Will copies of birth certificates suffice to travel by airplane without state issued ID's?

Are original birth certificates issued now when born in Pennsylvania?

• I was wondering if the original birth certificate valid for a passport is issued now when born in Pennsylvania. My wife and two sons 12 and 14 will be going overseas soon to visit family and they have yet to get their passports. We would check the ones they received when they were born, but we are all away on vacation at the moment for another week. I remember when I applied for mine (over 25 years ago) I was told that Pennsylvania does not issue the original required for a passport. I had to request a valid copy from the state. Just wondering if this is still the case. Could not find anything on the web one way or another.

• Answer:

  http://www.dsf.health.state.pa.us/health/cwp/view.asp?a=168&Q=202219 Visit that website, you or your wife, assuming you have legal custody of your children, can request a birth certificate for one or both of them. There is a fee of $10 and it will probably take 4-6 weeks to get it. People lose their birth certificates all of the time and its really a pretty simple process to get a new one, it just takes time because they have to look it up in all of their files and everything. Good luck!