Bill That Would Open Adoption Records Fails In Maryland Senate

The following is an email message posted to the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) Public Records Access Monitoring Committee mailing list and is republished here with permission:

Many states have changed their adoption records access laws over the past decade.  However, Senate Bill 331/House Bill 999 (http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2021RS/bills/sb/sb0331F.pdf) in Maryland which would have allowed adult adoptees 18 years and older unrestricted access to their original birth certificates and adoption records without a court order failed in the Maryland Senate by a vote of 16 for and 31 opposed. The bill would also have changed the “disclosure veto” option into a “contact preference form,” in which a biological parent or adoptee can state whether they prefer to be contacted or not. It had received a favorable report by Judicial Proceedings.

The American Adoption Congress has a chart of access with or without restrictions for adult adoptees access of their original birth certificates at: https://americanadoptioncongress.org/state.php

To read more see: https://www.marylandmatters.org/2021/03/30/bill-that-wouldve-granted-adoptees-access-to-birth-certificates-fails-on-senate-floor/

Jan Meisels Allen

Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee