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Bill Opens Access To Adoptees’ Birth Certificates
By: Associated Press
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A bill approved by Ohio lawmakers will make it easier for many adopted Ohioans to get their original birth certificates.
The state House passed the bill Wednesday that will give about 400,000 people access to original Ohio birth certificates that was largely blocked without a court order.
Under the bill, those adopted between January 1964 and September 1996, or their adult direct descendants, can request their adoption files from the Ohio Department of Health's Bureau of Vital Statistics for a $20 fee.
The Toledo Blade reports that those adopted before and after those dates already have that access. Birth certificates before 1964 are public record. When the law was changed again in 1996, it was not made retroactive to those caught between the two laws.