Maryland Family Law Section 5-329

CAUTION: READ FULL TEXT OF SECTION FOR SPECIAL NOTE

** SPECIAL NOTE: SECTION DUE TO BE REPEALED - EFFECTIVE - JANUARY 1, 2006 - CHAPTER 464 OF 2005 **

      (a)      (1)      (i)      On request by an adopted individual or birth parent of an adopted adult, a child placement agency shall provide any medical or nonidentifying information contained in its adoption records without the showing of any need for the medical or nonidentifying information.

                  (ii)      On petition by an adopted individual or birth parent of an adopted adult, a court shall order that part of a court record or child placement agency record containing medical or nonidentifying information be opened to inspection by the individual.

                  (iii)      Subject to the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, an adopted individual or birth parent of an adopted adult filing a petition under subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph may not be required to make any particular showing of need for the medical or nonidentifying information.

            (2)      In the case of a child placement agency record, the court may not grant the petition unless the child placement agency has refused to release the medical or nonidentifying information.

      (b)      The court may not order opened for inspection any part of a record that contains any information that reveals the location or identity of the individual's birth parents.

      (c)      (1)      If neither the court record nor the child placement agency record contain needed medical information, on petition by an adopted individual, a court may appoint an intermediary to attempt to establish contact with the adopted individual's birth parents in order to obtain the needed medical information.

            (2)      A court may appoint an intermediary for purposes of paragraph (1) of this subsection only after a hearing on the petition and a finding from the evidence presented at the hearing that the adopted individual or a blood relative of the adopted individual is in urgent need of the medical information.

      (d)      (1)      The role of an intermediary appointed under subsection (c) of this section is limited to advising the adopted individual's birth parents of the need for the medical information without revealing any identifying information about the adopted individual and may not in any manner include any effort to encourage or discourage contact between the adopted individual and the individual's birth parents.

            (2)      The intermediary shall file a confidential written report with the court in regard to the intermediary's efforts to contact the adopted individual's birth parents.

            (3)      After receiving the report from the intermediary under paragraph (2) of this subsection, the court, without revealing any identifying information about the individual's birth parents, may disclose to the adopted individual:

                  (i)      whether the intermediary has established contact with the individual's birth parents and advised the individual's birth parents about the need for the medical information; and

                  (ii)      any medical information provided by a birth parent.

      (e)      Notwithstanding any provision of law, a court may order the adopted individual to pay a reasonable fee for the services provided by an intermediary under this subsection.