Tips on Finding Birth Parents

The statutes in Illinois and Kansas allow the adoptive parents to receive medical and family information about the birth family. In addition, the adoptive parents may request the department to contact the birth parents any time, postadoption, for additional health information when there is a medical need.

Identifying Information

Identifying information is considered to be data that may lead to the positive identification of an adopted person, birth parents, or other birth relatives. Identifying information includes the current name of the person, but usually also includes an address or other contact information so that adopted persons and birth relatives can use the information to arrange personal contact with one another. The statutes in nearly all States permit the release of identifying information when the person whose information is sought has consented to the release.

A mutual consent registry is one method many States use to arrange the consents that are required for release of identifying information. A mutual consent registry is a system whereby individuals directly involved in adoptions can indicate their willingness or unwillingness to have their identifying information disclosed. Approximately 33 States have established some form of a mutual consent registry. Procedures for mutual consent registries vary significantly from State to State. Most registries require consent of at least one birth parent and an adopted person over the age of 18 or 21, or of adoptive parents of an adopted person who is still a minor, in order to release identifying information. Currently, 26 of the States that have registries require the parties seeking to exchange information to file affidavits consenting to release of their personal information. However, seven States will release information from the registry upon request, unless the affected party has filed an affidavit requesting nondisclosure.

Approximately 22 States allow biological siblings of the adopted individual to seek and release identifying information upon mutual consent. No consent is required for adopted persons in Louisiana and Texas to receive identifying information about birth parents who are deceased. Many States ask a birth parent to specify at the time of consent or relinquishment whether they are willing to have their identity disclosed to the adopted person when he or she is age 18 or 21. If consent is not on file, the information may not be released without a court order documenting good cause to release the information. A person seeking a court order must be able to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that there is a compelling reason for disclosure that outweighs maintaining the confidentiality of a party to an adoption.

Some States have imposed some limitations on the release of identifying information. Mississippi and South Carolina require the adopted person to undergo counseling about the possible consequences of contact with his or her family before any information is disclosed. In Connecticut, release of identifying information is prohibited if it is determined that the requested information would be seriously disruptive to any of the parties involved.

Other Methods of Obtaining Consent

States that have not established registries may use alternative methods for disclosing identifying information. Search and consent procedures authorize a public or private agency to assist a party in locating birth family members to determine if they consent to the release of information. Some States have a type of search and consent procedure called a confidential intermediary system. In this system, an individual called a confidential intermediary is certified by the court to have access to sealed adoption records for the purpose of conducting a search for birth family members to obtain their consent for contact. Other States use an affidavit system through which birth family members can file either their consent to the release of identifying information or a nonconsent to register his or her refusal to be contacted or to release identifying information. The written permission may be referred to as a consent, waiver, or authorization form.

Original Birth Certificate

When an adoption is finalized, a new birth certificate for the child is customarily issued to the adoptive parents. The original birth certificate is then sealed and kept confidential. In the past, nearly all States required a court order for adopted persons to gain access to their original birth certificates. In approximately 28 States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, and Puerto Rico, a court order is still required to gain access to the original birth certificate, but in many States, the laws are changing to allow easier access to these records. Some of the methods now available include:

- Available through court order when all parties have consented
- Available upon request to the adult adopted person
- Available upon request to the adopt adopted person unless the birth parent has filed an affidavit denying release of confidential records
- Available to persons who have established their eligibility to receive identifying information through a State adoption registry
- Available when consents to release of identifying information from the birth parents are on file.

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