Birth certificates are kinda in the realms of manfatory and be it directly or indirectly (classed as child abuse in the case of the USA) illegal not to register a birth in many countries.
In the UK you have the 1953 Births and Deaths Registration Act requires a birth to be registered within 42 days of a child being born.
So given that, I'd say birth certificates have in many ways and thru various avenues of law in one country or another, kinda become mandatory years ago.
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