§ 4138-C — Adoption information registry

§ 4138-c. Adoption information registry. 1. There shall be established\nin the department an adoption information registry operated by employees\nof the department specifically designated by the commissioner. Access to\nall records and information in the registry shall be limited to such\ndesignated employees and such records and information shall be kept\nstrictly confidential except as specifically authorized by law. The\ncommissioner shall establish rules and procedures designed to keep such\nrecords and information separate and apart from other records of the\ndepartment and kept in a manner where access to such records and\ninformation is strictly limited to such designated employees and shall\npromulgate regulations designed to effectuate the purposes of this\nsection. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of the domestic\nrelations law or any other law to the contrary, the commissioner shall\nhave access to the information authorized to be released pursuant to\nthis section contained in birth and adoption records of any agency,\ncourt or department having appropriate records which will enable the\ncommissioner to effectuate the purposes of this section and may require\nthe cooperation of such agency, court or department in providing the\ninformation authorized to be released pursuant to this section,\nprovided, however, that the commissioner shall not have access to the\nactual adoption records of any agency, court or department maintaining\nsuch records.\n 1-a. For the purposes of this section, "adoptee" shall include: those\npersons born in this state, and those persons born in any other state\nwithin the United States or in the District of Columbia whose adoption\noccurred within this state.\n 2. Upon application for registration by an adoptee not born in this\nstate, or by a birth parent or biological sibling of such an adoptee,\nthe department shall, to the extent practicable, determine whether the\nadoptee's adoption occurred within this state. If the department\ndetermines that the adoption occurred within this state, it shall\nregister the applicant if he or she is otherwise qualified and make\nappropriate notifications pursuant to subdivision four of this section.\nThe registry shall accept, at any time, and maintain the verified\nregistration transmitted by an agency pursuant to section forty-one\nhundred thirty-eight-d of this title, or of the birth parents of an\nadoptee who was born in this state. The registry shall neither accept\nnor maintain the registration of an adoptee sooner than eighteen years\nafter the adoptee's birth, or in the case of registration by a\nbiological sibling of an adoptee, no sooner than the longer of eighteen\nyears after the biological sibling's birth or eighteen years after the\nadoptee's birth. Any person whose registration was accepted may withdraw\nsuch registration prior to the release of any identifying information.\nThe adoptee registrant, and the biological sibling registrant, shall\ninclude as part of the registration the identification, including the\nname and address, of known biological siblings of the adoptee. The\nadoptee may upon registration, or any time thereafter, elect not to have\nrelease of information by the authorized agency involved in such\nadoption. The department shall establish an authorized agency fee\nschedule for search costs and registry costs and services provided by\nsuch agency in gathering and forwarding information pursuant to this\nsection. The fee schedule may also include costs for disseminating\ninformation about the registry and the adoption medical information\nsub-registry to the public. Such publications or brochures may include\ninformation as to identifying and non-identifying information, how to\nregister and fees charged to the registrants, and any other information\ndeemed appropriate.\n 3. For the purposes of this section, the term "non-identifying\ninformation" shall only include the following information, if known,\nconcerning the adoptee, parents and biological siblings of an adoptee:\n (a) Age of the parents in years, at birth of such adoptee.\n (b) Heritage of the parents, which shall include nationality, ethnic\nbackground and race.\n (c) Education, which shall be the number of years of school completed\nby the parents at the time of birth of such adoptee.\n (d) General physical appearance of the parents at the time of the\nbirth of such adoptee, which shall include height, weight, color of\nhair, eyes, skin and other information of similar nature.\n (e) Religion of parents.\n (f) Occupation of parents.\n (g) Health history of parents.\n (h) Talents, hobbies and special interests of parents.\n (i) Facts and circumstances relating to the nature and cause of the\nadoption.\n (j) Name of the authorized agency involved in such adoption.\n (k) The existence of any known biological siblings.\n (l) The number, sex and age, at the time of the adoptee's adoption, of\nany known biological siblings.