Adoptees over the age of 18 that were born in Missouri can request their birth certificate with their biological parents’ names starting in January 2018. The parents will have to fill out a form to remain anonymous. If they fail to fill out the form, they provide permission by default for the adoptee to find them.
State Representative Don Phillips, who is an adoptee himself, signed the bill on July 1, 2017. Before this, the only way for a person in a closed adoption to find out who their birth parents were was through the court and the specific adoption agency from which they came. In addition, they needed to pay an investigator to find the parents.
Patti Naumann, the leader of Adoption Triad Connection of St. Louis, expressed that there were just too many steps to go through. She added that the process did not work because numerous obstacles held adoptees back, such as cost, name changes of the involved parties and the release of information for both biological parents. With the new process, all the adoptee has to do is obtain their birth certificate and look at the details. The responsibility is on the birth parents to stop the process if they really do not want their information released.
Parents have three options for contact: personal contact, contact by a middle man or no contact. If one parent does not want to be contacted but the other parent does or does not fill out the form, only the participating parent’s information will be released.
Naumann believes that a majority of the parents will consent to the release of information. Data from other states shows that only 86 parents asked to remain anonymous with over 11,000 birth certificate requests. Naumann explains that attitudes about the stigma of adoption have changed from one of shame to greater acceptance. Naumann believes that this new law will allow adoptees and birth parents to reconnect and build a relationship.
If you are looking for your birth parent or if you have other questions about adoption law , contact our seasoned family attorneys for further assistance.
