Sealed birth records refers to the practice of sealing the original
birth certificate
A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the birth of a person. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation of the ensui ...
upon
adoption or
legitimation
Legitimation or legitimisation is the act of providing legitimacy. Legitimation in the social sciences refers to the process whereby an act, process, or ideology becomes legitimate by its attachment to norms and values within a given society. I ...
, often making a copy of the record unavailable except by court order. Upon finalization of the adoption, the original birth certificate is sealed and replaced with an amended birth certificate declaring the
adoptee
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...
to be the child of his or her adoptive parents, "as if" born to them. Many states, provinces and countries adopted this practice in the early to mid-20th century with the aim of protecting the adopted person from the shame of an
illegitimate
Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...
birth. Sealed or closed birth records are generally associated with
closed adoption
Closed adoption (also called "confidential" adoption and sometimes "secret" adoption) is a process by which an infant is adopted by another family, and the record of the biological parent(s) is kept sealed. Often, the biological father is not re ...
. Open records is generally referred to as the practice of opening original birth records to adult adoptees, and should not be confused with open adoption, which can occur with or without sealed records, depending on the laws of the state or province in which it is carried out.
Many nations have granted adult adoptees unrestricted access to their original birth certificates. Mike Leigh's Oscar-nominated film ''
Secrets & Lies'' (1996) revolves around a British woman who accesses her original birth certificate.
History
United States
While Minnesota was the first state in 1917 to seal and make court adoption records unavailable to the public, in 1935 California became the first state to seal and make an adoptee's original birth record unavailable except by court order. This act, however, also required the sealing of the original birth record of a child who was born
illegitimate
Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...
but who was later legitimated by affidavit or court order. Sealing birth records after an adoption or legitimation was intended to protect the child from any stigma associated with being born
illegitimate
Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...
. It was also intended to prevent a birth parent from interfering later with the adoptive family. After World War II, the laws in most states were changed to permanently seal adoptees' original birth certificates to all parties, including the adoptee when an adult. While Kansas and Alaska seal an adoptee's original birth certificates after an adoption, the original birth record in these two states has always been available upon request once the adoptee reaches 18 years of age. Many states and provinces of the U.S. and Canada have restored the right of adult adopted people to obtain copies of their original birth certificates, though restrictions remain in a number of states even when partial restoration has been enacted by law.
Canada
The history of sealed birth records in Canada mirrors that of the United States. It is complicated by the forced adoptions of Native American children.
Native American: The outplacement and adoption of indigenous children indigenous peoples of Canada and United States
Encyclopædia Britannica online
See also
*Record sealing
Record sealing is the practice of sealing or, in some cases, destroying court records that would otherwise be publicly accessible as public records. The term is derived from the tradition of placing a seal on specified files or documents that prev ...
for a discussion of the general practice
References
External links
The Strange History of Adult Adoptee Access to Original Birth Records
by Elizabeth Samuels, University of Baltimore - School of Law, Adoption Quarterly, Vol. 5, p. 63, 2001
{{Adopt
Adoption law
Birth registration