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Adoptee Rights Law Center

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Date-Based Restrictions

Date-based restrictions give some but not all adoptees greater rights to their own original birth certificates, based on the adoptee’s date of birth or adoption. Such restrictions can also be called “tiered-access,” “donut holes,” or “sandwiches,” depending on the range and scope of the applicable dates.

Last updated on May 11, 2022

Vermont

Detail from Vermont road map

Vermont does not allow adult adoptees unrestricted access to their own original birth certificates. Access may be obtained through a probate court order or by adoptees who are at least 18 years of age and who have already obtained identifying information from Vermont’s Adoption Registry.

Last updated on December 17, 2021

Montana

Detail from Montana road map

Montana law does not provide adult adoptees with unrestricted access to their own original birth certificates. Access largely depends upon the date of adoption and whether a birth parent requests that a court order be required before releasing the OBC.

Last updated on January 3, 2022

Michigan

Detail of Michigan road map

Michigan is a donut hole state. It divides access to original birth certificates by date of birth, with those born between 1945 and 1980 the big losers. Find out more about Michigan’s complicated and deeply flawed system.

Last updated on February 9, 2022

Massachusetts

Detail of Massachusetts road map

Massachusetts law denies adult adoptees who were born between 1974 and 2008 their own original birth certificates. Everyone else born in Massachusetts has unrestricted access to their original birth certificates.

Last updated on May 28, 2019

Maryland

Detail from road atlas of Maryland

Since 1937, Maryland has denied adult adoptees unrestricted access to their own original birth certificates. OBCs are currently available only by court order. Adoptees who are at least 21 years of age and whose adoptions were finalized on or after January 1, 2000, may request their original birth certificates. Birth parents, however, may at any time veto disclosure of birth records or identifying information.

Last updated on January 4, 2022

Arizona

Detail of Arizona road map

Arizona denies adult adoptees the right to obtain their own original birth certificates. Release of an OBC requires a court order.

Last updated on May 28, 2019

Minnesota

Detail from Minnesota road map

Minnesota law does not provide adult adoptees with unrestricted access to their original birth certificates. Access to OBCs in Minnesota is ridiculously complex and based primarily on the date of adoption and whether a birth parent objects to disclosure.

Last updated on November 3, 2020

Oklahoma

Currently, nearly all adult adoptees in Oklahoma must obtain a court order and show good cause for the release of an original birth certificate. An exception exists to this requirement for adoptions finalized after November 1, 1997.

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Contact

Adoptee Rights Law Center PLLC
Gregory D. Luce
PO Box 19561
Minneapolis Minnesota 55419
T: (612) 221-3947
E: [email protected]

Legal representation limited to issues involving Minnesota law and federal immigration law.

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New York Adoptee Rights Coalition

Adoptee Rights Law Center is part of the New York Adoptee Rights Coalition, a group of organizations committed to enactment of unrestricted OBC access legislation in New York. Join Us

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