\n 4. Upon acceptance of a registration of an adoptee born in this state,\nor by a birth parent or biological sibling of such adoptee, pursuant to\nthis section, the department shall search the records of the department\nto determine whether the adoptee's adoption occurred within this state.\nAfter making a determination, to the extent practicable, as to whether\nan adoptee's adoption occurred within this state pursuant to subdivision\ntwo of this section, or upon completing a search of the records pursuant\nto this subdivision:\n (a) If the department determines that the adoption occurred within\nthis state, it shall notify the court wherein the adoption occurred to\nsubmit to the department non-identifying information as may be contained\nin the records of the court and the names of the birth parents of the\nadoptee. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,\nthe court shall thereupon transmit to the department non-identifying\ninformation as may be contained in the records of the court, and the\nnames of the birth parents of the adoptee, provided that, if the court\ndetermines from its records that the adoption was from an authorized\nagency, the court shall submit to the department only the name and\naddress of such authorized agency and the names of the birth parents of\nthe adoptee. In such cases, unless the adoptee registrant shall have\nelected otherwise, the department shall notify the authorized agency\nwhose name was provided by the court to release promptly to the adoptee\nall non-identifying information as may be contained in the agency\nrecords. Such agency shall thereafter promptly release the\nnon-identifying information to the adoptee registrant. If the adoptee\nregistrant shall have elected not to have the information released to\nhim or her by the authorized agency, the agency shall submit promptly to\nthe department all non-identifying information as may be contained in\nthe agency records. In any case where the agency records are incomplete,\nno longer exist or are otherwise unavailable, the department shall so\nnotify the court. The court shall thereupon promptly submit such\nnon-identifying information as may be contained in their records. If no\nauthorized agency was involved or if the adoptee registrant shall have\nelected not to have release of information by the authorized agency\ninvolved in such adoption, the department shall release the\nnon-identifying information to the adoptee registrant. The department\nand/or an authorized agency may restrict the nature of the\nnon-identifying information released pursuant to this section upon a\nreasonable determination that disclosure of such non-identifying\ninformation would not be in the adoptee's, biological sibling's, or\nparent's best interest.\n (b) If the department determines that the adoption did not occur\nwithin the state, it shall notify the adoptee registrant that no record\nexists of the adoption occurring within the state.\n 5. Upon acceptance of a registration pursuant to this section, the\ndepartment shall search the registry to determine whether the adoptee,\nany biological sibling of the adoptee, or birth parents of the adoptee\nis also registered.\n (a) If the department determines the adoptee is not in contact with a\nbiological sibling under the age of eighteen and that there is a\ncorresponding registration for the adoptee, for either of the birth\nparents, and/or for the biological sibling registrant, it shall notify\nthe court wherein the adoption occurred and the department shall notify\nall such persons that a corresponding match has been made and request\nsuch persons' final consent to the release of identifying information.\n (b) If the department determines that there is no corresponding\nregistration for the adoptee, for either of the birth parents, and/or\nfor a biological sibling of the adoptee, it shall notify the registering\nperson that no corresponding match has been made. The department shall\nnot solicit or request the consent of the non-registered person or\npersons.\n 6. Upon receipt of a final consent by the adoptee, by either of the\nbirth parents, and/or by a biological sibling of the adoptee, the\ndepartment shall, unless the adoptee or biological sibling registrant\nshall elect otherwise, if an authorized agency was involved in such\nadoption, release identifying information to such agency; such agency\nshall thereafter promptly release identifying information about the\nconsenting registrants to the consenting registrants. If no authorized\nagency was involved, or if any registrant shall have elected not to have\nrelease of the information by the authorized agency involved in such\nadoption the department shall release identifying information to the\nconsenting registrants. Such identifying information shall be limited to\nthe names and addresses of the consenting registrants and shall not\ninclude any other information contained in the adoption or birth\nrecords. However, nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent\nthe release of adoption records as otherwise permitted by law.