Petitioning the court

Pretty much you need to really, really, need your family health history because you already very sick OR alternatively need to ensure the health and well-being of your family of birth. Below is an example of the latter. [url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/potentially-deadly-gene-mutation-brings-long-lost-sisters-article-1.1114850?localLinksEnabled=false]Potentially deadly gene mutation brings long lost sisters together - NY Daily News[/url] Alternatively, some states allow you to petition and then approve you to work with a state sanctioned confidential intermediary who can access YOUR files and request permission from your family of birth for you to know who they are. I don't know what state you were born in but many states have bills in progress - you could join with them and work for legislative change. I started a thread in the Adoptee Support forum identifying those states. Kind regards, Dickons

Readyb4mom, in trying to answer your question in terms of the successes of getting information from sealed records, that varies from state to state.All states have a way to get medical history without necessarily giving up ID information sealed within the records.To unseal the records to gain identifying info is difficult. All states are different in their requirements to unseal records.Some states allow direct communication with the judge thru letter. Other states require that only their state forms can be used to gain access to information. Many states do not accept terminal disease as grounds to unseal records.To attempt to unseal records you must tell the court what you want it to do, and present to the court what evidence you have to get those records unsealed.The clerk of the court will tell you what forms are required and send them. The Clerk will not give legal advice. The return to the court of those state forms, does not guarantee that you will get the information you are seeking.Additionally, some states have moved into an administrative form of contact so that matters not linked to a hearing can be handled under the law without having a ruling from the judge.As an example, depending on whether or not there is an intermediary system in place, you are required to meet the requirements of the law in order to gain access to the court record information. In some cases one or more b-parents have to approve the identifying info before the court will forward that info. If the b-parents are deceased, it will be left to the court as to how you can meet the requirements of the law.In short, for your evaluation, I would recommend a meeting with an attorney. Many attorneys offer a free first meeting to see if there is enough documentation for a hearing. I wish you the best.

Readyb4mom, in trying to answer your question in terms of the successes of getting information from sealed records, that varies from state to state. All states have a way to get medical history without necessarily giving up ID information sealed within the records. To unseal the records to gain identifying info is difficult. All states are different in their requirements to unseal records. Some states allow direct communication with the judge thru letter. Other states require that only their state forms can be used to gain access to information. Many states do not accept terminal disease as grounds to unseal records. To attempt to unseal records you must tell the court what you want it to do, and present to the court what evidence you have to get those records unsealed. The clerk of the court will tell you what forms are required and send them. The Clerk will not give legal advice. The return to the court of those state forms, does not guarantee that you will get the information you are seeking. Additionally, some states have moved into an administrative form of contact so that matters not linked to a hearing can be handled under the law without having a ruling from the judge. As an example, depending on whether or not there is an intermediary system in place, you are required to meet the requirements of the law in order to gain access to the court record information. In some cases one or more b-parents have to approve the identifying info before the court will forward that info. If the b-parents are deceased, it will be left to the court as to how you can meet the requirements of the law. In short, for your evaluation, I would recommend a meeting with an attorney. Many attorneys offer a free first meeting to see if there is enough documentation for a hearing. I wish you the best.

Thank you for the information, Drywall. I appreciate it! Ready