Existing law requires the clerk of the court to report the decree to the State Registrar within 5 days after a decree of adoption. Existing law requires the State Registrar to generate a new birth certificate when the State Registrar receives a report of adoption from a specified court or when the State Registrar receives a specified court order.

Existing law requires the new birth certificate to bear certain information and be identical to the certificate issued to the natural parents, except, when requested by the adopting parents, the certificate is required to omit the facility of birth and the race and color of the parents.

This bill would remove the adopted parents exception described above that required the certificate to omit the facility of birth and the race and color of the parents.

Existing law authorizes the adopting parents to request an amended certificate that omits, among other things, the city and county of birth, or the color and race of the parents.

This bill would repeal that authorization.

Existing law provides that makes vital records related to adoptions, other than a newly issued birth certificate, shall be available only upon the order of the superior court of the county of residence of the adopted child or of the county granting the order of adoption. Under existing law, the court is prohibited Existing law prohibits the court from granting the records order unless a verified petition setting forth facts showing the necessity of the order has been presented to the court and good and compelling cause is shown for granting the order.

This bill would repeal those provisions and instead require the State Registrar to provide a copy of the adopted persons original birth certificate and evidence of adoption to the adult adopted person born in this state, or a direct line descendant of a deceased adopted person. similarly prohibit the court from granting a records order releasing an original birth certificate. The bill would also require the State Registrar to create and make available to a birth parent a contact preference form containing certain elections that would be available for release when a request for an original birth certificate is made.

Existing law requires the clerk of the court to report the decree to the State Registrar within 5 days after a decree of adoption. Existing law requires the State Registrar to generate a new birth certificate when the State Registrar receives a report of adoption from a specified court or when the State Registrar receives a specified court order.

Existing law requires the new birth certificate to bear certain information and be identical to the certificate issued to the natural parents, except, when requested by the adopting parents, the certificate is required to omit the facility of birth and the race and color of the parents.

This bill would remove the adopted parents exception described above that required the certificate to omit the facility of birth and the race and color of the parents.

Existing law authorizes the adopting parents to request an amended certificate that omits, among other things, the city and county of birth, or the color and race of the parents.

This bill would repeal that authorization.

Existing law provides that vital records related to adoptions, other than a newly issued birth certificate, shall be available only upon the order of the superior court of the county of residence of the adopted child or of the county granting the order of adoption. Under existing law, the court is prohibited from granting the records order unless a verified petition setting forth facts showing the necessity of the order has been presented to the court and good and compelling cause is shown for granting the order.

This bill would repeal those provisions and instead require the State Registrar to provide a copy of the adopted persons original birth certificate and evidence of adoption to the adult adopted person born in this state, or a direct line descendant of a deceased adopted person.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH

Senator Richard Roth, Chair

BILL NO: SB 1274

SUBJECT: Vital records: adoptees’ birth certificates

SUMMARY:

1. Requires the State Registrar to provide, to an adult adopted person who was born in California, or to a direct line descendant of a deceased adopted person, a copy of the adopted person’s original birth certificate, as defined.

Existing law:

1. Establishes the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), and sets forth its powers and duties, including duties as the State Registrar related to vital records and health statistics. [HSC §102100, et seq.]
2. Requires the State Registrar, local registrar, or county recorder, upon request and payment of a fee, to supply an applicant with a certified copy of the record of a birth, fetal death, death, marriage, or marriage dissolution registered with the official. [HSC §103525]
3. Requires a new birth certificate to be established by the State Registrar upon receipt of either:

a report of adoption from any court of record that has jurisdiction of the child in this state, another state, the District of Columbia, in any territory of the U.S., or in any foreign country, for any child born in California and whose birth certificate is on file with the State Registrar; or, a readoption order. Prohibits a new certificate from being established if that is requested by the adopting parent. [HSC §102635, §102640]

