Adoptee Rights Law Center

Legal representation and advocacy for adult adopted people

Gregory D. Luce

Essential FAQ About the New York Bills

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Quick and honest answers to questions you may have about the Weprin/Montgomery Bill, a clean adoptee rights bill in New York that I support.

Florida Bill: Reunion Required to Get Your OBC

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Florida HB597 requires reunion with a birthparent before an adult adoptee can even apply for the OBC. That’s not at all a “small step” forward.

Can You Crowdsource Equal Rights Legislation?

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Help draft a clean Minnesota bill that provides an unrestricted right for all adult adoptees to obtain their own original birth records upon request.

What We Overlook

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We is almost always exclusive, and it is defined by those who speak it. Who are “we” overlooking in adoptee rights?

A Year of Donated DNA Test Kits

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Whatever identity you have worn or celebrated or endured during this past November of “adoption” awareness, please consider donating a bit to assist adult adoptees with DNA.

Midterms and Adoptee Rights

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As part of an upcoming gathering of national and local adoptee rights advocates in Austin, Texas, I am putting together resources on what to expect from key states after upcoming midterm elections.

Open Letter to Florida Representative Richard Stark

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I ask that you support this proposed legislation and that you decline to introduce legislation that fails to provide adult adoptees with the unrestricted right to obtain their own OBCs.

Me and States and Stuff

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Where we stand with state OBC laws, what I’m seeing and working on, and where things may be going from here.

Getting an Arkansas Original Birth Certificate

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Discussion, questions, and a flow chart to help people understand how the new Arkansas OBC law works as well as its discriminatory limitations.

The Law Known as “Indiana”

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Indiana law is so complicated for adult adopted people who just want a copy of their own original birth certificate that only a flowchart can illustrate how it’s supposed to be done.

What’s an Original Birth Certificate?

Most adopted persons know what an original birth certificate (OBC) is. Many non-adopted people do not. An original birth certificate is the initial birth certificate created shortly after a person's birth. For most people, it is their only birth certificate.

For persons born and adopted in the United States, a new or "amended" birth certificate replaces the OBC once the adoption is final. In addition to replacing the original, the names of the birth parents are also replaced with the names of the adoptive parents. Some states may also alter or omit additional information on a new certificate, including the adoptee's specific place of birth.

Depending on state law, an original birth certificate is sealed and remains unavailable to the adopted person, even when they become an adult. If you are not adopted, your original birth certificate is your only birth certificate---and it is always available to you upon request.