SSB 5118 -
By Senators Carrell, Rivers
PULLED 03/05/2013
Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
"Sec. 1 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)(a) For adoptions finalized after October 1, 1993, the
department of health shall make available a noncertified copy of the
original birth certificate to ((the adoptee after the adoptee's
eighteenth birthday unless the birth parent has filed an affidavit of
nondisclosure)) an adopted person eighteen years of age or older upon
request, unless the birth parent has filed an affidavit of
nondisclosure.
(b) For adoptions finalized on or before October 1, 1993, the
department of health may not make available the original birth
certificate to the adopted person for inspection or copying until after
June 30, 2014. After June 30, 2014, the department of health shall
make available a noncertified copy of the original birth certificate to
an adopted person eighteen years or older upon request, unless the
birth parent has filed an affidavit of nondisclosure.
(4) Regardless of whether a birth parent has filed an affidavit of
nondisclosure, a birth parent may at any time complete a contact
preference form stating his or her preference about personal contact
with the adopted person, which, if available, must accompany a birth
certificate issued under subsection (3) of this section. The contact
preference form must include the following options:
(a) I would like to be contacted;
(b) I would like to be contacted only through a confidential
intermediary as described in RCW 26.33.343; and
(c) I prefer not to be contacted at this time and have also
completed the birth parent updated medical history form.
(5) Regardless of when the adoption was finalized, a birth parent
may file with the department of health an affidavit of nondisclosure or
the contact preference form.
(6) If a birth parent files an affidavit of nondisclosure or a
contact preference form, the birth parent must also file a medical
history form with the department of health. Upon request of the
adopted person, the department of health must provide the adoptee with
the medical history form filed by the adoptee's birth parent.
(7) Both a completed contact preference form and birth parent
updated medical history form are confidential and must be placed in a
secure file until a match with the adopted person's file is made. Once
a match is made, the forms must be placed in the adopted person's
sealed file.
(8) If the contact preference form is filed within six months of
the first time an adopted person requests a copy of his or her original
birth certificate as provided in subsection (3) of this section, the
department of health must forward the form to the address of the
adopted person. If applicable, the department of health must also
forward the birth parent updated medical history form to the address of
the adopted person.
(9) The department of health may charge a fee not to exceed twenty
dollars for providing a noncertified copy of a birth certificate to an
adoptee.
(10) The department of health must create the contact preference
form and medical history form. The medical history form may not
require the birth parent to disclose any identifying information about
the birth parent. The department of health must modify the affidavit
of nondisclosure form to include the birth parent's social security
number."
SSB 5118 -
By Senators Carrell, Rivers
PULLED 03/05/2013
On page 1, line 2 of the title, after "finalization;" strike the remainder of the title and insert "and amending RCW 26.33.345."
EFFECT: Maintains current law regarding access to birth records
for adoptions finalized after October 1, 1993.
After June 30, 2014, all adoptees will be able to access
noncertified copies of their original birth records unless the birth
parent has filed an affidavit of nondisclosure.
States that an affidavit of nondisclosure can be filed at any time,
regardless of the date of the adoptions.
If a birth parent files an affidavit of nondisclosure or a contact
preference form, the birth parent must also file a medical history
form.
The medical history form must be provided to the adoptee upon
request.
The department of health must create a contact preference form and
medical history form. The affidavit of nondisclosure form must have
the birth parent's social security number.