1. Requires the new birth certificate to bear the name of the child as shown in the report of adoption, the names and ages of the adopting parents, and the date and place of birth. Prohibits the new birth certificate from having any reference to the adoption of the child. Requires the new certificate to be identical with a birth certificate registered for the birth of a child of natural parents, except, when requested by the adopting parents, prohibits the new birth certificate from including the specific name and address of the hospital or other facility where the birth occurred, the color and race of the parents, or both. [HSC §102645]
2. Permits another amended certificate to be issued, at the request of the adopting parents, that omits any or all of the following:
   1. The specific name and address of the hospital or other facility where the birth occurred;
   2. The city and county of birth; or,
   3. The color and race of the parents. [HSC §102675]
3. Requires the new birth certificate to supplant any birth certificate previously registered for the child, and requires it to be the only birth certificate open to public inspection. [HSC §102680]
4. Requires all records and information, other than the newly issued birth certificate, to be available only upon the order of the county superior court of residence of the adopted child or the county superior court granting the order of adoption. Prohibits such an order from being granted by the superior court unless a verified petition setting forth facts showing the necessity of the order has been presented to the court, and good and compelling cause is shown for the granting of the order. Requires the superior court to send a copy of the petition to the Department of Social Services (DSS) and requires DSS to send a copy of all records and information it has concerning the adopted person with the name and address of the natural parents removed to the court. Requires the court to review these records before making an order. [HSC §102705]
5. Requires the name and address of the natural parents to be given to the petitioner only if they can demonstrate that the name and address are necessary to assist in establishing a legal right. [HSC §102705]

This bill:

1. Requires the State Registrar to provide, to an adult adopted person born in California, or to a direct line descendant of a deceased adopted person, a copy of the adopted person’s original birth certificate. Defines “original birth certificate” as the certificate, issued at the live birth of an adopted person, that has been sealed or supplanted.
2. Exempts an adoptee’s original birth certificate from the court process outlined in 7) of existing law above.
3. Requires the adopted person, or a direct line descendant of a deceased adopted person, in order to receive a copy of an original birth certificate, to make the request to either the county or State Registrar. Requires a copy of the original birth certificate to clearly indicate that it may not be used for identification purposes. Requires all procedures, fees, and waiting periods, applicable to a nonadopted person’s request for a copy of a birth certificate, to apply.
4. Deletes existing law in 5) above that prohibits, when requested by the adopting parents, a new birth certificate issued for an adopted child from including the name and address of the hospital or other facility where the birth occurred, the city and county of birth, and the color and race of the parents. Deletes existing law that permits another amended certificate to be issued, at the request of the adopting parents, that omits the information specified in 4) of existing law above.
5. Requires the State Registrar to make a contact preference form publicly available that includes the following, to be completed by a birth parent:
   1. “I would like to be contacted.”
   2. “I would prefer to be contacted only through an intermediary.”
   3. “I would prefer not to be contacted at this time. If I decide at a later time that I would like to be contacted, I will submit an updated contact preference form to the State Department of Public Health.”
6. Requires the State Registrar, if a contact preference form is attached to an original birth certificate, to provide a copy of the contact preference form at the time the original birth certificate is produced to an adopted person.
7. Requires the State Registrar, if a birth parent of an adopted person submits a completed contact preference form, to match the contact preference form to the adopted person’s original birth certificate; and, attach the contact preference form to the original birth certificate.
8. Deems a contact preference form to be a confidential communication between the birth parent and the adopted person or direct line descendant of a deceased adopted person.

FISCAL EFFECT:

This bill has not been analyzed by a fiscal committee.

COMMENTS:

