Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly does "Original Birth Certificate (OBC) Access" mean, and to whom?
Unrestricted OBC Access means that an adult who was adopted as a child (an adoptee) can, upon application, receive an uncertified copy of their Original Birth Certificate (OBC) housed at the Louisiana Department of Vital Records. The OBC is the original record of the Adoptee's birth.
Don't adoptees have a birth certificate like everyone else?
NO, they absolutely do not! At the time an adoption is finalized, an 'Amended' Birth Certificate (ABC) is issued. This document lists the adoptive parents as the mother and father and may change the actual place of birth to the adoptive parents' residence. Without a court order, the ABC is the only birth certificate to which the adoptee has access. Much of the information provided on the OBC is subsequently left out when the ABC is issued.
You mean an adoptee can't have access to their own OBC?
Without a court order, no they cannot.
Why would an adoptee want access to their OBC?
For the same reason a non-adopted person would!
(1) The OBC gives the Adoptee specific details of their birth and is the only record and link to their true heritage. To deny an Adoptee their heritage also denies their children and every generation thereafter.
(2) In some cases, there have been problems with Adoptees obtaining passports and high security clearance jobs because the ABC looks fake. In many cases, the ABC doesn't look like the birth certificates that everyone else has. The US State Department regularly denies passports to Adoptees whose amended birth certificates are issued more than a year after birth, citing it is not adequate proof of US citizenship.
(3) Adoptees feel that since the adult non-adopted person can access this information, they should also have equal access to the same information concerning their own birth. To deny them is discriminatory and is a violation of the Adoptee's civil rights.
(4) Most importantly, OBC access offers the Adoptee the opportunity to receive a true and factual medical history!
Do other states already give unrestricted OBC access to adult adoptees?
YES! Kansas never sealed and closed the record to Adoptees. Alaska opened in the late 1970s. Alabama opened their Vital Statistics records in 2000. The voters of Oregon passed Measure 58 in 1998, which allowed adult Adoptees access to their OBC. New Hampshire passed SB 335 in 2004, which granted unrestricted access to the original birth certificate to adult Adoptees. Maine passed LD 1084/PL 409, which reopened access in 2009, without restriction. Other states have passed various measures and still more have legislation pending. Louisiana hopes to soon "be in that number" of states with unrestricted access!
Will opening adoption records to adult adoptees make the abortion rates go up?
(A) No. Kansas (12.7 abortion rate / 48.4 adoption rate) and Alaska (19.4 abortion rate / 53.5 adoption rate), are two states that have had open records for decades and who enjoy higher rates of adoption and lower abortion rates than their neighboring states. The rates of abortion in these states are lower than the national average (25.8 abortion rate / 31.2 adoption rate). Alabama's abortion rate has dropped since opening records to adult Adoptees in 2000. Other countries that have open records also have lower abortion rates than most U.S. states, such as Australia (16.6), New Zealand (14.0), and England (15.2).*
*Sources: Flango and Flango, How many Children Were Adopted in 1992 (Child Welfare 1995);
*Alaska Bureau of Vital Statistics, 1994 Annual Report on Alaska adoptions;
*Alan Guttmacher Institute, Resident abortion rates (1995)
What about the adoptive parents? Do the majority of adoption-formed families support OBC access?
(A) Yes. In 1958, 1968, and 1978 Paul Sachdev researched adoptive parent, adoptee, and birth parent attitudes toward open adoption records in Unlocking the Adoption Files (1989). Sachdev, whose work is highly respected worldwide, found that 69.7% of all adoptive parents surveyed, as compared with 88.5% of birth mothers and 81.8% of adoptees, said that adult adoptees should be able to receive identifying information. Adoption professionals and adoption groups, in the majority, support adoptee access to the original birth certificate. The book, In Whose Best Interests? Ethics in American Adoption (Greenwood In print-1998), L. Anne Babb, Ph.D. reports results of a 1994 study, conducted of the country's 50 state licensors of adoption agencies and 23 professional, adoption-relate or child welfare associations. The findings showed that the majority (62%) said that adult adoptees should be given access to their original birth certificates, supporting the idea that the professional ethics of confidentiality and client self-determination can be observed without conflict in adoption practice.
