26:8-28 Birth certificate required; information furnished.

26:8-28. a. (1) Except as provided by subsection e. of this section, within five days after each birth, there shall be filed with the local registrar of the district in which the birth occurred a certificate of the birth filled out with durable black or blue ink in a legible manner.

(2) The name of the father shall be included on the record of birth of the child of unmarried parents only if the father and mother have signed a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity; or a court or an administrative agency of competent jurisdiction has issued an adjudication of paternity.

(3) In the case of a child born in connection with a gestational carrier agreement executed in accordance with the provisions of P.L.2018, c.18 (C.9:17-60 et al.), the name of the intended parent shall be included on the record of birth as the child's parent.

(4) Nothing in this section shall preclude the State IV-D agency from obtaining an admission of paternity from the father for submission in a judicial or administrative proceeding, or prohibit the issuance of an order in a judicial or administrative proceeding which bases a legal finding of paternity on an admission of paternity by the father and any other additional showing required by State law.

b. As part of the birth record, all information required by the State IV-D agency pursuant to section 7 of P.L.1994, c.164 (C.26:8-28.1) shall be recorded on a separate form provided or approved by the State registrar pursuant to subsection c. of R.S.26:8-24, and filed with the State IV-D agency pursuant to R.S.26:8-30 and R.S.26:8-31 for the establishment and enforcement of child support matters in the State. For the purposes of this subsection, "State IV-D agency" means the agency in the Department of Human Services designated to administer the Title IV-D Child Support Program.

c. The State registrar shall require each parent to provide his Social Security number in accordance with procedures established by the State registrar. The Social Security numbers furnished pursuant to this section shall be used exclusively for child support enforcement purposes.

d. The certificate of birth shall include the blood type of the child.

e. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection a. of this section to the contrary, the filing of a child's birth certificate may be delayed, based on the parent's religious beliefs, until such time as the child is named; however, no such delay shall result in the filing of the birth certificate more than 15 days after the child's date of birth. Any parent whose religious beliefs necessitate a delay in the filing of a birth certificate pursuant to this subsection, shall: (1) provide notice of the religious need for a filing delay, within five days after the child's date of birth, to the person who is responsible for filing the birth certificate, as provided by R.S.26:8-30 or R.S.26:8-31, except that, if the parent is responsible for such filing, no such notice shall be required; and (2) file the child's birth certificate, or authorize such filing by the person responsible therefor, as soon as possible after the child is named, but in no case more than 15 days after the child's birth. If a child is not named within the 15-day extended timeframe provided by this subsection, the child's birth certificate shall be filed, and the naming procedure outlined in R.S.26:8-34 shall be applied.

amended 1965, c.78, s.50; 1989, c.230; 1992, c.70; 1994, c.164, s.3; 1998, c.1, s.42; 2017, c.4; 2018, c.18, s.15.