US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

 
    §  114.  Order of adoption. 1. If satisfied that the best interests of
  the adoptive child will be promoted thereby the judge or surrogate shall
  make an order approving the adoption and  directing  that  the  adoptive
  child  shall  thenceforth be regarded and treated in all respects as the
  child of the adoptive parents or parent. In determining whether the best
  interests of the adoptive child will be promoted by  the  adoption,  the
  judge  or  surrogate  shall give due consideration to any assurance by a
  commissioner of social services that he will provide  necessary  support
  and  maintenance  for the adoptive child pursuant to the social services
  law. Such order shall contain the full name, date and place of birth and
  reference to the schedule annexed to the petition containing the medical
  history of the child in the body  thereof  and  shall  direct  that  the
  child's  medical  history,  heritage of the parents, which shall include
  nationality, ethnic background and race; education, which shall  be  the
  number  of  years  of school completed by the parents at the time of the
  birth of the adoptive child; general physical appearance of the  parents
  at  the  time  of  the  birth of the adoptive child, which shall include
  height, weight, color of hair, eyes, skin; occupation of the parents  at
  the  time of the birth of the adoptive child; health and medical history
  of the parents at the time of the birth of the adoptive child, including
  all available information setting forth conditions or diseases  believed
  to  be hereditary, any drugs or medication taken during the pregnancy by
  the child's mother; and any other information  which  may  be  a  factor
  influencing  the  child's present or future health, talents, hobbies and
  special interests of parents as contained in the petition  be  furnished
  to  the  adoptive  parents.  If the judge or surrogate is also satisfied
  that there is no reasonable objection to the change  of  name  proposed,
  the order shall direct that the name of the adoptive child be changed to
  the  name  stated  in  the  agreement of adoption and that henceforth he
  shall be known by that name. All such orders  made  by  a  family  court
  judge  of  Westchester  county  since  September  first nineteen hundred
  sixty-two, and on file in the office of the county clerk of such  county
  shall  be  transferred  to the clerk of the family court of such county.
  Such order and all the papers in the proceeding shall be  filed  in  the
  office of the court granting the adoption and the order shall be entered
  in  books  which  shall be kept under seal and which shall be indexed by
  the name of the adoptive parents and by the full original  name  of  the
  child. Such order, including orders heretofore entered, shall be subject
  to   inspection   and   examination   only   as   hereinafter  provided.
  Notwithstanding the fact that  adoption  records  shall  be  sealed  and
  secret,  they  may  be microfilmed and processed pursuant to an order of
  the court, provided that such order provides that the confidentiality of
  such records be maintained. If  the  confidentiality  is  violated,  the
  person or company violating it can be found guilty of contempt of court.
  The  fact  that  the  adoptive child was born out of wedlock shall in no
  case appear in such order.  The  written  report  of  the  investigation
  together  with all other papers pertaining to the adoption shall be kept
  by the judge or surrogate as a permanent record of his  court  and  such
  papers  must be sealed by him and withheld from inspection. No certified
  copy of the order of adoption shall issue  unless  authorized  by  court
  order,  except that certified copies may issue to the agency or agencies
  in the proceeding prior to the sealing of the papers. Before the  record
  is  sealed,  such order may be granted upon written ex parte application
  on good cause shown and upon such conditions as the  court  may  impose.
  After  the  record is sealed, such order may be granted only upon notice
  as hereinafter provided for  disclosure  or  access  and  inspection  of
  records.  The  clerk upon request of a person or agency entitled thereto
  shall issue certificates of adoption which shall contain  only  the  new
  name of the child and the date and place of birth of the child, the name
  of  the  adoptive parents and the date when and court where the adoption
  was granted, which certificate as to the  facts  recited  therein  shall
  have  the  same  force  and  effect  as  a certified copy of an order of
  adoption.
    2. No person, including the attorney for the  adoptive  parents  shall
  disclose the surname of the child directly or indirectly to the adoptive
  parents  except  upon  order  of  the  court. No person shall be allowed
  access to such sealed records and order and  any  index  thereof  except
  upon  an  order  of a judge or surrogate of the court in which the order
  was made or of a justice of the supreme court. No order  for  disclosure
  or access and inspection shall be granted except on good cause shown and
  on  due notice to the adoptive parents and to such additional persons as
  the court may direct.  Nothing  contained  herein  shall  be  deemed  to
  require  the  state  commissioner  of health or his designee to secure a
  court order authorizing disclosure of information contained in  adoption
  or  birth  records  requested  pursuant  to  the  authority  of  section
  forty-one  hundred   thirty-eight-c   or   section   forty-one   hundred
  thirty-eight-d  of  the  public  health  law;  upon  the receipt of such
  request for  information,  the  court  shall  transmit  the  information
  authorized to be released thereunder to the state commissioner of health
  or his designee.
    3.  In  like  manner as a court of general jurisdiction exercises such
  powers, a judge or surrogate of a court in which the order  of  adoption
  was made may open, vacate or set aside such order of adoption for fraud,
  newly discovered evidence or other sufficient cause.
    4.  Good  cause  for  disclosure or access to and inspection of sealed
  adoption records and orders  and  any  index  thereof,  hereinafter  the
  "adoption  records",  under  this  section may be established on medical
  grounds as provided herein. Certification from a physician  licensed  to
  practice  medicine  in  the  state  of  New  York that relief under this
  subdivision is required to address a serious physical or mental  illness
  shall  be  prima  facie evidence of good cause. Such certification shall
  indentify the information required to address such illness. Except where
  there is an immediate medical need for the information sought, in  which
  case  the court may grant access to the adoption records directly to the
  petitioner, the court hearing   petition  under  the  subdivision  shall
  appoint  a  guardian  ad  litem or other disinterested person, who shall
  have access to the adoption records for the  purpose  of  obtaining  the
  medical  information sought from those records or, where the records are
  insufficient  for  such  purpose,  through  contacting  the   biological
  parents.  The  guardian  or  other  disinterested  person  shall offer a
  biological parent the option of  disclosing    the  medical  information
  sought  by  the  petitioner pursuant to this subdivision, as well as the
  option of granting consent to examine the parent's medical  records.  If
  the guardian or other disinterested person appointed does not obtain the
  medical   information   sought  by  the  petitioner,  such  guardian  or
  disinterested person shall make a report of his or her efforts to obtain
  such information to the court. Where  further  efforts  to  obtain  such
  information  are  appropriate, the court may in its discretion authorize
  direct disclosure or access to and inspection of the adoption records by
  the petitioner.