Summary
Adult adoptees in Alaska have an unrestricted right to obtain their own original birth certificates. The adoptee must be 18 years of age in order to request a non-certified copy of the original birth certificate. Upon request, Alaska also provides adult adoptees with descriptive information about their birth parents and biological siblings.
Relevant Alaska Law: Original Birth Certificate
Sec. 18.50.220. New certificate of birth
(a) The state registrar shall establish a new certificate of birth for a person born in the state, upon proper request that the certificate be made, and upon receipt of
(1) an adoption report as provided in AS 18.50.210, or a certified copy of the decree of adoption from a court of competent jurisdiction in another state, together with the information necessary to identify the original certificate of birth and to establish the new certificate of birth; however, a new certificate of birth may not be established if so requested by the court decreeing the adoption, the adoptive parents, or the adopted person if the adopted person is of legal age; or
(2) the evidence required by law and regulation proving that the person has been legitimated.
(b) When a new certificate of birth is established, the actual place and date of birth shall be shown. The new certificate shall be substituted for the original certificate of birth, and
(1) thereafter, in the case of an adoption, the original certificate and the evidence of adoption are not subject to inspection except as provided in AS 18.50.500 – 18.50.510 or by order of the superior court under AS 25.23.150, but the state registrar shall allow inspection by an agent of the state or federal government acting in the performance of the agent’s official duties; in the case of a legitimation, the original certificate and the evidence of legitimation are not subject to inspection except upon order of the superior court or as provided by regulation; however, the regulation shall allow inspection by an agent of the state or federal government acting in the performance of the agent’s official duties;
(2) upon receipt of a report that an adoption has been vacated, the original certificate of birth shall be restored to its place in the files and the new certificate and evidence are not subject to inspection except upon order of a superior court.
(c) If no certificate of birth is on file for the person for whom a new certificate is to be established under this section, a delayed certificate of birth shall be filed with the bureau as provided in this chapter before a new certificate of birth may be established.
(d) When a new certificate of birth is established by the state registrar, the state registrar shall direct the disposition of and substitution for all copies of the original certificate of birth in the custody of a local registrar of vital statistics or other local custodian of the records. When an adoption has been vacated, the state registrar shall instruct the local officials as to a necessary action.
Sec. 18.50.500. Identity of biological parents
(a) After receiving a request by an adopted person 18 years of age or older for the identity of a biological parent of the person, the state registrar shall provide the person with an uncertified copy of the person’s original birth certificate and any change in the biological parent’s name or address attached to the certificate.
(b) The state registrar may not disclose the name and address of a biological parent, except as required under (a) of this section or by the court under AS 25.23.150.
(c) An adopted person 18 years of age or older, or a biological parent, may submit to the state registrar a notice of change of name or address. The state registrar shall attach the information to the original birth certificate of the adopted person.
(d) The state registrar shall disclose to a biological parent, at that parent’s request, the most current name and address of an adopted child that appear in the state registrar’s adoption files if the child is 18 years of age or older and has requested in writing that the information be disclosed if ever requested by the biological parent.
Sec. 18.50.510. Descriptive information regarding biological parents
(a) The state registrar shall, at the request of an adoptive parent or of an adopted person 18 years of age or older, release the following information regarding a biological parent named on the original birth certificate of the adopted person if available from the registrar’s adoption records:
(1) the age of the biological parent on the day the adopted person was born;
(2) the heritage of the biological parent, to include
(A) national origin;
(B) ethnic background; and
(C) tribal membership;
(3) the medical history of the biological parent and of blood relatives of the biological parent;
(4) the number of years of school completed by the biological parent by the day the adopted person was born;
(5) a physical description of the biological parent on the day the adopted person was born, including height, weight, and color of hair, eyes, and skin;
(6) the existence of other children of the biological parent;
(7) whether the biological parent was alive at the time of adoption;
(8) the religion of the biological parent; and
(9) other information provided by the biological parent for disclosure to the child, which may include such items as photographs, letters, and a statement explaining the reasons for the adoption.
(b) Information released under (a) of this section shall be on a standard form prepared by the commissioner. The information may not include the name of a biological parent or other information not listed in (a) of this section.
Thank you so much for this. I’m an adoptee from Anchorage Alaska. I’d just mustered the courage to order my ancestry DNA kit and checked on how I could find my birth parents and BAM, ran into this site. Kismet perhaps. Anywho, you rock. Thanks again.
