Ohio adoptees can get their birth certificates
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
Adoptees in Ohio can now obtain copies of their state-held birth certificates, under a new state law that took full effect on Friday.
Hundreds of people lined up outside the state health department in downtown Columbus to be the first in line to request the documents and learn details of their birth parents, thanks to legislation signed into law in late 2013.
The delayed implementation gave parents who didn’t want their identities known a chance to request that their names be redacted from adoption records.
The new law affects individuals who were born in Ohio and adopted between 1964 and 1996.
Individuals adopted before 1964 already had unrestricted access to state records disclosing the names and other information about their biological parents and siblings.
Those adopted after September 1996 have been able review their files unless their biological parents have denied release of the information.
But those adopted between 1964 and 1996 were blocked from accessing their birth certificates unless their biological parents consented or a court ordered the file be provided.
The new state law repealed those restrictions. State health officials estimate that the change could open access to birth records for 400,000 adoptees who will have access to information about their birth parents and family medical histories.
“I already have a family,” said Sen. Dave Burke, a Marysville Republican, a primary co-sponsor of the new law and an adoptee who was set to get a copy of his birth certificate. “But I need to fill a gap that exists, especially as I get older, medically.”
Those interested in getting copies of the documents can submit an application and the required $20 fee to the state health department’s vital statistics office.
Details of the process, including copies of the application and requirements for access, are posted online at www.odh.ohio.gov.