Senate Bill S1842

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S1842

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the domestic relations law, in relation to adoption
records

 PURPOSE :

Allows release of birth certificate to adoptive persons without court
order if person and birth parents register with the state's adoption
registry and consent to release.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 amends section 114 of the domestic relations law by adding a
new subdivision 5 authorizing an adopted person who has reached his or
her majority to access his or her original birth certificate without
the necessity of a court order upon proof to the court in which the
order was granted that the adopted person and his or her birth parents
have registered with the state's adoption registry and have consented
to the release of this identifying information. If only one birth
parent executed the surrender agreement or consented to the adoption,
then the registration of the other parent is not necessary for the
release of information pursuant to this subdivision.
Section 2 provides that this act shall take effect immediately.
              

 JUSTIFICATION :

There are three kinds of information currently available to adoptees
who register with the Adoption Information Registry maintained by the
State Department of Health: non-identifying identifying and
health-related information. Non-identifying information about an
adoptee's birth parents is often furnished by adoption agencies can
include religion, ethnicity, race, education, occupation, etc; and the
name of the agency that arranged the adoption, and the facts and
circumstances relating to the nature and cause of the adoption.  This
information is available even if the birth parents have not registered
with the state. Identifying information - name and address of each
party - is only shared if the adoptee and his or her birth parents
have all registered and given consent for this information to be
released. Medical information can also be furnished by a birth parent
regardless of whether or not that person consents to the release of
identifying information.

This bill would apply only to those situations where an adoptee and
any required birth parents have all registered and consented to the
release of identifying information. It would allow willing adoptees
with willing biological parents to have access to their original birth
certificates without the added burden of having to obtain a court
order from the court in which the original adoption order was granted.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2006 - S4792 - Referred to Social Services, Children & Families
2008 - S2261 - Referred to Social Services, Children & Families

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect immediately.