On July 1, 2024 Minnesota will become the fifteenth state in the United States to affirm or restore the right of all adopted people to request and obtain their own original birth certificates (OBC). Here’s what the new law does plus how and when Minnesota-born adoptees and their families can apply for a copy of the OBC.
Does this mean I can now get a copy of my own original birth certificate in Minnesota?
Yes, yes it does—but not quite yet. The new law becomes effective on July 1, 2024. You will have to wait until that date to apply for a copy of your original birth certificate. Here’s a countdown if you need a little more precise timing.
Does the new law apply to all adopted people born in Minnesota?
Yes. All Minnesota-born adopted people, who are at least 18 years of age, will have an unrestricted right to request and obtain their own original birth certificates, no matter the date of birth or the date of adoption. While current law uses a complicated intermediary process involving two state agencies and the child placing agency that handled the adoption, the new law eliminates almost all of that red tape. Instead, adult adopted people will apply for the OBC directly through the Minnesota Department of Health. The heart of the new law is contained in these provisions and may actually answer most of your initial questions:
The state registrar must provide to an adopted person who is 18 years of age or older or a person related to the adopted person a copy of the adopted person’s original birth record and any evidence of the adoption previously filed with the state registrar.
How old do I have to be to request my own OBC?
You must be 18 years of age or older to request your own OBC.
Who else can apply for the OBC other than the adopted person?
The law also allows for “a person related to the adopted person” to apply for the adoptee’s original birth record so long as the adopted person is deceased. The law defines a “person related to the adopted person” as a “spouse, child, or grandchild of an adopted person” as well as the legal representative of the adopted person. The spouse, child, or grandchild must be at least 18 years of age.
Do all descendants of a deceased adoptee have a right to request a copy of their ancestor’s original birth record?
No. This law applies only to the adult children or grandchildren of the deceased adopted person and not to all descendants. Another part of the bill, however, provides that “[d]ata pertaining to the birth of a child that are not accessible to the public become public data if 100 years have elapsed since the birth of the
child.” This provision, which is new, will make birth records of adopted people publicly available 100 years after their births (previous law, which this law changes, made records available 100 years after the date of the finalized adoption, which often made it difficult for many people to determine the actual date when records would become available).
How and where do I apply?
Once the law is fully effective, you will apply to the Minnesota Department of Health to obtain a copy of the original birth record. The application and more information about the process will be added here and on the Minnesota Coalition for Adoption Reform website once they are available.
What other documents or information could I receive when I apply for the original birth record?
You will likely receive several documents, though it depends on the circumstances of your adoption and whether a birthparent has filed any forms prior to your request for the record. In addition to a copy of the original birth record, you may also receive:
- “evidence of the adoption previously filed with the State Registrar.” This almost always includes the order or report of adoption issued by a court after an adoption is finalized. What you receive as “evidence of the adoption” may vary depending on the year of the adoption, as documentation and other requirements in adoptions changed over the years.
- a birthparent contact preference form that a birthparent may have filed;
- information about the existence of an unrevoked consent to disclosure or of an affidavit of nondisclosure, including the name of the birthparent who filed the consent or affidavit. If a birthparent authorized the release of the birthparent’s address through a previously filed consent form, that information may also be provided.
I thought the law eliminates the use of consent and denial forms in releasing information and birth records. Does the law eliminate the use of those forms?
Yes, the new law sunsets the use of consent forms or affidavits of nondisclosure (sometimes called disclosure vetoes). They will no longer be effective after June 30, 2024, and they will not control or limit the release of an adopted person’s original birth record. While you receive information that a birthparent previously filed a disclosure veto, you will receive a copy of the original birth record.
What is a contact preference form and how does that affect the release of the original birth certificate?
A genuine contact preference form allows a birthparent listed on the original birth record to express a preference for any contact with the adopted person or the adopted person’s descendants. The form has has three choices, and none of the choices will impact the release of the original birth record. Those three choices include:
1) I would like to be contacted.
(2) I would prefer to be contacted only through an intermediary.
(3) I prefer not to be contacted at this time. If I decide later that I would like to be contacted, I will submit an updated contact preference form to the Minnesota Department of Health.
