Summary
North Carolina law denies adult adoptees unrestricted access to their own original birth certificates. A court order is required for the release of any identifying information, including an OBC. An OBC must be specifically requested in any court action that seeks the release of identifying information.
Relevant North Carolina Law: Adoption Records and Confidentiality
§ 48-9-102. Records confidential and sealed
(a) All records created or filed in connection with an adoption, except the decree of adoption and the entry in the special proceedings index in the office of the clerk of court, and on file with or in the possession of the court, an agency, the State, a county, an attorney, or other provider of professional services, are confidential and may not be disclosed or used except as provided in this Chapter.
(b) During a proceeding for adoption, records shall not be open to inspection by any person except upon an order of the court finding that disclosure is necessary to protect the interest of the adoptee.
(c) When a decree of adoption becomes final, all records and all indices of records on file with the court, an agency, or this State shall be retained permanently and sealed. Sealed records shall not be open to inspection by any person except as otherwise provided in this Article.
(d) All records filed in connection with an adoption, including a copy of the petition giving the date of the filing of the original petition, the original of each consent and relinquishment, additional documents filed pursuant to G.S. 48-2-305, any report to the court, any additional documents submitted and orders entered and a copy of the final decree, shall be sent by the clerk of superior court to the Division within 10 days after the decree of adoption is entered or 10 days following the final disposition of an appeal pursuant to G.S. 48-2-607(b). The original petition and final decree shall be retained by the clerk.
(e) The Division must cause the papers and reports related to the proceeding to be permanently indexed and filed.
(f) The Division shall transmit a report of each adoption and any name change to the State Registrar if the adoptee was born in this State. In the case of an adoptee who was not born in this State, the Division shall transmit the report and any name change to the appropriate official responsible for issuing birth certificates or their equivalent.
(g) In any adoption, the State Registrar may, in addition to receiving the report from the Division, request a copy of the final order and any separate order of name change directly from the clerk of court.
§ 48-9-105. Action for release of identifying and other nonidentifying information
(a) Any information necessary for the protection of the adoptee or the public in or derived from the records, including medical information not otherwise obtainable, may be disclosed to an individual who files a written motion in the cause before the clerk of original jurisdiction. In hearing the petition, the court shall give primary consideration to the best interest of the adoptee, but shall also give due consideration to the interests of the members of the adoptee’s original and adoptive family.
(b) The movant must serve a copy of the motion, with written proof of service, upon the Department and the agency that prepared the report for the court. The clerk shall give at least five days’ notice to the Department and the agency of every hearing on this motion, whether the hearing is before the clerk or a judge of the district court; and the Department and the agency shall be entitled to appear and be heard in response to the motion.
(c) In determining whether cause exists for the release of the name or identity of an individual, the court shall consider:
(1) The reason the information is sought;
(2) Any procedure available for satisfying the petitioner’s request without disclosing the name or identity of another individual, including having the court appoint a representative to contact the individual and request specific information;
(3) Whether the individual about whom identifying information is sought is alive;
(4) To the extent known, the preference of the adoptee, the adoptive parents, the adoptee’s parents at birth, and other members of the adoptee’s original and adoptive families, and the likely effect of disclosure on these individuals;
(5) The age, maturity, and expressed needs of the adoptee;
(6) The report or recommendation of any individual appointed by the court to assess the request for identifying information; and
(7) Any other factor relevant to an assessment of whether the benefit to the petitioner of releasing the information sought will be greater than the benefit to any other individual of not releasing the information.
(d) An individual who files a motion under this section may also ask the court to authorize the release by the State Registrar of a certified copy of the adoptee’s original certificate of birth.
§ 48-9-106. Release of original certificate of birth
Upon receipt of a certified copy of a court order issued pursuant to G.S. 48-9-105 authorizing the release of an adoptee’s original certificate of birth, the State Registrar shall give the individual who obtained the order a copy of the original certificate of birth with a certification that the copy is a true copy of a record that is no longer a valid certificate of birth.
