what
traditionally has been referred to as "father's" information should
be continued to be reported in the line beginning with item 6A and what
traditionally has been referred to as "mother's" information should
be reported in the line beginning with item 9A. Beginning in 2016, items
21A through 23C refer to the "GENETIC MOTHER" and items 24A through
30 refer to the "BIRTH PARENT." Additionally, beginning in 2016, item
32 refers to the social security number for the parent listed in 6A-C and item
33 refers to the social security number for the parent listed in 9A-C. Please refer to pages 206-208
of the Birth Registration Handbook for information on surrogate births.
Hospitals should use VS10D (REV. 7/07) forms for all births
occurring before January 1, 2016 and
VS10D (REV. 1/16) forms for all
births occurring after December 31,
2015.
Local Registrars should be careful
to include the correct year and numbering sequence when adding the Local
Registration Numbers (LRNs). If the AVSS LFN ASSIGNMENT option is used staff
should be sure to test proper vertical alignment before printing the LRN. Please
restart the numbering sequence for LRNs to reflect the change in year from 2015
to 2016 with the new sequence beginning with events occurring in 2016. Events
that occur in 2015 are to be included in the 2015 numbering sequence.
For instructions on how
to use AVSS for birth registration in hospitals, please refer online to the AVSS Quick
Reference Manual or you may print the PDF version. Equally important
are the following PDF documents from the California Department of Public
Health, Vital Records Registration Branch:
What You
Need To Know About Your Child's Birth Certificate and
Certificate
Of Live Birth Worksheet.
