When looking up your chart, it’s important to have an exact birth time. Rising sign changes every two hours, and the moon changes sign about every 2.5 days. So 15 minutes can make change your rising sign, and if you were born on a day the moon changed signs, a few hours could also change your moon sign (not to mention the fact that knowing the degree of your moon makes a difference for the aspects it makes to other planets/points in your chart). But knowing your birth time isn’t always easy, especially if you’re not in touch with your family of origin. If you’re trying to figure out your birth time and either aren’t in contact with your parents or they don’t know, you can try calling the Department of Health for the state where you were born and just asking them.

A friend of mine wanted to look up her chart, but her family only had very vague guesses about what time of day she was born, so I set out to try to figure out her birth time and print her chart for her for her birthday. I called the Department of Health for the state where she was born and asked if they could help. The guy on the phone said, “We don’t have that information.” That sounded wrong to me, and I’m also a trans person who has been lied to by too many identity-document bureaucrats to count. So I double-checked online to make sure that her state did track birth time during the year she was born, and in a week or 2, I called again. This time, the woman said, “What’s the name again?” and told me her birth time. Voila!

If you don’t get as lucky, you can also order a copy of your birth record, but for most states, you’ll probably need to order a “long form” birth certificate (which includes more information than the standard one). Check to make sure that the state where you born recorded birth time the year you were born and which document you need to order to get that information before you waste time and money ordering a document.

If none of that works, there are astrologers who specialize in “chart rectification” and can probably narrow in on your birth time by looking at the timing of other important events in your life.