The current numbers, an updated state map, and more info on each of the state legislative changes that developed over the past year. A separate update will follow on federal legislation and developments.
Current Map and Numbers
Hover over a state and click for more information. Numbers and map are current as of January 1, 2022.
US OBC Rights
For a detailed listing of each state and the District of Columbia, see The United States of OBC. A more comprehensive set of maps is here.
New this Year
Beginning July 1, 2021, Connecticut became the tenth state to ensure that adopted people retain their unrestricted rights to request and obtain their own original birth certificates. Three states, however, enacted discriminatory laws, while one state lowered the age to request the OBC from 25 to 18. And Tennessee eliminated an unconstitutional “contact veto” in current law, which goes into effect on July 1, 2022. Here is what is in place today.
Connecticut Delivers Number Ten
Connecticut becomes the tenth state in the US to fully restore the rights of all adult adoptees to request and obtain their own original birth certificates.
Rhode Island Goes from 25 to 18
A previous controversial age of 25 to request your own original birth certificate has been lowered to age 18, effective July 1, 2021. More positive changes may be coming in 2022.
Tennessee Repeals Its Contact Veto
The state does away with a discriminatory and unconstitutional provision that criminalized certain contact between biological relatives. The law is effective on July 1, 2022.
Arizona Cooks Up a Big Donut Hole
Arizona enacted a new law that blasts a hole into the middle of adoptee rights, creating two unequal classes of adopted people in the state. It’s now in effect.
Iowa Embraces the Black Box
Iowa adoptees given the green light to let parents eliminate their identifying information from the adoptee’s own original birth certificate. The law went into full effect on January 1, 2022.
Utah Makes OBCs Available Only with Mom’s Permission
All Utah-born adoptees who seek their own original birth certificates will need parental permission to get them, in a new law that became effective in 2021.
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