US Vital Records

[Seaocean0]

http://www.vitalchek.com/

[shellyesq]

I have never used this site personally, but from looking at it previously, it appeared to me that it charges fees that are significantly larger than states/cities do.  Before using it, I would recommend that people do a Google search for something like "(whatever state) vital records" or "(whatever state) marriage records" and looking for a site that ends in .gov.  The appropriate state/county/city website should give you information on the standard fees, the years of records that are available, and the options for ordering records.  For some states, Vital Chek will be the only option for ordering online, but there may be less expensive options for ordering by mail or telephone. 

[coombs]

I have not come across this site before but as Shelley said I would much rather google the state I am interested in and see what sites have vital records.

[thecohens]

The one problem with googling vital records is  you end up with commercial sites at the top of the list, although putting .gov is a good idea, but not all government sites are .gov -- http://cookcountygenealogy.com is one example, a county government site.

So, I have been working on a set of webpages to make it easier to find free and inexpensive sources.

This is my page about ways to order, with basic resource sites listed.  Sometimes you can get  copies of records cheaper than from the government by getting photocopies from the LDS or local genealogists who have access to stat e archives.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~thecohens/ordering.html

And if you are interested in free  birth information and records for the USA, this lists what I have found so far for the USA, although we have not gotten the newest familysearch additions listed, and there are many new transcription sites I have not been able to write up yet, it is an ongoing project.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~thecohens/birthindexes-usa.html

 

[Seaocean0]

http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/topics/genealogy/index.html

[thecohens]

I don't see any vital records on the NARA  site.  What database were you thinking has them?

http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/topics/genealogy/index.html

They say:  "Recording births, deaths, and marriages is a function of local   government. It is rare to find this   kind of information among records in   the National Archives."