Birth Certificates and Paternity

During your stay at the hospital, you will need to fill out important paperwork for your baby’s birth certificate. Here’s what you need to know to be prepared.

Birth certificate worksheet

Following your baby's birth, you'll receive a registration worksheet for his/her birth certificate.

• Fill out the worksheet completely and make sure all of the information is correct.
• Once completed, a secretary will bring a typed copy of the form to your room to verify the information and obtain your signature.
• Once the birth certificate is signed and sent to Lansing, there is a charge to have any changes made, so it's important to carefully review the document for errors before signing.

Paternity policy

State of Michigan law requires that birth certificates record the mother's husband as the father, unless otherwise stipulated on an Acknowledgment of Paternity form.

For unwed parents: You can sign a notarized Acknowledgment of Paternity form at the hospital at the time of birth. The father must have a current, valid picture I.D. with him at signing. We cannot enter the father's name without the written consent of the individual to be named as the father.

The last name of the child may be any name the mother chooses. She may give the father's last name even if they do not file an Acknowledgment of Paternity form.