1. Author’s statement. According to the author, California law generally prohibits an adult adoptee from accessing their original birth certificate, a formative document containing the most basic information about themselves. This bill seeks to undo 90 years of inequitable treatment of adult Adoptees and would allow them to access their original birth certificates. Our existing legal framework has prevented thousands of California adult adoptees from accessing their original birth certificates because of outmoded views on adoption. It has forced many adult adoptees to pursue a degrading and costly legal process in life and death situations in order to obtain necessary personal health information. It has kept a seminal piece of each adult adoptee’s personal history and identity hidden, and in doing so has perpetuated the secrecy and stigma that once surrounded adoptions. Now is the time to affirm the dignity and rights of all California adoptees by passing this bill.
2. The State Registrar. CDPH’s Vital Records Registration Branch is charged with maintaining a uniform, comprehensive, and continuous index for all birth, death, fetal death, and marriage vital events which occur in California, of which there are over one million each year. Certified copies of vital records are available from CDPH, 58 county recorders, and 61 local health jurisdictions. CDPH maintains, and can provide, birth and death records from 1905 to the present. For marriage records, CDPH maintains and can provide those from 1946 to the present, with some years excluded. CDPH uses the data collected through vital records for public health research and planning. Prior to 2000, CDPH created a replacement birth certificate by photocopying the public portion of the original record to amend registrant and parent information. The unaltered original certificate was sealed and archived. After 2000, birth certificates are altered electronically and original records are stored in an internal electronic system, on microfiche, or at the State Records Center. CDPH maintains all copies of original birth certificates. When a new birth certificate is created by CDPH, they send a “sealing notice” to the county of birth, instructing the county to replace the original certificate with the new certificate. Counties are instructed to confidentially destroy or delete all other records.
3. DSS Mutual Consent Program. California has a Mutual Consent Program that is administered by either CDSS or the licensed California public or private adoption agency that handled the adoption. According to CDSS, an adoptee may complete a Consent for Contact form and submit it to the CDSS or the licensed California adoption agency that handled the adoption. If CDSS or the licensed California adoption agency receives a consent form from the adult adoptee (18 years of age or older) and one from his/her birth parent(s), names and addresses can be disclosed to both parties so they may contact one another. The law prohibits the CDSS and licensed California adoption agencies from soliciting consents and providing search services for adoptees or birth parents. If an adoptee does not know which adoption agency handled their adoption, CDSS can assist in finding that information. This process might result in an original birth certificate being discovered in an adoption file, but as previously stated, only CDPH maintains those official records.
4. Double referral. This bill has been double referred. Should it pass out of this Committee, it will be referred to the Committee on Judiciary. Questions related to the larger issue of privacy will be address by the Judiciary Committee analysis of this bill.
5. Prior legislation. AB 1302 (Lackey of 2023) would have created a process by which individuals who were adopted via a closed adoption could obtain their original, unredacted birth certificate reflecting their birth parents’ identifying information from the State Registrar. AB 1302 was set, but never heard, in the Assembly Committee on Judiciary.
6. Support. The California Alliance for Adoptee Rights (cosponsor of this bill) states that this bill restores the right of all California-born adult adopted people to apply for and obtain a copy of their own original birth certificate, and is a massive step towards rectifying the injustice adopted persons face, as they are the only class of citizen systematically discriminated against by being denied the right to obtain a vital record about themselves. Today’s current policy discriminating against them is based on secrecy, not privacy, as many well-meaning policymakers mistakenly assume. Secrecy is the deliberate act of hiding something from others even if they have a legitimate reason to access it, which is exactly what is in current state policy, and what this bill seeks to make right. There is a pervasive myth that current policy is in place to protect the privacy of birthmothers, which was neither the intent of the policy when it was passed in 1935 and nor legally sound to consider it such today as no state document ever signed by birthmothers include any clause about privacy or confidentiality. Further, even if there were statutorily defendable documents where the state promised something like lifelong anonymity, we would expect today’s modern lawmakers to review this impossible promise given that genetic anonymity no longer exists due to the consumer-DNA industry. Their birthparent does not have to have tested themselves in order to be found, so even though the intent of this bill is about restoring equality to adoptees, the reality is it’s actually the most private and dignified option to both adoptees and birthparents living with closed adoption, a practice we note is no longer the norm by the institution itself as the overwhelming majority of adoptions today are open.

Concerned United Birthparents (cosponsor of this bill) writes that they believe it is a basic human right to know one’s identity and are against all practices that abuse this right, including but not limited to, the practice of sealing vital records, like original birth certificates from adult adoptees. They believe an adopted person’s right to their own original birth certificate is absolute and only support policy that restores this right without restrictions or qualifications. The myth that birth/first mothers were promised confidentiality is often used to oppose restoring equality to adult adopted persons. The reality is that keeping birthparents anonymous was convenient for an institution that functioned on shame and secrecy, which is exactly how the domestic infant adoption system operated when they lost children to it. Further, they never expected confidentiality from relinquished children, not at the time of relinquishment, and certainly not today in 2024.

1. Amendments. Because an original birth certificate would have been sealed by CDPH when a new certificate was created for an adoptee, the county recorder would not have the original, and thus not able to issue a copy. HSC 102706(b) should be amended as follows:

To receive a copy of an original birth certificate pursuant to this section, the adopted person, or a direct line descendant of a deceased adopted person, shall make the request to either the county or the State Registrar. A copy of the original birth certificate shall clearly indicate that it may not be used for identification purposes.

SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION:

Support: California Alliance for Adoptee Rights (cosponsor)

Concerned United Birthparents (cosponsor)

Adoptee Advocates of Michigan

Adoptee Rights Coalition

Adoptee Rights Law Center

American Adoptees Congress

Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization

Celia Center, Inc.

Georgia Alliance for Adoptee Rights

National Center on Adoption and Permanency

Saving Our Sisters

Virginia Adoptee Rights Alliance

120 Individuals

Oppose: None received.

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