Yippee bill passed on Mass birth certificates

Just wanted to add, that requests for birthcertificates will be taken after December 7, 2007. You just need to go to the Massachusetts registry website and follow instructions. This is a pretty big deal! Good luck to all!

My daughters OBC is buried forever. He signed it and buried it.

why buried forever?mary

She is buried in that time frame where she can not access to it. getting a court order is the only way that and that is near impossible.

Hi, I am a researcher in Massachusetts and an adult adoptee who has been in reunion with my birth mother for 18 years. To find her I simply called up the agency I was adopted through in Worcester and they did the search, contacted her and then gave us each other's contact information. I was 19 at the time so that was 1990. Was this illegal then? Can you help me understand the laws that govern massachusetts or point me to a resource where I can look into this? I am interested in understanding the politcal position of each state. If you have recommendations please let me know. Thanks for your help! The link to one of the studies in my series is: [url=http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=1FnfD7P704Z5S91SEgio4A_3d_3d]Adult Adoptees who have made contact with a birth relative[/url] This is a survey for adult adoptees in reunion with a birth relative. Please feel free to check it out if it applies! Thank you! :thanks:

I am bumping this up because I believe there are so many that are still unaware of this new law.

I thought I saw this change about six months ago while checking out the Bastard Nation website. Are you sure it is as new as last month? It is my understanding that BN views this as a "cop out" because of the condition that yo umust be born 1975. If you were born in 1976 you would be in your thirties! Why should you not be allowed such information - where is the rationality in that? I am still not sure about how I feel personally about all of this. I believe records should be open, but I am not sure if it is time to celebrate just yet... On the other hand - Maine just past legislation that opens records to all adoptees as of 2009. Thanks for the post!

It should be open to all and not a select few that fall into this stupid time frame. Still feel very bitter about this.

I agree, I don't know how they came to that kind of a time limit anyway.

I agree that the new law isn't fair. In hindsite I probably shouldn't have bumped a thread that started with Yippee. My understanding is that when I was adopted in 1966 the records were not sealed. It wasn't until 1974 that all records were sealed. So the law was set up to protect first moms who reliquished from that point on. I am not saying it is right but I think that is where they came up with their time frame. My heart goes out to those who cannot access their records.

it's my understanding that the cutoff date in the new law represents when massachusetts originally passed the law that sealed the records; the new law basically removes the retroactive nature of the old law

Yes, that's true. If you were born before the time when Mass originally sealed the records and after the time the new law went into affect, you can now access your records. If you were born in between that time, you're out of law. I'm an adoptive parent whose children fall in within that 30+ year time period. They're going to have to jump through hoops just to access what is available to every other adult over 18 years - except them. It rankles me to no end. IMO, it's as much a civil right as the right to vote or marry.

<< Just wanted to add, that requests for birthcertificates will be taken after December 7, 2007. You just need to go to the Massachusetts registry website and follow instructions. This is a pretty big deal! >> Does anyone have more info about how one makes this request? I helped my mother search for her 1938 birthmom and we had a HUGE success on that front...in that we got photographs and met the birthmom's surviving brother (age 97!) (she is now deceased, unfortunately)....finding the father will be trickier, as birthmom was not forthcoming on the paperwork I've seen Re: her own name, so it's doubtful she was upfront about that of the birth father. But perhaps the original birth certificate will have info we haven't uncovered already? How does one apply? Thanks, and good luck to everyone who's searching. It took me a year of frustration, gathering a little here, a little there, getting stonewalled a lot, grrrrrr...then someone I was referred to through this site was REALLY helpful, out-of-state! So don't give up! Someone may pop up along the way who can actually help you!

I adopted out of MA foster care. We were given the OBC as as part of the process. In looking at the older adoptions, however, it does look harder.Since this thread was so old, I did a web search to determine current law.according to Childwelfare site You still need a court order for an OBC. I'm sorryBut, it does suggest contacting the Adoption Search Coordinator for more information. here's their contact info:Adoption Search CoordinatorMassachusetts Department of Social Service24 Farnsworth StreetBoston, MA 02210(617) 748-2240

Bumping this in case anyone wants to know, here is the current form for obtaining the pre-adoption birth certificate: [url]http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/docs/dph/vital-records/pre-adoption-app-form.pdf[/url] They were very fast - I received mine in less than 2 weeks after submitting it.