Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the purpose of HB 2093?
A: This bill does one simple thing – it restores the right of an adult adopted person (18+ years old) to obtain their original birth certificate.
Q. Are all adopted persons’ original birth certificates sealed?
A: No. An original birth certificate (OBC) is only sealed when an adoption is finalized and an amended birth certificate is requested. An OBC is NOT sealed at the time of relinquishment. This is a very important distinction which means that, a child who is relinquished retains their OBC while in foster care or while waiting for a final order of adoption. Even upon adoption, the current law allows adoptive parents to choose to have their child retain the original birth certificate. (VA Code §§ 32.1-261) So, only those whose adoptions have been finalized and a request for an amended has been made have their OBC sealed.
Q: Have Virginia-born adult adoptees ever had access to their original birth certificates?
A: Yes. Prior to 1976, adult adoptees were able to access their original birth certificate, upon request, without hindrance.
Q: How do adult adopted people access their original birth certificates today?
A: Adopted persons today can access their original birth certificate upon order of the court or the Commissioner of the Department of Social Services. This is a discriminatory and cumbersome burden that should not be placed upon an adopted person to simply receive the government document verifying their own birth. No other group of people are required to receive permission from a court or a third-party to access their own birth certificate.
Q: How are other states addressing adoptee access to original birth certificates (OBCs)?
A: Kansas and Alaska never sealed OBCs from adult adoptees. As of July 2024, thirteen more states have restored unrestricted access to adult adopted persons – Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Vermont.
Q: Does this issue have bipartisan support?
A: Yes, because truth and transparency in adoption is important to citizens from all political walks of life. Bills have been sponsored and cosponsored by members of both parties in states across the country. Truth and transparency in adoption is good policy that protects the interests of all parties involved by safeguarding against unethical and corrupt practices.
Q: Why shouldn’t birth parents’ permission be sought before an adopted person can access an original birth certificate?
A: This is the adopted person’s vital record. It is not the birthparents’ vital record. When a parent surrenders a child, they sign away all of their parental rights, in perpetuity, and all legal ties to the adopted person are severed. They agree that they will not have any control over the life of the child they surrender or ever interfere in their affairs. This would include relinquishing any control over the adopted person’s access to their vital records.
Q: What about confidentiality?
A: This is an important question and probably the most misunderstood around this issue.
Confidentiality and privacy from the general public is vital in adoption proceedings, and should be preserved. However, confidentiality from the general public and anonymity from one’s own child are separate issues.
Higher courts in Oregon and Tennessee have ruled that a birth parent does not have a fundamental right to have their child adopted, therefore, they cannot have a correlative fundamental right to have the child adopted under circumstances that guarantee anonymity from their own offspring, even if they do not desire contact.
It is the finalization of adoption and creation of an amended birth certificate, not relinquishment of a child, that seals away the OBC. Therefore, a promise or guarantee of anonymity to a birth parent has never been made or even possible. In fact, no one has ever produced a single relinquishment document in any state across the country that guaranteed a parent anonymity from their offspring. (Read the research.)
Courts have always been able to open any sealed file without birth parent consent or notification, though it is a discriminatory and costly process for adoptees. With the possibility of a court unsealing an adoption file, this again proves that no state, agency, or person could guarantee anonymity to a birth parent. Anyone who claims to have done so, did so without legal authority or standing.
Q: What have you heard from birth parents about this bill?
Birth parent groups have written letters in strong support of this legislation because they want their adult children to be treated with equality under the law.
Q: How do we protect the birth parents who do not want contact?
A: This bill is about restoring an adult adopted person’s right to obtain their original birth certificate, not about reunion or contact. However, with enactment of HB 2093, birth parents would have the opportunity to proactively indicate their preference for contact through a Contact Preference Form (CPF) as to whether they would or would not want to be contacted by the adult adopted person. The CPF would be filed confidentially and attached to the original birth certificate document. The CPF would be presented to the adult adopted person, if they request to obtain a copy of their original birth certificate and a preference form is on file.
Furthermore, birth parents are entitled to the same privacy protections under the law as all other citizens and can make use of those protections, if needed.
Q: Why don’t we make this apply only prospectively to future adoptions?
A: A prospective approach will create an entire discriminatory class of individuals who still have their rights restricted and are not allowed to obtain their original birth certificate. The year someone is born should not determine their right to obtain their original birth certificate. The goal of HB 2093 is to restore rights to ALL adult adopted people over the age of 18.
Q: How can we balance the rights of all parties involved in an adoption?
A: The adoptee is the only person whose rights are being denied, through a process in which they had no choice in. There is no loss of rights to adoptive or birth parents. Restoring the right of an adopted person to their original birth certificate is the action needed to create balance and equality.
Q: Will there be a fiscal impact if HB 2093 is enacted?
A: No, there will be no fiscal impact to the Virginia Department of Health or the Department of Social Services. Any additional support needed would be covered by the fees paid to the Registrar.
If you have additional questions or would like additional resources, please contact us at [email protected].