An Act relating to the rights of adult adopted persons and amending N.J.S.A.26:8-40.1.
Be it enacted by the Youth Model Legislature of the State of New Jersey that an adult adopted person and other qualifying parties be permitted access to the adopted person's original birth certificate and related information.
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Section I:
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An eligible adult adopted person is defined as any person of the age 18 or older born in the state of New Jersey, who has been adopted according to the laws of any state or country, and whose adoption has been certified by the New Jersey DYFS Adoption Registry or any of it's predecessors: the Bureau of Children's Services, the State Board of Child Welfare, and the State Board of Children's Guardians.
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Section II:
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Other qualifying parties is defined as any adult descendants of the adopted person and the adult adoptive parent or guardian of the minor adopted person.
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Section III:
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Adult adopted persons or any other specified persons may request the adopted person's original birth certificate, unedited by means of the adoption process, as well as any medical, social, and cultural history regarding the birth parent, as addressed in Section IV. The request is to consist of a written request for the desired documents or information to the State Adoption Registrar.
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Section IV:
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The birth parents of adopted persons have a one time, 12-month period during which they may request nondisclosure by means of a written request to the State Adoption Registrar. This request of nondisclosure will prevent the State Adoption Registrar from providing the name and home address of the birth parent, as recorded on the birth certificate, to the requesting adopted person or other qualifying parties. In the event of this request, the State Adoption Registrar shall require the requesting birth parent or parents to complete a form regarding medical, cultural, and social history pertinent to the adopted person; this form will be due within 60 days of the the nondisclosure request. Failure to return the form by this time will result in the nullification of the nondisclosure request. At any time following the request for nondisclosure, the birth parent may rescind the request.
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Section V:
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N.J.S.A.26:8-40.1 is amended to read 'THE STATE REGISTRAR SHALL CAUSE TO BE PLACED UNDER SEAL THE ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE OF BIRTH AND ALL PAPERS PERTAINING TO THE NEW CERTIFICATE OF BIRTH. SEAL SHALL NOT BE BROKEN EXCEPT BY ORDER OF A COURT OF COMPETENT JURISDICTION, OR BY REQUEST OF THE ADULT ADOPTED PERSON, THE ADULT DESCENDANTS OF THE ADOPTED PERSON, OR THE ADULT PARENT OR GUARDIAN OF THE MINOR ADOPTED PERSON.'
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| Statement of Intent: The purpose of this Bill is to establish the rights of adopted persons to access their original birth certificate and any other personal information that has, until now, been sealed and withheld from them since their adoption. By providing these people with the opportunity to obtain information pertinent to their own identity, this bill will rightfully allow adopted persons access to information concerning their heritage, both genetically and culturally. In addition, the provisions of this bill will allow for the rights of the birth parents to their identity to be maintained, if they so choose.
Effective Date: This Bill shall take effect immediately after being enacted. The provisions relating to original birth certificate access and documents of contact preference take effect one year after the enactment date, so as to allow for the 12-month period that birth parents have to request for nondisclosure.
Financial Statement: Since the staff is already in place within the State Adoption Registrar to handle the requests both for information and nondisclosure, the cost of this bill shall be $5,000 for the rewriting and redistribution of the law books.
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* Primary Sponsor |
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