College Station obviously has been growing rapidly — but the new residents haven’t all arrived from outside the city limits. Our community experienced an unprecedented baby boom in 2012 with a record 1,871 births through Friday.
Update: As of 3 p.m. Monday, we’re up to 1,883 births for 2012 with 929 girls and 954 boys!
Since many of these beautiful babies have visited the City Secretary’s Office with their parents to get a birth certificate, we’ve become adept at quickly spotting the first-time parents. While the veteran parents are proud, the first-timers always have a special glow.
And they love to take pictures.
A few weeks ago, a new mom came in with her own father to purchase a birth certificate and requested a quick photo with me. As the grandfather snapped the picture, one of my co-workers volunteered to take another to include the grandfather. It was a genuinely sweet and touching moment.
We’ve found a number of ways to speed up the application process so customers don’t have to wait long. If you need a birth certificate, here are some things to keep in mind:
- You can complete the application online or at our office.
- You’ll need photo identification.
- You’ll need cash, check or a money order. We can’t process debit or credit cards, and we can’t take bills greater than $20.
- You can buy envelopes and plastic sleeves at our office to protect the certificate.
If you want to come and complete the application in person, we’re happy to help you out. It usually takes about 15 minutes to copy your photo identification, make a certified copy of the application and process your payment. Out-of-town customers can pay a $5 fee to receive the certificate by certified mail.
As we close the book on 2012, we can’t wait to hear about our New Year’s babies. Maybe they’ll get us started on the road to a new record in 2013!
Editor’s note: Faye Scott recently was recognized by the Texas Department of State Health Services with the Five-Star Award for Excellence in Vital Statistics Reporting. The award is given to high-achieving local registrars who average no more than 20 days for death registrations with the state, and who register 85 percent of birth records within one business day.
