When you receive your adoption records?

LaurieDB

Which states are involved? The OBC is usually in with the rest of the adoption records from the state where the adoption finalized.

Daisey,

Here's information about Ohio. You already know that you can get your records, having been adopted in Ohio before 1964.

As a side note, birth certificates in Ohio are public record (unless you were adopted after 1964.) Also, adoptive parents (not birth parents) may request that an amended birth certificate NOT be issued in place of the original.

The information provided below states that an original birth certificate is to be placed in the adoption file. So, your OBC should be among the records that you are entitled to receive, even though you were born in California.

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AN INFORMATIONAL BRIEF PREPARED FOR MEMBERS OF THE OHIO GENERAL ASSEMBLY BY THE LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION STAFF
Volume 123 Issue 6
October 31, 2000

Information Available to Adoptees

The desire of individuals adopted at birth to learn more about themselves and their biological families has made access to adoption records a significant issue in recent years. In Ohio, records concerning individuals adopted before January 1, 1964 are generally open. For those whose adoption was finalized on or after that date, the availability of information and the procedures for obtaining it depend on when the individual became available for adoption. This membersâ€™ brief discusses the types of information that are available and the procedures for obtaining information.

Birth certificates
A birth certificate for each child born in Ohio must be filed in the registration district in which the birth occurs. The form used for the certificate includes spaces for the childâ€™s name at birth and the names of the childâ€™s parents. Each month, each local registrar is required to transmit to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) all original birth certificates received during the preceding month. ODH must preserve the certificates and maintain a permanent index of all births registered. The index shows the name of the child and place of birth. Birth certificates and the indexes to them are public records available for inspection.

After an adoption decree for a child born in Ohio becomes final, a probate court is required to forward a copy of the certificate of adoption to ODH. On receipt of an adoption certificate issued on or after January 1, 1964, ODH must issue, unless otherwise requested by the childâ€™s adoptive parents, a new birth record using the childâ€™s adopted name and the names of and data concerning the adoptive parents. ODH must place the original birth record and adoption certificate in an adoption file and seal the file. The sealed adoption file is not a public record. The index reference to the original birth record, however, is a public record.
The original birth record of an adoptee adopted on or after January 1, 1964 ceases to be a public record after ODH issues a new birth record and seals the original in an adoption file.

Pre-1964 adoptees
Neither the original birth record nor the birth record in the adopted name of an adoptee whose adoption was decreed prior to January 1, 1964, is sealed.

The adoptee may submit a written request to ODH for a copy of the contents of the adoption file. The request must include the adopteeâ€™s address and notarized signature. It must be accompanied by two items identifying the adoptee and a $20 fee. If all these requirements are met and it has an adoption file for the adoptee, ODH is required to mail a copy of the contents of the adoption file to the adoptee.

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