§ 48-9-107. New birth certificates
(a) Upon receipt of a report of the adoption of a minor from the Division, or the documents required by G.S. 48-9-102(g) from the clerk of superior court in the adoption of an adult, or a report of an adoption from another state, the State Registrar shall prepare a new birth certificate for the adoptee that shall contain the adoptee’s full adoptive name, sex, state of birth, and date of birth; the full name of the adoptive father, if applicable; the full maiden name of the adoptive mother, if applicable; and any other pertinent information consistent with this section as may be determined by the State Registrar. The new certificate shall contain no reference to the adoption of the adoptee and shall not refer to the adoptive parents in any way other than as the adoptee’s parents.
(b) In an adoption by a stepparent, the State Registrar shall prepare a new birth certificate pursuant to subsection (a) of this section except:
(1) The adoptive parent and the parent whose relation with the adoptee remains unchanged shall be listed as the adoptee’s mother and father on the new birth certificate; and
(2) The city and county of birth of the adoptee shall be the same on the new birth certificate as on the original certificate.
The names of the adoptee’s parents shall not be changed as provided in subdivision (1) of this subsection if the petitioner, the petitioner’s spouse, the adoptee if age 12 or older, and any living parent whose parental rights are terminated by the adoption jointly file a request that the parents’ names not be changed with the court prior to the entry of the adoption decree. The Division shall send a copy of this request with its report to the State Registrar or other appropriate official in the adoption of a minor stepchild, and the clerk of superior court shall send a copy with the documents required by G.S. 48-9-102(g) in the adoption of an adult stepchild.
(c) The State Registrar shall seal the original certificate of birth and all records in the possession of that office pertaining to the adoption. These records shall not be unsealed except as provided in this Article. The State Registrar shall provide certified typed copies or abstracts of the new certificate of birth of an adoptee prepared pursuant to subsection (a) of this section to the adoptee, the adoptee’s children, the adoptive parents, and the adoptee’s spouse, brothers, and sisters. For purposes of this subsection, “parent”, “brother”, and “sister” shall mean the adoptee’s adoptive parent, brother, or sister and shall not mean a former parent, brother, or sister.
(d) At the time of preparing the new birth certificate pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, the State Registrar shall notify the register of deeds or appropriate official in the health department in the county of the adoptee’s birth to remove the adoptee’s birth certificate from the records and forward it to the State Registrar for retention under seal with the original certificate of birth in the State Registrar’s office. The register of deeds shall also delete all index entries for that birth certificate. The State Registrar shall not issue copies of birth certificates for adoptees to registers of deeds. Only the State Registrar shall issue certified copies of such records, and these copies shall be prepared as prescribed in subsection (c) of this section.
John Haralson says
February 9, 2018 at 9:01 pmMy brother, that I never knew existed until a year ago, was born on October 20, 1947 in Asheville North Carolina, at a maternity home. His birth is registered in the North Carolina births, and I even was able to send off and get his original unsealed birth certificate. I contacted the North Carolina Adoption review board and they tell me he was not adopted in North Carolina. There also is no record of him dying..and he was not raised by the biological fathers family. On the paperwork from the maternity home it says that the plan for him was to go to Mrs. Lees Boarding house. There is and was no such place. Can you tell me what to do to find him. I have done the dna and my closest match is my second cousin. Please reply, Johnny Haralson
Gregory D. Luce says
February 10, 2018 at 6:32 amVery interesting. If the birth certificate was not sealed it is unlikely there was an adoption. And the reference to Mrs. Lee’s boarding house may essentially just be a house owned by a Mrs. Lee, who was the equivalent of a foster parent to children. It sounds as if this may be a half-sibling? And that Mrs. Lee cared for your brother for a time until the mother could better take care of him? Given this was 1947, it was still in the very possible realm that support was provided to the mother to get back on her feet and care for her child, not requiring her to give him up for adoption. Let us know if this scenario could make sense in what you know of other facts, but from what you are saying here I would say that he was not adopted.