Unrestricted OBC Access means that an adult who was adopted as a child (an adoptee) can, upon application, receive an uncertified copy of their Original Birth Certificate (OBC) housed at the Louisiana Department of Vital Records. The OBC is the original record of the Adoptee's birth.
Don't adoptees have a birth certificate like everyone else?
NO, they absolutely do not! At the time an adoption is finalized, an 'Amended' Birth Certificate (ABC) is issued. This document lists the adoptive parents as the mother and father and may change the actual place of birth to the adoptive parents' residence. Without a court order, the ABC is the only birth certificate to which the adoptee has access. Much of the information provided on the OBC is subsequently left out when the ABC is issued.
You mean an adoptee can't have access to their own OBC?
Without a court order, no they cannot.
Why would an adoptee want access to their OBC?
For the same reason a non-adopted person would!
(1) The OBC gives the Adoptee specific details of their birth and is the only record and link to their true heritage. To deny an Adoptee their heritage also denies their children and every generation thereafter.
(2) In some cases, there have been problems with Adoptees obtaining passports and high security clearance jobs because the ABC looks fake. In many cases, the ABC doesn't look like the birth certificates that everyone else has. The US State Department regularly denies passports to Adoptees whose amended birth certificates are issued more than a year after birth, citing it is not adequate proof of US citizenship.
(3) Adoptees feel that since the adult non-adopted person can access this information, they should also have equal access to the same information concerning their own birth. To deny them is discriminatory and is a violation of the Adoptee's civil rights.
(4) Most importantly, OBC access offers the Adoptee the opportunity to receive a true and factual medical history!
Do other states already give unrestricted OBC access to adult adoptees?
YES! Kansas never sealed and closed the record to Adoptees. Alaska opened in the late 1970s. Alabama opened their Vital Statistics records in 2000. The voters of Oregon passed Measure 58 in 1998, which allowed adult Adoptees access to their OBC. New Hampshire passed SB 335 in 2004, which granted unrestricted access to the original birth certificate to adult Adoptees. Maine passed LD 1084/PL 409, which reopened access in 2009, without restriction. Other states have passed various measures and still more have legislation pending. Louisiana hopes to soon "be in that number" of states with unrestricted access!
Will opening adoption records to adult adoptees make the abortion rates go up?
(A) No. Kansas (12.7 abortion rate / 48.4 adoption rate) and Alaska (19.4 abortion rate / 53.5 adoption rate), are two states that have had open records for decades and who enjoy higher rates of adoption and lower abortion rates than their neighboring states. The rates of abortion in these states are lower than the national average (25.8 abortion rate / 31.2 adoption rate). Alabama's abortion rate has dropped since opening records to adult Adoptees in 2000. Other countries that have open records also have lower abortion rates than most U.S. states, such as Australia (16.6), New Zealand (14.0), and England (15.2).*
*Sources: Flango and Flango, How many Children Were Adopted in 1992 (Child Welfare 1995);
*Alaska Bureau of Vital Statistics, 1994 Annual Report on Alaska adoptions;
*Alan Guttmacher Institute, Resident abortion rates (1995)
What about the adoptive parents? Do the majority of adoption-formed families support OBC access?
(A) Yes. In 1958, 1968, and 1978 Paul Sachdev researched adoptive parent, adoptee, and birth parent attitudes toward open adoption records in Unlocking the Adoption Files (1989). Sachdev, whose work is highly respected worldwide, found that 69.7% of all adoptive parents surveyed, as compared with 88.5% of birth mothers and 81.8% of adoptees, said that adult adoptees should be able to receive identifying information. Adoption professionals and adoption groups, in the majority, support adoptee access to the original birth certificate. The book, In Whose Best Interests? Ethics in American Adoption (Greenwood In print-1998), L. Anne Babb, Ph.D. reports results of a 1994 study, conducted of the country's 50 state licensors of adoption agencies and 23 professional, adoption-relate or child welfare associations. The findings showed that the majority (62%) said that adult adoptees should be given access to their original birth certificates, supporting the idea that the professional ethics of confidentiality and client self-determination can be observed without conflict in adoption practice.