BILL REQ. #: S-3704.1
State of Washington | 62nd Legislature | 2012 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/16/12. Referred to Committee on Human Services & Corrections.
AN ACT Relating to adoptees' access to information, including original birth certificates; and amending RCW 26.33.330, 26.33.340, 26.33.345, and 26.33.020.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 26.33.330 and 1996 c 243 s 3 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) All records of any proceeding under this chapter shall be
sealed and shall not be thereafter open to inspection by any person
except upon order of the court for good cause shown, or except by using
the procedure described in RCW 26.33.343 or 26.33.345. In determining
whether good cause exists, the court shall consider any certified
statement on file with the department of health as provided in RCW
26.33.347.
(2) The state registrar of vital statistics may charge a reasonable
fee for the review of any of its sealed records.
Sec. 2 RCW 26.33.340 and 1993 c 81 s 2 are each amended to read
as follows:
Department, agency, and court files regarding an adoption shall be
confidential except as provided for in RCW 26.33.345 and except that
reasonably available nonidentifying information ((may)) shall be
disclosed upon the written request for the information from the
adoptive parent, the adoptee, or the birth parent. If the adoption
facilitator refuses to disclose nonidentifying information, the
individual may petition the superior court. Identifying information
may also be disclosed through the procedure described in RCW 26.33.343
and 26.33.345.
Sec. 3 RCW 26.33.345 and 1993 c 81 s 3 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) The department of social and health services, adoption
agencies, and independent adoption facilitators shall release the name
and location of the court where a relinquishment of parental rights or
finalization of an adoption took place to an adult adoptee, a birth
parent of an adult adoptee, an adoptive parent, a birth or adoptive
grandparent of an adult adoptee, or an adult sibling of an adult
adoptee, or the legal guardian of any of these.
(2) The department of health shall make available a noncertified
copy of the original birth certificate of a child to the child's birth
parents upon request.
(3) ((For adoptions finalized after October 1, 1993,)) After
receiving a request from an adopted person eighteen years of age or
older, the department of health shall ((make available)) provide the
person with a noncertified copy of the adopted person's original birth
certificate ((to the adoptee after the adoptee's eighteenth birthday))
unless the birth parent has filed ((an)) a valid affidavit of
nondisclosure in compliance with subsection (4) of this section.
(4)(a) Regardless of when the adoption was finalized, a birth
parent may file with the department of health an affidavit of
nondisclosure pursuant to this section.
(b) Affidavits of nondisclosure filed before the effective date of
this section expire July 1, 2014, and will no longer be valid, unless
the birth parent files a new affidavit of nondisclosure after the
effective date of this section and before July 1, 2014.
(c) Affidavits of nondisclosure filed after the effective date of
this section are valid for two years from the date of filing. Before
the expiration of an affidavit of nondisclosure, a birth parent may
file a new affidavit of nondisclosure which will be valid for two years
from the date of filing. A birth parent may continue to renew his or
her affidavit of nondisclosure by filing a new affidavit with the
department within the required time.
(d) If a birth parent does not file a new affidavit of
nondisclosure before the expiration date, the affidavit of
nondisclosure is deemed expired and is no longer valid.
(e) An affidavit of nondisclosure is deemed expired and no longer
valid upon the death of the birth parent. A personal representative or
agent of a deceased birth parent may not file an affidavit of
nondisclosure on the deceased birth parent's behalf.
(5) Regardless of when the adoption was finalized and whether or
not the birth parent has filed an affidavit of nondisclosure, a birth
parent may file with the department of health a contact preference form
and medical history form. The contact preference form must indicate
whether the birth parent desires or does not desire contact with the
adoptee. Nothing in this section precludes a birth parent from
subsequently filing another contact preference form to rescind the
previous contact preference form and state a different preference.
(6)(a) If the department of health provides a noncertified copy of
the original birth certificate to an adoptee under this section, the
department must also provide the adoptee with a copy of any contact
preference form and any medical history form filed by the adoptee's
birth parent.
(b) The department may charge a fee not to exceed twenty dollars
for providing a noncertified copy of a birth certificate to an adoptee.
(c) The department shall create the contact preference form and
medical history form.
Sec. 4 RCW 26.33.020 and 1993 c 81 s 1 are each amended to read
as follows:
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in
this section apply throughout this chapter.
(1) "Alleged father" means a person whose parent-child relationship
has not been terminated, who is not a presumed father under chapter
26.26 RCW, and who alleges himself or whom a party alleges to be the
father of the child. It includes a person whose marriage to the mother
was terminated more than three hundred days before the birth of the
child or who was separated from the mother more than three hundred days
before the birth of the child.
(2) "Child" means a person under eighteen years of age.
(3) "Adoptee" means a person who is to be adopted or who has been
adopted.
(4) "Adoptive parent" means the person or persons who seek to adopt
or have adopted an adoptee.
(5) "Court" means the superior court.
(6) "Department" means the department of social and health
services.
(7) "Agency" means any public or private association, corporation,
or individual licensed or certified by the department as a child
placing agency under chapter 74.15 RCW or as an adoption agency.
(8) "Parent" means the natural or adoptive mother or father of a
child, including a presumed father under chapter 26.26 RCW. It does
not include any person whose parent-child relationship has been
terminated by a court of competent jurisdiction.
(9) "Legal guardian" means the department, an agency, or a person,
other than a parent or stepparent, appointed by the court to promote
the child's general welfare, with the authority and duty to make
decisions affecting the child's development.
(10) "Guardian ad litem" means a person, not related to a party to
the action, appointed by the court to represent the best interests of
a party who is under a legal disability.
(11) "Relinquish or relinquishment" means the voluntary surrender
of custody of a child to the department, an agency, or prospective
adoptive parents.
(12) "Individual approved by the court" or "qualified salaried
court employee" means a person who has a master's degree in social work
or a related field and one year of experience in social work, or a
bachelor's degree and two years of experience in social work, and
includes a person not having such qualifications only if the court
makes specific findings of fact that are entered of record establishing
that the person has reasonably equivalent experience.
(13) "Birth parent" means the biological mother or biological or
alleged father of a child, including a presumed father under chapter
26.26 RCW, whether or not any such person's parent-child relationship
has been terminated by a court of competent jurisdiction. "Birth
parent" does not include a biological mother or biological or alleged
father, including a presumed father under chapter 26.26 RCW, if the
parent-child relationship was terminated because of an act for which
the person was found guilty under chapter 9A.42 or 9A.44 RCW.
(14) "Nonidentifying information" ((includes)) shall include if it
is available, but is not limited to, the following information about
the birth parents, adoptive parents, and adoptee:
(a) Age in years at the time of adoption;
(b) Heritage, including nationality, ethnic background, and race;
(c) Education, including number of years of school completed at the
time of adoption, but not name or location of school;
(d) General physical appearance, including height, weight, color of
hair, eyes, and skin, or other information of a similar nature;
(e) Religion;
(f) Occupation, but not specific titles or places of employment;
(g) Talents, hobbies, and special interests;
(h) Circumstances leading to the adoption;
(i) Medical and genetic history of birth parents;
(j) First names;
(k) Other children of birth parents by age, sex, and medical
history;
(l) Extended family of birth parents by age, sex, and medical
history;
(m) The fact of the death, and age and cause, if known;
(n) Photographs;
(o) Name of agency or individual that facilitated the adoption.