Adoptee birth certificates are sometimes sealed.
Knowing where you came from is something people cherish. Unfortunately, some people do not have the pleasure of that knowledge. There are a few ways to obtain a birth certificate for a adopted child. Being adopted leaves some people with a mystery about who they are. An original birth certificate will help you answer some of the questions you have about your past. The U.S. government has specific guidelines when it comes to obtaining birth certificates.
Instructions
1. Ask your adopted parents. In some cases, at the time of an adoption, adopted parents are given non-identifying information about the biological parents. The information includes race and religion of birth parents, place and date of adoptee's birth, age of parents and a general description of them, as well as whether other children were born to the birth parents. Your adopted parents would have access to this information, which will make the search for your birth certificate easier.
2. Write to the state where you were born. Each state governs how birth certificates are obtained. The federal government does not keep these records. Submit a request for an adopted child's birth certificate to the state registrar vital statistics office where the child was born.
3. Get a court order. After an adoption is finalized, the adoptive parents are given a new birth certificate. The original birth certificate is sealed and kept at the state registrar's office. Currently, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and 26 other states require a court order. Some states have changed their laws to make it easier to obtain your vital records. In those states, some of the ways adoptees can obtain the records are when they become an adult or if both birth parents consent to the release of the information.
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