In addition, the contact preference form “shall include space where the birth parent may include information that the birth parent feels is important for the adopted person to know.”
When will birthparent contact preference forms be available to file?
The Minnesota Department of Health met its deadline to make birthparent contact preference forms available for filing by August 1, 2023. A press release announcing the availability of the contact preference form is here. The form itself can be found and downloaded here:
How much does it cost to apply for the original birth certificate?
It should not cost more than what it costs to apply for a copy of any Minnesota-issued birth record, though we do not know the specific cost at this time.
Can I apply for the OBC online?
It is not yet known if online applications will be accepted. This will be updated as we learn more.
How long will it take to get the copy of the original birth certificate?
We do not yet have an estimate on this, though the law provides that “[a]ll procedures, fees, and waiting periods applicable to a nonadopted person’s request for a copy of a birth record apply in the same manner as requests” made by adopted people. Typically, however, it may take slightly longer for issuance of a copy of the original birth record because of the need to match the original record with the amended record and to provide any other documents that accompany the record (e.g., a birthparent contact preference form).
Will any information on the original birth record be changed or removed?
No. The law does not allow for anyone to change or remove information from the original birth record.
Will I get a certified copy of the original birth certificate?
No, the copy of the original birth record will not be certified. The law also specifically provides that:
The copy of the original birth certificate shall clearly indicate that it may not be used for identification purposes.
Does this new law have any impact on intercountry adoptees?
Yes. A specific provision in the law makes it easier for intercountry adoptees to obtain records related to their adoptions, if the adoption was finalized in Minnesota and a certificate of foreign birth was also issued. The law will provide for release of the order of adoption, a certificate of adoption, or a decree issued in the adoption, as filed with the state registrar. This may make it easier for intercountry adoptees to secure specific adoption-related records necessary to prove or secure US citizenship, rather than requiring a court petition to obtain the necessary records.
Is there a state or other group involved with this new law?
Yes. The Minnesota Coalition for Adoption Reform (MCAR) has been working on this issue diligently for 25 years or more. In the last few years, Adoptee Rights Law Center helped to draft the legislation and worked closely with MCAR to lobby for the new law. There are many people to thank for their decades of work on this.
Where can I read the text of the new law?
You can find the relevant portions of the law here as a PDF, which is a portion of the much larger bill (SF2995) that contained these adoptee rights provisions. Once the law is in effect on July 1, 2024, the Minnesota page will also be updated to reflect the new law.
Will you be updating this FAQ when necessary?
Yes, I will update this FAQ as more information becomes available or if information changes or needs correction based on what I currently understand about implementation of the new law.
Have you updated your map yet?
Not yet. We will have to wait until July 1, 2024, to set off the full array of adoptee fireworks. Until then, the map will still look like this, though there is a note about the new law if you click on Minnesota.
US OBC Rights
Greg,
thank you so much for this write up with the exciting new change in OBC law. As an adoptee myself, I was hoping it would change in my lifetime. My wise father hid an attached OBC in my adoption file, and my (deceased) brother’s, too. We were LSS babies. It helped me to track my birth mother and her family, so that we could meet.
A number of my friends growing up were also adopted and very much want their OBCs for various reasons, including identity, integration, and healing.
Is there any codification of this legislation by the Revisor’s office? Or is it just part of the larger bill that you mentioned? Because it’s effective in 2014, and not August 1 this year, I would like to know where that stands.
Thank you for your important work, and this exciting update.
Faith Amdahl. JD
Greg,
Thank you for the article and your work to be done to allow adoptees to be able to obtain an original birth certificate.
I am an adoptee through LCC and had obtained some information a while back but have always wanted to know more. I will wait till next July for the availability however if I want to do it sooner are there costs involved, and do I have to hire an attorney?
If you want to seek a court order to get the original birth record (and possibly additional records), you could contact me directly by email at [email protected] to set up a time to talk. You don’t need an attorney but I would recommend one in these cases.
Thank you for responding. I’m comfortable to wait till July 2024 to get the information. The birth parents are both deceased and It’s just curiosity that I have.
I will follow up on this next year.
Thank you!