No, you do not need a blood test to get married anywhere in the United States. Montana was the last state with any premarital blood test requirement on the books, and it repealed that rule in 2019.1Montana State Legislature. House Bill 136 – Abolishing the Premarital Blood Test Whatever you may have heard from an older relative or seen in an old movie, the needle is no longer part of the paperwork.
What You Actually Need to Get a Marriage License
Instead of a blood draw, your local clerk’s office will ask for documents. The specifics vary by state, but the core list is consistent:
- A government-issued photo ID such as a driver’s license, passport, or military ID.
- Proof of age. Your photo ID usually covers this, though some jurisdictions also want a birth certificate. In most states you must be at least 18 to marry without parental consent.
- Your Social Security number. Most states require it on the application. If you don’t have one, you typically sign a declaration to that effect.
- Documentation if you were previously married. Bring a certified copy of your final divorce decree, or a certified copy of your former spouse’s death certificate if you are widowed. Plain photocopies generally will not be accepted.
License fees usually fall somewhere between $20 and $120 depending on the jurisdiction. Most states issue the license the same day you apply. About a dozen impose a short waiting period of one to three days, and many of those allow waivers for good cause.
Once the license is in your hand, you have a limited window to hold the ceremony. Expiration ranges from 30 days to six months depending on where you applied, so check the rule before you set a date far out on the calendar.
Both applicants almost always need to appear in person. A handful of jurisdictions permit one partner to apply on behalf of both with a notarized affidavit, but that is the exception. Plan to go together, bring originals rather than copies, and set aside around half an hour for the paperwork.
The One Statute Still on the Books
New York Domestic Relations Law Section 13-aa, enacted in 1972, still technically requires sickle cell testing for marriage license applicants who are “not of the Caucasian, Indian or Oriental race.”2New York State Senate. New York Domestic Relations Law 13-aa The statute’s racial categories read as a product of their time, and the law has never been formally repealed.
In practice, it is not enforced. New York’s own Department of Health states plainly that “no premarital examination or blood test is required to obtain a marriage license in New York State.”3New York State Department of Health. Getting Married in New York State The statute itself also provides that a positive result cannot be used to deny a marriage license and that anyone can decline the test on religious grounds.2New York State Senate. New York Domestic Relations Law 13-aa If you are applying in New York, follow the Department of Health’s current guidance, not the old statute.
Why Blood Tests Used to Be Required
Premarital blood tests began in the late 1930s as a response to a syphilis epidemic. In the early 1930s, roughly one in ten Americans was infected with syphilis, and about 60,000 babies were born each year with the congenital form of the disease.4National Center for Biotechnology Information. A 20th Century Historical Perspective on Congenital Syphilis and Lessons for Today Surgeon General Thomas Parran pushed for widespread testing, and states responded by making a clean blood test a condition of a marriage license. By the early 1950s, about 40 of the then-48 states had some form of premarital examination requirement.5CDC Stacks. Premarital Health Examination Legislation – History and Analysis
Syphilis was the primary target, usually screened through the Wassermann test and later the RPR and VDRL draws. Some states also tested women for rubella immunity, since German measles during pregnancy can cause serious birth defects. A short-lived wave of HIV testing requirements appeared in the late 1980s, and a few states screened for gonorrhea or, in New York’s case, sickle cell.
Why Every State Eventually Dropped the Requirement
Penicillin arrived, syphilis rates fell, and the math stopped working. A study of California’s program found that in 1979 the state spent $8.5 million per year on premarital screening and identified just 35 cases of infectious syphilis among roughly 300,000 people tested, a positive rate of 0.012 percent.6PubMed. A Cost-Benefit Analysis of California’s Mandatory Premarital Screening Program for Syphilis
Border-hopping made the policy worse. When one state required testing and its neighbor did not, couples simply drove across the line. Illinois learned this the hard way with its 1987 HIV testing requirement: out of roughly 250,000 people tested, only 52 HIV cases were found, while marriage license applications in border counties dropped more than 21 percent. Illinois repealed the law in 1989.
States let their requirements lapse one by one over the following decades, with Montana’s 2019 repeal of its rubella rule closing out the practice nationwide.1Montana State Legislature. House Bill 136 – Abolishing the Premarital Blood Test
Voluntary Screening If You Are Planning a Family
About a dozen states replaced mandatory testing with health education at the clerk’s counter: a brochure on sexually transmitted infections and HIV, sometimes paired with an acknowledgment form you sign. No test, no result on file, just information.
If you and your partner are planning to have children, the CDC recommends discussing family health history with a doctor and considering genetic counseling if risk factors are present, such as a history of miscarriages, known genetic conditions, or a family pattern of birth defects.7Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Planning for Pregnancy That conversation, along with routine prenatal screening once a pregnancy begins, catches far more than the old marriage license blood test ever did, and it reaches the couples who actually need it.