Are you adopted?
Each state handles adoption procedures and requirements a little differently. However, adoption records are sealed in most states once the adoption is finalized. While protecting the privacy of all parties involved is paramount, it is possible to gain access to complete information with the permission of all parties involved. If only one party is involved, nonidentifying information only will be released, to protect the privacy and anonymity of the other party. You can get a copy of an adoption certificate through your state's government agency if all qualifications are met.
Instructions
1. Determine the state laws that regulated your adoption and that regulate the records pertaining to it. This would be the state where your adoption took place, not the state where you currently reside. Most state laws require a court order or consent form for the original adoption records to be released. However, the procedure for acquiring the consent or court order may vary.
2. Join an adoption support group. These groups specialize in knowing the most current laws regulating release of adoption records. They also may have contacts and information not readily available to the general public. The group may also assist in gaining a release of the adoption certificate or acquisition of identifying information.
3. Gain the consent of birth parents if you are the adoptee and of the child and adoptive parents if you are the birth parent. This is the easiest and fastest way to gain access to adoption records. If you or the adoption support group are able to identify the geographic location and names of either adoptive parents or children, going through a third party to obtain consent will make the records release process much easier.
4. Gather all the nonidentifying information you can about the parties involved, such as: medical information, height, weight, eye color, hair color, ethnicity, level of education, religion, educational level and even in some cases, age of parents at time of birth, age and sex of other children. This information can be gathered from adoptive parents, the agency that facilitated the adoption or the state vital records office.
5. Choose what state governments call a "third-party intermediary" to get a consent to release identifying information if you couldn't get the information any other way. The intermediary might work for the state's welfare office, the adoption support group or an adoption agency. Their primary purpose is to serve as a neutral and unconnected party that can contact the parents of adoptive children, the children themselves or birth parents. They would contact any connected individuals to secure identifying information and in some cases, consent for the records to be released.
6. Get a court order for the records to be released by going to the local district court and requesting one before a judge. The court clerk will have the necessary paperwork or you can have them prepared by a lawyer. If either party who participated in the adoption proceedings has filed an affidavit preventing the release of such information, the state will protect their rights and will not release any adoption records, even to a third-party intermediary.
Tags: adoption records, adoption support, adoption support group, adoptive parents, court order