The process is as amazing as the result.
Receipt for my father's birth in 1949. As he put it yesterday, "I'd say things have changed some over the last 61 years."
Update: To put that in perspective, minimum wage was $0.43 at the time. $75.75 / $0.43 per hr / 40hrs per week ~= 4.4 weeks or about 1 month's working wage. Using the current minimum wage of $7.25 ($7.25*40*4.4) that works out to $1,275 - not exactly expensive by today's standards.