What Are Open Adoption Records?

Open adoption records are adoption records made freely available to adoptees. This allows them to access important information without having to obtain a court order once they reach the age of majority; records usually remain sealed until age 18 or 21. Some jurisdictions have open records, while others keep them closed and require adoptees to go to court to obtain permission to access their records. Within the adoption community, there is some debate over the merit of keeping open adoption records.

Some adoptees have an interest in finding out more about their birth parents and would like to be able to access their birth certificates to perform research or make contact. This can be especially important if an adoptee develops a condition with a genetic link, as she may want to know if her parents have it, or warn her genetic family about the fact that the genes may be present in the family tree. Other adoptees simply want to connect with their genetic families.

With open adoption records, this process is easy. The adoptee can provide some information to a clerk of records to prove that he has the right to access the information, and the clerk will produce the original birth certificate with the birth parents listed. In regions with closed records, it is necessary to go to court, pay fees, and argue the case to get a court order to look at the records.

Critics of open adoption records raise concerns that people facing unwanted pregnancies might be disinclined to adopt if they cannot remain confidential. These critics fear that women might choose abortion to avoid a confrontation in 18 to 21 years with their children. Studies on regions with open versus closed records, controlled for other factors, seem to suggest that this is actually not the case, and that abortion rates remain consistent whether records are open or closed.

Women who want to give their children up for adoption can contact officials to find out whether they are in an area with open adoption records. An adoption counselor can also provide information about the different kinds of adoptions available; birth mothers who want the possibility of contact with their children, for example, might consider an open adoption with an option to visit and receive updates from the adoptive family. Prospective adoptive parents can also determine records status if it is a matter of concern for them.