\n 6-a. (a) There shall be established in the registry an adoption\nmedical information sub-registry. Access to all identifying records and\ninformation in the sub-registry shall be subject to the same\nrestrictions as the adoption information registry.\n (b) The department shall establish procedures by which a birth parent\nmay provide medical information to the sub-registry, and by which an\nadoptee aged eighteen years or older or the adoptive parents of an\nadoptee who has not attained the age of eighteen years may access such\nmedical information.\n (c) A birth parent may provide the adoption medical information\nsub-registry with certified medical information. Such certified medical\ninformation must include other information sufficient to locate the\nadoptee's birth record.\n (d) Upon receipt from the birth parent of certified medical\ninformation and other information needed to identify the adopted person,\nthe department shall, to the extent practicable, determine if the\nadoptee was adopted in New York state. If the adoptee was adopted in New\nYork state, the department shall register such information and determine\nif the adoptee or adoptive parent of the adoptee is registered. Upon\nsuch determination, the department shall release the non-identifying\nmedical information only to an adoptee, aged eighteen years or older, or\nadoptive parent of an adoptee who has not attained the age of eighteen\nyears.\n (e) Upon receipt from an adoptee aged eighteen years or older or the\nparent of an adoptee of a registration, the department shall, to the\nextent practicable, determine if the adoptee was adopted in New York\nstate. If the adoptee was adopted in New York state, the department\nshall search its records for medical information provided by the\nadoptee's birth parent. If such medical information is found, the\ndepartment shall release the non-identifying medical information only,\nto an adoptee, aged eighteen years or older, or adoptive parent of an\nadoptee who has not attained the age of eighteen years.\n (f) The department shall not solicit or request the provision of\nmedical information from a birth parent or the registration by an\nadoptee or parent of an adoptee.\n (g) A fee shall not be required from a birth parent for providing\nhealth information.\n 7. (a) Any employee of the department or any employee of an authorized\nagency who solicits or causes another to solicit a registration for the\npurposes of this section, except as otherwise permitted by law, shall be\nguilty of a misdemeanor, provided, however, that solicitation shall not\ninclude disclosure of the adoption information registry.\n (b) Any person who unlawfully discloses any information in the\nadoption information registry shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor.\n (c) Notwithstanding any other provision, any employee of the\ndepartment who unlawfully discloses any information in the adoption\ninformation registry shall be subject to dismissal for such violation.\n 8. For purposes of this section: "authorized agency" or "agency" means\nan authorized agency as defined in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision\nten of section three hundred seventy-one of the social services law.\n 10. The commissioner is directed to develop an adoption information\nregistry birth parent registration consent form to be completed at the\ntime of surrender or consent to adoption. Such form shall include\ncheck-off boxes to be appropriately marked by the biological parent or\nparents whose consent is necessary for the relinquishment of such child\nindicating whether or not such parent consents to the receipt of\nidentifying information by the child to be adopted. A copy of such form\nshall be sent to the department with copies of the original and amended\nbirth certificates. Such form shall state that it is the responsibility\nof the birth parent to update the registry with any changes in contact\ninformation. The form shall additionally advise the biological parents\nof the adoption medical information sub-registry and the procedures by\nwhich a birth parent may provide medical information to the\nsub-registry. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law to the\ncontrary, the commissioner is directed to develop any rules and\nregulations necessary to expedite the transfer of information from any\nagency, court or department necessary to implement this subdivision.\n 11. Upon receipt of the adoption information registry birth parent\nregistration consent form required by section two hundred fifty-four of\nthe judiciary law, the commissioner of health of the city of New York\nshall forward a copy of such consent form, copies of the original birth\ncertificate, the amended birth certificate and a copy of the\nnotification of adoption to the adoption information registry maintained\nin accordance with this section.\n