2022 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
Title 40 - Public Health and Safety
§40:73. Certified copy of the new record; sealing and confidentiality of the original birth record; issuance of original birth certificate
RS 40:73 - Certified copy of the new record; sealing and confidentiality of the original birth record; issuance of original birth certificate
A. Upon completion of the new record provided for in R.S. 40:72, the state registrar shall issue to the adopted person or to the adoptive parents a certified copy of the new record and shall place the original birth certificate, the contact preference form submitted pursuant to Subsection F of this Section, and the copy of the judgment or the copy of the act of adoption in a sealed package and shall file the package in the archives of the vital records registry.
B. This sealed package shall be opened only upon the demand of the adopted person, or if deceased, by his or her descendants, or upon the demand of the adoptive parent, or the state registrar, or the recognized public or private social agency which was a party to the adoption, and then only as provided in Subsections E and F of this Section or by order of a Louisiana court of competent jurisdiction at the domicile of the vital records registry, which order shall issue only after a showing of compelling reasons. Information shall be revealed only to the extent necessary to satisfy such compelling necessity.
C. In satisfying the requirement that information shall be revealed only to the extent necessary to satisfy the compelling necessity shown, the court is further authorized to use the services of the curator ad hoc appointment pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure Article 5091.2.
D. Except as provided in Subsection E of this Section, all motions for records under this Section shall be in accordance with and 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 the 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.
Acts 1992, No. 705, §2, eff. July 6, 1992; Acts 1993, No. 634, §4, eff. June 15, 1993; Acts 2022, No. 470, §2.