Wow, thanks! And you’re the first person I’ve “met” who was adopted in Alaska!
I am also an adoptee from Anchorage, Alaska and am happy to have found this site.
If any of those agencies know you are adopted, they may not give you your true identity, but relatives 5 generations back like they did me. I’m part of a tribe, but yet I have no cousins? Yes even the folks at any DNA company will look up possibly your adoptive parents’ long-distance relatives only. Thats what happened to me at Family Tree DNA.
Hi, I have been helping someone look for a sibling. Do you happen to be half Iñupiaq?
I too was adopted in Anchorage. My situation may be a little different in a sense that my birth mother raised me she just allowed my adoptive father to adopt me after they married. I was 8 months old. Trying to discover my birth father is a struggle. Especially since my mother died young and I am unable to ask her questions. Thank you for all of this. I believe we all deserve some bit of answers.
Nettie Cox, I gave up my son in Anchorage,Alaska, in 1961 at ten months of age due to things i could not control. I was married and have been divorced for many years as i am almost 80 years old now and have been searching for him ever since he turned 18 years of age and no luck. they used to tell me at vitals in Juneau,Alaska when i called if he had ever contacted them for info but the one they have in there now will not tell you anything.There is Medical problems in my family that i think he needed to know about.I have asked for his original birth cert. but no such luck.It went thru Social Services, Anchorage,Alaska. Should i just give up and let it go or is there any hope? He would be in his late 50s now.Thanks N.Cox, 09/04/2019
Don’t feel bad Nettie they did that to me too. I did meet my son but if it was left up to the state of Alaska that would never have happened. 2 weeks before he turned 18 I put a letter into the state stating my son could contact me. When he turned 18 he did come back to Alaska looking for me, but the letter was gone. And so the state denied him any info about me. Then he went to an agency and they found me. What a beautiful surprise. And also to find out what the state does with written requests is terrible.
Hello I was adopted when I was a little girl and I don’t have much information at all about my biological family but I do know my mothers name if you can help me please
Hello, my name is chandar, and I was be adopted in 1979 in Fairbanks Ak, when was 24 hours old, I am looking for my birth parents and possible siblings. Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated 😊.
For starters and I promise I am telling you all facts. I’ve found all of my siblings FINALLY after 40 years.
Call the clerk in the courthouse where you were adopted and have them send you all the information that you need in order to get ALL of your adoption records, your original birth certificate ect. Also don’t believe anything your adopted parents told you just seek your own truth. I learned a lot in my search and the best way is to look yourself. Find out the facts of why you were adopted and if you’re native and registered with a tribe please contact them as well
My name is John Lehe (Pronounced Lee) and I have been an investigator for over 30 years and I have personally located many missing or abducted children during my career. In 2017, I located 3 siblings living in Wyoming who were taken from Alaska in 2012 when they were very young. I have also reunited many families who were separated as a result of adoption. I located my niece’s biological father and I have helped other family members over the years. I even tracked down my adopted daughter’s biological father when she was 18 and put them in contact. I felt she deserved to have contact with her biological father. I currently work as the Lead Investigator for the State of Alaska, Department of Administration earning a good income and so I do not require payment for my services. My compensation is derived from the fulfillment of helping families reunite, as they should. I work on a case by case basis because I do not have much time to dedicate towards these endeavors and do this on my own personal time. My personal email is [email protected].
If anyone is needing help locating their bio family please contact John Lehe (see his comment above). I saw his comment on this site and I emailed him asking if he could help locate my bio dad. Within five minutes he emailed me back and within two hours we were on the phone discussing what information I knew. Within 30 minutes of getting off the phone, he found him! I had been casually looking for him for years and found nothing and he found him in 30 minutes!! Less than two weeks later I have reached out to my bio dad and he should be responding soon. John is very professional and I very much appreciated his experience during this process. I would highly recommend contacting him to see if he can help you as well.
Father was in Air Force stationed in Anchorage. They adopted me in Juneau in 1974-1975. I did an ancestry dot com dna Kit. Found a half sister. She believes we have 3 other brothers.
I’m all the way in Texas, and only have the birth certificate signed by the judge. No other paperwork. I just found this out.
My name is Sammy aka Dustin and I’m looking for my birth mother and came across your website and I was curious about getting my orginal birth records here in Alaska