Summary
Adult adopted people in Kansas have always had an unrestricted right to obtain their own original birth certificates. Court records in adoption proceedings are also available to adoptees upon request.
Relevant Kansas Law: Original Birth Certificates
65-2423. Adoption cases; birth certificate requirements
(a) In cases of adoption the state registrar upon receipt of a certified decree of adoption, or a similar document or documents which evidences finalization of the adoption in the foreign country, and the report of adoption form shall prepare a supplementary certificate or abstract in the new name of the adopted person and seal and file the original certificate of birth with such certified copy or abstract attached thereto. Such sealed documents may be opened by the state registrar only upon the demand of the adopted person if of legal age or by an order of court. Upon receipt of a certified copy of a court order of annulment of adoption the state registrar shall restore the original certificate to its original place in the files.
(b) For any child born in a foreign country but adopted in Kansas or born and adopted in a foreign country and such adoption is filed and entered pursuant to K.S.A. 59-2144, and amendments thereto, the state registrar, upon request, shall complete and register a birth certificate upon receipt of a certified copy of the decree of adoption, or a similar document or documents which evidences finalization of the adoption in the foreign country, the report of adoption form and proof of the date and place of the child’s birth. The certificate shall show the new name of the child as specified in the decree of adoption, or a similar document or documents which evidences finalization of the adoption in the foreign country, and such further information concerning the adopting parents as may be necessary to complete the birth certificate. The certificate shall show the true country of birth and the date of birth of the child. The certificate shall state the following: “This certificate is issued pursuant to subsection (b) of K.S.A. 65-2423, and amendments thereto.”
Relevant Kansas Law: Adoption Records
59-2122. Files and records of adoption
(a) The files and records of the court in adoption proceedings shall not be open to inspection or copy by persons other than the parties in interest and their attorneys, representatives of the Kansas department for children and families, and the commission on judicial performance in the discharge of the commission’s duties pursuant to article 32 of chapter 20 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated, and amendments thereto, except upon an order of the court expressly permitting the same. As used in this section, “parties in interest” shall not include genetic parents once a decree of adoption is entered.
(b) The Kansas department for children and families may contact the adoptive parents of the minor child or the adopted adult at the request of the genetic parents in the event of a health or medical need. The Kansas department for children and families may contact the adopted adult at the request of the genetic parents for any reason. Identifying information shall not be shared with the genetic parents without the permission of the adoptive parents of the minor child or the adopted adult. The Kansas department for children and families may contact the genetic parents at the request of the adoptive parents of the minor child or the adopted adult in the event of a health or medical need. The Kansas department for children and families may contact the genetic parents at the request of the adopted adult for any reason.
I don’t think you can help me since you practice law in Minnesota, I will give this a try anyway. I wanted to Vacation/Annul my adoption in order to get a copy or reinstate my deceased Birth parents listed back on my birth certificate and remove my deceased adopted parents. I wanted to get my original birth certificate back since I took my birth name back after my divorce. I was born and raised in Kansas and adopted in my teens when I did not agree to it. My birth dad gave permission to his sister and husband to change my last name in order to keep my birth mother away in their bitter divorce. I live in Pennsylvania now and I’m running into road blocks saying I cannot obtain my original birth certificate with my birth parents listed.
Your birth and adoption was in Kansas? While Kansas seals a birth certificate when a new one is issued after adoption, the original is always available to the adoptee once he or she turns 18. But am I hearing that you want your original reinstated as the only birth certificate? It’s a tough legal fight to annul an adoption in any state, and it’s a legal avenue that will take a lawyer to figure out what’s best to do so in Kansas. One alternative could be a name change to your original name.
Good morning Greg.
First I must tell you that I love this site for its clarity and citing of state’s’ law concerning adoptees. You have done and are doing a grand service to the adoptee in search.
In professional life I am a regulatory consultant so am used to almost any regulation known to mankind… almost. I understand that Kansas is ‘unrestricted’ regarding an adoptee’s access to his/her own adoptee adoption file and OBC—which is terrific! However wonderful that may be, there are cases when the adoptee has died and his/her child(ren) wish to have the un-redacted certificate, not the amended one.
In private life I try to help adoptees obtain documents and give them ways to do that. Your site is a huge asset! Currently I have a friend who is the daughter of an adoptee born in Kansas who is deceased. The deceased was adopted in Missouri. She has applied to KS for the birth certificate of her mom-who for years did not know of KS open access for adoptees, but receives only the redacted/amended version rather than the original, leading me to believe that KS & MO must have some agreement and share amended/redacted certificates … Of course I could very well be wrong.
My knowledge based on being an adoptee who retrieved her own OBC despite the draconian Dickensian laws of Nebraska is that where there is a will, there is a way. (My case was complicated in that I was not born in NE and was not aware of that fact until I applied for a US passport and was refused, which spurred my determination to find that OBC… and I did!)
