For unmarried parents, a birth certificate DOES NOT establish legal parentage. A birth certificate can be used to establish the identity of the person named on it—but for children of unmarried parents, it is not the document that legally establishes who a child's father or parent is. It's easy to establish legal paternity without going to court—and it's free.

The Parentage Opportunity Program (POP) is a voluntary program for eligible parents to establish legal parentage free of charge. This significantly decreases the time and money required to establish legal parentage through the lengthy and expensive court process. A filed Voluntary Declaration of Parentage (VDOP) has the same force and effect as a judgment for parentage issued by a court. For more information, visit Department of Child Support Services' Establishing Legal Parentage page.

Eligibility
Signing a VDOP will legally establish a child's parentage if you are:
- An unmarried birth parent and the only possible genetic father; OR
- Two people, married or unmarried, who had their child through assisted reproduction using sperm and/or egg donation, except if any donation was from their spouse.

Eligible parents will need to fill out the VDOP have their signatures witnessed by an authorized witnessing agency, such as Child Support Services of the Vital Statistics office.

Vital Statistics Office Hours & Location
At this time, please call or email our office for information, as we are open by appointment only at this time. 
For information, call 707-784-8060 or email [email protected] 
Our phone hours are Monday - Friday from 8:00 am - 1:00 pm.
We are located at 275 Beck Avenue, Fairfield CA, 94533.
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