Birth Registration: Special Circumstances

Surrogate births

In a surrogacy or gestational agreement situation, the hospital must register the birth based on the marital status of the gestational carrier who delivers the baby, unless the intended parent(s) provides a certified copy of a court-order that directs the birth be registered differently.

If the intended parents provide a pre-birth court order, the hospital will:  

• Verify the court order is certified.  
• Follow instructions in the order about registering the birth. Enter the parents’ names as written in the order.  
• Check the “gestational agreement” checkbox in Minnesota Registration and Certification (MR&C), enter the required information from the court order, and fax the court order to MDH using the fax number provided in MR&C.
• Collect data about the intended parents by providing them with the birth record worksheet.  
• Mark all medical data fields “unknown.” The intended parents’ names are on the birth record, and the medical information, such as risk factors and prenatal care, doesn’t apply to them.  

MDH will match the court order to the MR&C record before any certificates are issued.  

If the intended parents do not present a pre-birth court order, register the birth as usual and complete second parent information based on the gestational carrier’s marital status. Enter the health data associated with the gestational carrier. 

Safe Place Newborns

Minnesota’s Safe Place for Newborns law allows a parent to leave an unharmed newborn with an employee at a designated safe place such as a hospital, urgent care, or ambulance service. Hospital staff may ask about the medical histories of the birthing parent and newborn, but not the identity of the person leaving the newborn.

A hospital caring for a safe place newborn must provide information to MDH to help us with birth registration. Do not register the birth or enter information about the newborn in MR&C. Complete the:  

• Birth Registration Information for Safe Place Newborns or Foundlings (PDF)
• Worksheet for creating your child’s birth record (PDF)
• Birth Record Medical Information (PDF)

Fax all three forms to MDH’s Office of Vital Records at 866-416-1357. We will contact you to confirm receipt. The Department of Health will determine the newborn’s birth registration status and register the birth, if necessary.

Learn more on the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families Safe Place for Newborns webpage. 

Difficulty getting registration information

The Minnesota State Registrar may waive an information requirement for birth registration if the person filing the birth record can demonstrate one of the following:

• The information is not available through reasonable inquiries.
• Providing the information endangers the safety of the person giving birth or the child.
• The parent refuses to provide the information.
• The services of a health care provider were not used for prenatal care or delivery.

Even if the birth information requirement is waived for one of the reasons above, the person filing must provide at least:

• Date and county of birth
• Child’s sex
• Birth order, if multiple birth
• First, middle, and last name before first marriage of person giving birth

Contact MDH’s Office of Vital Records with questions about birth registration requirements.  

Births in moving vehicles

When a delivery occurs on the way to your facility and the child or fetus is first removed from the vehicle in Minnesota, the birth must be registered in Minnesota and the place where the child or fetus is first removed is reported as the place of birth on the birth record.  

Delayed hospital registration

If a hospital files a birth record more than a year after the birth, it is considered a delayed registration and must be handled by MDH. Submit the following to the Office of Vital Records:

• $40 fee
• Worksheet and instructions for creating your child's birth record (PDF)
• Birth Record Medical Information (PDF)
• Notarized statement substantiating the fact of birth and documenting the reason for the delay in registration

Contact the Office of Vital Records for assistance.