Vital records: adoptees’ birth certificates.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide details on how requests are processed before July 1, 2028 or additional rules for providing original birth certificates beyond what is specified in the bill.

Adoptees' Birth Certificates

The bill allows adopted individuals and their descendants to obtain copies of original birth certificates from July 1, 2028.

What This Bill Does

• Allows adopted individuals or descendants of deceased adoptees to get a copy of their original birth certificate starting on July 1, 2028.
• Requires the State Registrar to provide copies of original birth certificates upon request from those eligible individuals.
• Establishes a process for requesting an original birth certificate.
• Requires the State Registrar to create and make available contact preference forms for birth parents by July 1, 2028.

Who It Names or Affects

• Adopted individuals
• Descendants of deceased adoptees
• Birth parents
• State Registrar

Terms To Know

Original Birth Certificate

The first official birth certificate issued to a person before they were adopted.

Descendant

A child, grandchild, or other direct descendant of an adoptee who has passed away.

Limits and Unknowns

• It is not clear what happens if a birth parent chooses not to release their contact information.
• Additional rules or processes the State Registrar needs to follow when providing original birth certificates are not specified in this bill.

Official Summary Text

SB 381, as amended, Wahab.
Vital records: adoptees’ birth certificates.
Existing law prohibits an agency from disclosing personal information that would link the information to the individual unless, among other things, the information is provided to a governmental entity by law, or the disclosure is to the individual to whom the information pertains. Existing law makes vital records related to adoptions, other than a newly issued birth certificate, 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.
This bill would authorize, beginning on July 1, 2028, the disclosure of an original birth certificate, as defined, to an adopted person, or descendant, as defined, of a deceased adopted person, would require the State Registrar to provide a copy of the original birth certificate to those persons, and would establish a
process to request an original birth certificate, as specified. The bill would also require the State Registrar to create and make available to a birth parent a contact preference form on or before July 1, 2028, 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.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF