[jwparkerjr]

Of course it's possible for one to be a legal, natural-born citizen if there is no birth certificate. The presence or absence of a birth certificate goes to the task of proving one's status, not the status itself.

My grandmother was born in a county in Iowa where the courthouse and all its records, including her birth record, were destroyed in a fire. She had to jump through some hoops to get it, but the State of Iowa eventually issued her a delayed birth certificate based on some entries in a family Bible and public school records.

[mamelukesabre]

I had a grandfather that went all through life with no birth certificate. He was born somewhere in kansas I think. I'm sure there are still people around that were born in hippy communes or in the hills of the ozarks somewhere that never had birth certificates.

[gopheraj]

My grandmother (born in Texas 1902) never had a birth certificate so when she applied for social security in 1960/61, she had to rely on witness statements and a copy of the family bible birth record to be eligible. That info was accepted.