Senate committee advances bill to give adult adoptees access to pre-2022 birth records

The Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee voted to send House Bill 47 to the Senate floor with a due-pass recommendation after sponsors and witnesses described the measure as a way to give adult adoptees access to birth records that are currently closed.

Senator Brandon Shippey, sponsor (Legislative District 9), told the committee that “this legislation makes birth records available to adoptees who were adopted prior to 07/01/2022, once they reach the age of 18.” Representative Barbara Ehart (R‑33) and Representative Julianne Young, who sponsored the concept previously, testified in support. Young told personal stories and described procedures built into the bill to protect birth parents’ preferences.

The bill would allow adoptees adopted before July 1, 2022, to request their original birth records after they turn 18. Under the bill’s procedures, vital‑records staff would notify listed birth parents when an adoptee requests records. Parents would have 30 days to indicate whether they want contact and could request that their identifying information be redacted for up to five years; after that period an adoptee could re‑initiate the request. Testimony emphasized the medical‑history access adoptees often seek.

Representative Julianne Young described a constituent whose son was placed for adoption in 1968, saying, “Now all I have to remember him are 5 fuzzy black and white images of him as a baby,” and that the woman hoped the adoptee might one day request records and find her. Representative Ehart said the bill “strikes a balance” between adoptees’ interest in identity and birth parents’ privacy.

Senators asked for operational clarifications about how parents register contact preferences and how often they would be contacted. Young and Ehart said the notification mechanism is the same process used for adoptions finalized after July 2022 and that the 30‑day notification and five‑year redaction options are triggered only when an adoptee requests records. Representative Gunn noted that certain anonymous surrender options (referred to in testimony as “baby boxes”) produce no birth record.

A motion to send the bill to the Senate floor with a due‑pass recommendation was made and seconded. The committee took a voice vote; Senator Wintrow asked to be recorded as voting no, and the chair announced the motion carried.

If enacted, the bill would make the retroactive access mechanism consistent with procedures already in place for adoptions completed on or after July 1, 2022. The committee did not adopt additional amendments during the hearing.