John Haralson says
May 21, 2019 at 5:55 pmGregory, i was born 18 months after my brother. I assume he was a half brother. My mother married my father in 1949 after I was born and her divorce was final. I contacted the family of her husband whom she was still married to at the time of my brothers birth and they knew nothing about him, or even the fact that she was married to him for 8 years at the time of my brothers birth. Please reply to me at [email protected] …i have only just now seeing your reply. ..John
Carolyn Roberts says
February 27, 2018 at 7:43 amI was adopted in 1967 in NC . All records are sealed in Raleigh . I am 50 now , mature, no criminal background etc . My adoptive parents were great and also know I’m searching for Birth Mother . I have done DNA on ancestry however no leads to the mother . What can I do to get my Original Birth Certificate?? I have health questions along with many questions for the closing of the empty feeling or non completion of a normal person . It’s not fair this is being held from me !! I have the right to know ! Plez can u help ?
amy varner says
April 14, 2019 at 9:48 pmCarolyn – if you did ancestry.com you should be able to find your parents. email me at [email protected] and I will help you.
Hope says
May 15, 2018 at 9:18 pmI was born to an unwed mother jan of 1970 ..she married Dec of 1972 and then that man had his name added to my birth certificate. He and my mom always said he just went to the local health dept and swore on a bible that he was my natural father. They accepted that and changed the record. This was never a secret that he was not my father. My mom for various reasons could not tell me “who” was my bio father. The man who gave me his name passed away 1978. My mom passed 2015 ..I took DNA test and have found a biological father (passed 2004). I was born with my moms maiden name and seen that birth certificate when the state sent that one at my request to me. I had to have my “real” name to get divers license etc. But in this dna project I realized I would like a copy of that record. I called to see how to get it and they are telling me it is listed as adoption and therefore not open record without a court order. I pointed out that there was not an adoption. the lady agreed and said that there was a court document adding him. They had swore there was never a court visit ..just the day at the health dept adding him. What can I do to get my original birth certificate instead of the “lie” that continues
William says
August 22, 2018 at 10:10 amI’m trying to do some research for my mother. She was born in 1959 (we think) in Raleigh but was given up for adoption and lived in an orphanage for several years before being adopted and moved to Virginia. She has never had access to her original birth certificate. When she was adopted, her adopted mother changed her birthrate, middle and last name. Later in life she found her birth mother and father but both had died. But, she has still be unsuccessful in obtaining a copy of her original birth certificate. Doesn’t NC have any way for a person to get this even when both the biological parents AND adopted parents are deceased?
Amy dillow says
January 26, 2019 at 8:42 amMother was born in Cumberland county 10/15/1955 . She’s no longer with us . I’ve been working to obtain any information . She was adopt d in Illinois . What can I do ?
I have access to the birth registry for NC but there were 5 females born that day on the list ??? Help
Diana Gosliga says
February 16, 2019 at 1:31 pmWhat if you are doing genealogy research and the ‘adoptee’ is deceased as well as the birth mother and adoptive father? I have a name and birth date but can’t locate anything about the biological father on Ancestry.com. Hoping there is an original birth certificate listing the bio-dad’s info. How can I get a copy of that?
Cindy L Hailey says
April 10, 2019 at 7:38 amI am a NC adoptee and have found all my biological family. My bio. mother passed 6 years after our meeting. We had a good relationship and I continue to correspond and sometimes visit my half-sibs, cousins, uncle, etc. It’s all good.
In 2015, I reunited w/my bio. father and met my half-sibs on his side. We talk via phone every other month or so and sometimes visit.
I want to own my OBC. It’s mine and at 60+, I should be allowed to have it. This antiquated law is ludicrous. My adoptive parents are both deceased, my adoptive mother passed while I was a teenager. My father gave his blessing on me searching for my bio. parents 10 years before I actually started the search. I met my bio. mother and all her side of the family when I was 42.
So I have all I need in that respect. There is this ONE LAST HURDLE…my OBC! How do I get it??
Ginger Gaskins says
April 23, 2019 at 12:50 pmIf a birth certificate has been amended and it is sealed, does that automatically mean the person was adopted? I have close friend who has attempted to get his long form and when they couldn’t locate it initially, they advised it was because the original was sealed. Adoption has never been brought up…