§ 40:79 — Record of adoption decree

§79. Record of adoption decree
A.(1) Whenever a final decree of adoption shall be entered, the clerk of court shall
forward, on a form supplied by the Department of Children and Family Services, his
certificate of the decree to the state registrar who shall make a new certificate of live birth
of the person adopted, in the new name if the name has been changed in the decree.
(2)(a) If the child is adopted by a married couple, the names of both parties shall be
recorded as the parents, even if one of the petitioning parties dies prior to entry of the final
judgment of adoption. However, if the child is adopted by a step-parent who was married
to the legal parent of the child and the legal parent dies prior to the filing of the petition for
adoption, the names of both the deceased legal parent and the step-parent shall be recorded
on the child's birth certificate at the request of the step-parent.
(b) If the child is adopted by a single person, the word "adopted" may be written on
the new birth certificate if the adopting parent requests it, otherwise no such wording shall
be imprinted on the document and the name of the single adopting parent shall be recorded
on the new birth certificate.
(3) Upon request of an adopting parent of a child whose birth certificate has the word
"adopted" indicated thereon, the state registrar shall immediately reissue a birth certificate
which has no reference or other indication that the child was adopted.
(4) The state registrar shall seal and file the original certificate of birth with the
certificate of the decree and the contact preference form submitted pursuant to Subsection
F of this Section. This sealed package may be opened only on the order of a competent court
or as provided in Subsection E of this Section.
B. If no original record of birth is located in the files of the state registrar of vital
records, then unless the child is known to have been born out of the state of Louisiana, he
shall file a new certificate of birth in the adoptive name as evidence of the name of the child,
names of parents, birth date, and birthplace. The state registrar may require additional
documentary evidence necessary to establish the circumstances of birth.
C. A person born in a foreign country who is adopted in the state of Louisiana, but
who is not a United States citizen, or who is a naturalized United States citizen, and a person
born in a foreign country and adopted outside the United States by adoptive parents who are
residents of the state of Louisiana at the time of the adoption, may obtain a new birth
certificate according to the following conditions, limitations, and procedures:
(1) Where a certified copy of the original foreign birth certificate of the adopted
person, and, if the certificate is not in English, a certified verbatim translation of the
certificate are available, the state registrar, upon receipt of the certificate translation and a
certified copy of the order or decree of adoption, shall prepare a birth certificate in the new
name of the adopted person and shall seal and file the foreign certificate and order or decree
of adoption.
(2) Where the certified copy of the original birth certificate of the adopted person and
certified translation are not available, the court having jurisdiction of adoptions in the parish,
upon evidence presented by the Department of Children and Family Services from
information secured at the port of entry or upon evidence from other reliable sources, may
make findings on the date, place of birth, and parentage of the adopted person. Upon receipt
of a certified copy of such findings of the court, together with a certified copy of the order
or decree of adoption, the state registrar shall prepare a birth certificate in the new name of
the adopted person and shall seal and file the certified copy of the findings of the court and
the certified copy of the order or decree of adoption.
(3) A birth certificate issued pursuant to the provisions of this Subsection shall show
specifically the true or probable country, island, or continent of birth. Except as provided in
the following Paragraph, the birth certificate shall be annotated with the provision "not proof
of United States citizenship".
(4) Where a certified copy of a certificate of naturalization is received by the state
registrar together with the documents required by this Subsection, the date and number of the
certificate of naturalization shall be included in the birth certificate, and the birth certificate
shall be accepted by all state agencies as evidence of United States citizenship.
D. Except as provided in Subsections E and F of this Section, all motions for records
under this Section shall be in accordance with, and be subject to, the provisions of Children's
Code Articles 1188 through 1192, and, if an adoption agency is involved, the agency shall
be served with a copy of a motion as provided in Code of Civil Procedure Article 1313.
E.(1) Notwithstanding any provision of the law to the contrary, an adopted person
who is twenty-four years of age or older may request an uncertified copy of his birth
certificate from the state registrar. Upon such a request, the registrar shall open the sealed
package and issue an uncertified copy of the original birth certificate to the adopted person.
(2) The uncertified copy of the original birth certificate shall be issued to the adopted
person in accordance with the regulations duly promulgated in accordance with the
Administrative Procedure Act for a certified copy of a vital record in the custody of the vital
records registry.
F.(1) A birth parent may at any time request from the state registrar a contact
preference form that shall accompany the adopted person's original birth certificate.
(2) The contact preference form shall provide the following information to be
completed at the option of the birth parent who shall indicate his intentions as follows:
(a) I would like to be contacted.
(b) I would prefer to be contacted only through an intermediary.
(c) I prefer not to be contacted at this time. If I decide later that I would like to be
contacted, I will submit an updated contact preference form to the state registrar.
(3) The contact preference form is a confidential communication from the birth
parent to the person named on the sealed birth certificate and shall be placed in the sealed
packet containing the original birth certificate. The contact preference form shall be released
to an adopted person when he requests his original birth certificate pursuant to Subsection
E of this Section.

Legislative History

Acts 1992, No. 705, §2, eff. July 6, 1992; Acts 1995, No. 395, §1; Acts 2017, No. 148, §1; Acts 2020, No. 470, §2; Acts 2022, No. 450, §2.