§ 23-3-15. New certificates of birth following adoption — Legitimation and genetic parent determination.
(a) The state registrar of vital records shall establish a new certificate of birth for
a person born in this state when he or she receives the following:
(1) An adoption report as provided in § 23-3-14 or a certified copy of the decree of adoption together with the information necessary
to identify the original certificate of birth and to establish a new certificate of
birth; except that a new certificate of birth shall not be established if the court
decreeing the adoption, the adoptive parents, or the adopted person requests that
a new certificate shall not be established.
(2) A request that a new certificate be established and evidence required by regulation
proving that the person has been legitimated, or that a court of competent jurisdiction
has determined the genetic parent of the person; provided, however, that where a court
of competent jurisdiction has determined the genetic parent of the person, the name
of the person who has been adjudicated as being the father shall be inserted on the
birth certificate.
(b) When a new certificate of birth is established, the actual place and date of birth
shall be shown. It shall be substituted for the original certificate of birth.
(1) Thereafter, the original certificate and the evidence of adoption, parentage, or legitimation
shall not be subject to inspection except as allowed by this chapter in the case of
adoption by the adult adoptee, or upon order of a court of competent jurisdiction,
or as provided by regulation.
(2) Upon receipt of a notice of annulment of adoption, the original certificate of birth
shall be restored to its place in the files and the new certificate and evidence shall
not be subject to inspection except upon order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
(3) Upon receipt from a passive voluntary adoption mutual consent registry of a certificate
provided for in § 15-7.2-12(b), the adult adoptee named in the certificate shall be entitled to receive non-certified
copies of his or her original birth certificate.
(c) If no certificate of birth is on file for the person for whom a new certificate is
to be established under this section, a delayed certificate of birth shall be filed
with the state registrar of vital records as provided in § 23-3-12 or § 23-3-13, before a new certificate of birth is established, except that when the date and
place of birth and parentage have been established in accordance with this chapter
in the adoption proceedings, a delayed certificate shall not be required.
(d) When a new certificate of birth is established by the state registrar of vital records,
all copies of the original certificate of birth in the custody of any custodian of
permanent local records in this state shall be sealed from inspection or forwarded
to the state registrar of vital records, as he or she shall direct.
(e)(1) The state registrar shall, upon request, prepare and register a certificate in this
state for a person born in a foreign country who is not a citizen of the United States
and who was adopted through a court of competent jurisdiction in this state. The certificate
shall be established upon receipt of a report of adoption from the court decreeing
the adoption, proof of the date and place of the child's birth, and a request from
the court, the adopting parents, or the adopted person if eighteen (18) years of age
or over that a certificate be prepared. The certificate shall be labeled "certificate
of foreign birth� and shall show the actual country of birth. After registration of
the birth certificate in the new name of the adopted person, the state registrar shall
seal and file the report of adoption which shall not be subject to inspection except
upon order of a court of competent jurisdiction or as provided by regulation.
(2) If the child was born in a foreign country but was a citizen of the United States
at the time of birth, the state registrar shall not prepare a "certificate of foreign
birth� and shall notify the adoptive parents of the procedures for obtaining a revised
birth certificate for their child through the U.S. Department of State.
(f) When a new certificate of birth is established following an adoption or legitimation
in this state, and when no record of the original birth is on file at the city or
town of occurrence, the state registrar of vital records shall cause a copy to be
filed with the registrar of births in the city or town where the child was born and
the city or town of residence of the parents indicated on the new certificate, if
that residence is within the state.
(g)(1) The division shall establish, maintain, and operate the adoptee vital records file.
Beginning July 1, 2012, upon written application by an adult adoptee who was born
in the State of Rhode Island the division shall issue to the applicant a non-certified
copy of the unaltered, original certificate of birth of the adoptee, or if the adopted
person is deceased, the adopted person's direct line descendants, or the legal representative
of such adopted person, in accordance with the provisions of § 23-3-23, with procedures, filing fees, and waiting periods identical to those imposed upon
non-adopted citizens of the state.
(2) The division shall prescribe and, upon request, shall make available to each birth
parent of an adoptee named on the original birth certificate, a contact preference
form on which the birth parent may state a preference regarding contact by an adoptee
who is the birth child of the birth parent. The contact preference form shall be returned
to the division. Upon such a request, the division shall also provide the birth parent
with an updated medical history form, which may be completed and returned to the Passive
Voluntary Adoption Mutual Consent Registry. The contact preference form shall provide
the birth parent with the following options from which the birth parent shall select
one:
"(a) I would like to be contacted.
(b) I would prefer to be contacted only through an intermediary.
(c) I would prefer not to be contacted at this time.�
(3) When the division receives a completed contact preference form from a birth parent,
the division shall place the form on file and create an index of all contact preference
forms filed. When the vital records office receives a request for an original birth
certificate they will then open the adoptee's sealed file and check the file for the
names of the birth parent(s). These names will then be cross referenced with the birth
parent(s) names listed on the contact preference form index. If there is a match,
the vital records office will provide the adoptee a copy of the contact preference
form. The division shall inform the adoptee of his or her right to contact the Passive
Voluntary Adoption Mutual Consent Registry to see if an updated medical history form
has been filed by his or her birth parent.
(4) Beginning September 1, 2011, the division shall make reasonable efforts to inform
the public of the existence of the adoptee vital records file; the ability of adult
adoptees born in the State of Rhode Island to access non-certified copies of their
birth certificates subject to the provisions of this chapter; and the ability of the
birth parent(s) of adoptees to file a contact preference form with the division of
vital records.
(h) The division shall maintain the following statistics that shall be made available
to the general public on a quarterly basis or more frequently if possible:
(1) Number of original birth certificates released since the effective date of this bill;
(2) Number of contact preference forms filed; and
(3) Number of birth parent(s) who indicated on the contact preference form that they would
like to be contacted, would like to be contacted but only through an intermediary,
or do not want to be contacted.