N.Y. Public Health Law § 4138-e: Adoptee's right to a certified copy of his or her birth certificate

§ 4138-e. Adoptee's right to a certified copy of his or her birth

certificate. 1. The legislature hereby states its intention to

acknowledge, support and encourage the life-long health and well-being

needs of persons who have been and will be adopted in this state. The

legislature further recognizes that the denial of access to accurate and

complete medical and self-identifying data of any adopted person, known

and wilfully withheld by others, may result in such person succumbing to

preventable disease, premature death or otherwise unhealthy life, is a

violation of that person's human rights and is contrary to the tenets of

government. As such, the provisions of this section seek to establish

considerations under the law for adopted persons equal to such

considerations permitted by law to all non-adopted persons; this section

does so while providing for the privacy of an adopted person and his or

her birth.

2. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commissioner or

a local registrar or any person authorized by the commissioner or a

local registrar, upon application, proof of identity and payment of a

nominal fee, shall issue certified copies of original long form line by

line, vault copy birth certificates, including any change attached to

that certificate by a birth parent or parents, and any information

provided to the commissioner or a local registrar pursuant to

subdivision one of section one hundred fourteen of the domestic

relations law, to (i) an adopted person, if eighteen years of age or

more, or (ii) if the adopted person is deceased, the adopted person's

direct line descendants, or (iii) the lawful representatives of such

adopted person, or lawful representatives of such deceased adopted

person's direct line descendants, as the case may be.

(b) When it shall be impossible for the commissioner or a local

registrar to provide a copy of an adult adopted person's original long

form birth certificate (as may occur in the case of an adopted person

born outside of, but adopted within, the state and such certificate is

not part of the records of the commissioner or a local registrar), the

true and correct information about the adopted person and the adopted

person's birth parents, including their identifying information, that

would have appeared on such original birth certificate shall be provided

to: (i) the adopted person, if eighteen years of age or more, or (ii) if

the adopted person is deceased, the adopted person's direct line

descendants, or (iii) the lawful representatives of such adopted person,

or lawful representatives of such deceased adopted person's direct line

descendants, as the case may be by any authorized agency as defined in

paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision ten of section three hundred

seventy-one of the social services law. In such case, the agency shall

be held harmless from any liability arising out of the disclosure.

(c) For purposes of this subdivision, the term "commissioner" shall

include the state commissioner of health, the commissioner of health and

mental hygiene of the city of New York and for records of birth prior to

January first, nineteen hundred fourteen, the local registrars of the

cities of Albany, Buffalo and Yonkers.