You may not know this: For those who were born in Jersey City, NJ, your birth certificcate issued by the hospital is no longer valid. You now must go to the State Of NJ with proof of who you are to get a "state issued birth certificate". This is because of the fraud in Jersey City with employees selling them. ( Now that is second hand info, but knowing Jersey City, it is very believable.) My brother was taking a trip to Cancun & was told by the tour company he needed a "state issued bc, not a hospital copy". He lives upstate NY near Albany, not a fun trip to drive all the way to Trenton. He was told this a few days b/4 his trip. He doesn't have a passport. Luckily I live about 45 minutes away, so I went to get it for him. A friend told me about this last year, as she was born in Jersey City. She wanted to file for SS & had to get a "state issued certified copy", as her hospital issued bc wasn't worth the paper it was written on. Since I will be 62 in April & that time is approaching for me, I ordered a state issued certified copy of mine when I went to get my brothers. The cost went to $25.00 each on Jan 1st, up from a few dollars!. If you want a second copy at the time of issuing the first its like $2.00 addt'l. After reading the article about identy theft, it seems it is the employees, the ones with the most access to the records who are the culprits. Just my opinion. Jeanine