My thoughts are that a petition to the court by the daughter might produce the desired results, with of course adequate documentation to prove relationship. I know that in the case of the adoption file she would most likely fall under the category of ‘person of interest’.
What would be your counsel? I, and my friend, would very much appreciate any nuggets of wisdom you may have for us. She wants to keep the promise she made to her mother I and I want to help her fulfill that promise.
Thank you in advance for your assistance with this matter.
Rachida Djebel
Thanks so much, Rachida, for the comments.
And, yes, you are spot on: your friend would need to petition the court in Kansas for release of her mother’s OBC. I’ve been approached by a number of descendants of adoptees whose parents were born in Kansas. The courts have told them that a petition is necessary. I tell folks to contact the court in the county where the person was born and ask if they have procedures for petitioning the court for the records, if any, and for an order to release the OBC. Given the fact that Kansas is an unrestricted state for the adult adoptee, I’d be surprised if the OBC is not released by court order to the adult son or daughter of the adoptee, so long—as you say—the relationship to the adoptee is shown and that you also provide a death certificate showing that the adoptee is deceased. It probably would not hurt to provide a copy of the amended certificate of the adoptee in the filing just to provide the full picture. I have very generic and simple forms I use here in Minnesota that you could likely use as a template if that’s worthwhile. Feel free to contact me by email at [email protected].
If you pursue this, I’d love to know what you find out and what the court may decide or tells your friend what to do. Good luck and thanks for your advocacy and for your obvious perseverance.
Hello, Greg.
Thank yo so very much for confirming that I am on the right path and for the offer of reviewing your template for petitioning the court which I have sent an email for. I have advised my friend we will need her mother’s death certificate, her birth certificate (to prove relationship) and the amended birth certificate. I’ve also advise her to contact the county court of adoption for advice regarding the petition.
I will indeed keep you advised as to how this plays out.. I am a believer in sharing information and experience…. all we who are adopted—whether domestic or international—are pretty much in the same boat.. often that is often too rocky and sea-sickness producing.
I fought for my own rights for over 50 decades.. and will continue to do what I can for our cause.
No problem. And, by the way, love the typo of 50 decades. It does feel like 500 years sometimes. 🙂
It was indeed a typo.. how about five? And actually now into 7 as I am still pushing for access to my sister… who is if alive 71 this year and I am 73 in the first week of April 🙂 sometimes it feels like a million years.. but I persist…
hello, hoping maybe you can help me shed some light on all of the discrepencies that I’ve discovered during my adoption records search. Kansas recently updated their laws about drivers licensing and therefore were required to show an original birth certificate with the state seal on it. Copies will not be accepted. For adoptees, we need our original PLUS the amended, proving that we were adopted and are now living by this name. No big deal, right? Wrong. I am 30 years old and just found out that not only was my adoption not legal in the state I was born in…. but my name isnt even correct. Oh, not to mention the fact that my birth state thinks I’m a missing person (Im not, for the record… just some slacker misfiling paperwork years ago…. clearly because HIS life wasn’t being questioned. *sigh*)
and Kansas (my adopted state) is being so cryptic with me…. Get this…
The copies I have of the adoption (which are old tattered pages that don’t look legit but supposedly they are)… are literally the only documents that exist. Court Clerk informed me that the microfilm and all records of my adoption were destroyed in a natural disaster…. which isnt possible because we havent had a disaster that would come even close to record ruining…. so I tracked down the attorney that handled my adoption 30 years ago… by a stroke of luck he was still practicing… so I sat down with him… he was extremely uptight and vague with every answer. Kept telling me that he doesnt remember that far back… but even if he did, he isnt able to give me the answers to my questions. Funny, because he recalled a few insignificant minor details that nobody would have any business remembering unless there was something BIGGER behind it all…. OH YEAH, and did I mention that my birth father was never notified of my adoption or even my existence, even though my adoption papers state that he was notified via publication? Lie. There was no publication made anywhere in the US, lawyer verified that. I dont know, but as of right now, the name Ive used for 30 years is suddenly an “alias,” all my records vanished into thin air, Tennessee thinks I am a missing child, my adopted dad is so confused and angry because he knows this is all a huge screw up, technically… I was never adopted, I vanished into thin air, and I legally do not exist…. my dad is helping me fight just to be able to exist once again. heeelllppppp
Hey Greg!
I was adopted at birth in Kansas. The adoption was arranged prior to my birth. I want to request my original birth certificate. I know who my birth mother and have had contact with her over the last 13 years. She however will not tell me who my birth father is (if she even knows).
I was born in 1983 so my question pretty much is if she would have been required to put a Father’s name down on my original birth certificate. I have the information I need to request the original but I assume if she won’t tell me who he is I doubt she would put it on the original birth certificate unless she legally had to do it.
All I’m after really is family medical history for my son’s benefit in the future as I am more than happy with the family I was given and don’t want or need anything from anyone.
If you would know any information on this it would be greatly appreciated!