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Ohio Senator Bill Beagle
Historic
Adoption Records Law Takes Effect March 20
COLUMBUS– State Senators Bill Beagle (R-Tipp City) and Dave Burke
(R-Marysville) co-sponsored bipartisan legislation that is set to take
effect on March 20, 2015. Next Friday, 400,000 people born in
Ohio and adopted between January 1, 1964 and September 18, 1996 can
request a copy of their original birth certificate.
After a 15-month implementation period, required by the Ohio Department
of Health Vital Statistics Office in order to inform the public and to
allow birth parents an opportunity to complete a contact preference
form, affected adoptees will be able to request their adoption file
next week.
“As an adoptee myself, I know completing the quest for personal
identity isn't about finding family, but identifying the path that
brought you to the place you call home today.” said Burke. “I
hope this new law allows for some closure to those other adoptees
simply seeking a fuller sense of self-awareness that natural born
children never have to question.”
“My sister was adopted in a state where adoption records are still
closed, and I have watched her struggle to find vital pieces of her
biological family history. While I can’t help her, I can help Ohioans
who have struggled the same way to establish personal records,” said
Beagle. “The changes in Senate Bill 23 were long overdue, and I am
thankful that Ohioans can now access essential health information
related to their family history.”
Adoptees between 1964 and 1996 will be able to request their adoption
file by filling out an application on the Ohio Department of Health’s
Office of Vital Statistics website, which requires a $20 processing
fee. The Office of Vital Statistics will provide the current
processing time on their website although most requests are typically
completed within 7-10 business days.
A 1963 law in Ohio closed those records in 1964. Years of
advocacy by Adoption Network Cleveland for adoptees affected by the
1963 law was instrumental in its passage through the 130th General
Assembly.
“Previously, the state of Ohio had an unfair three-tier system for
access to records by adults adopted – before 1964, from 1964 to 1996,
and after 1996. This law addressed that critical window where the
records remained closed,” said Betsie Norris, Executive Director and
Founder of Adoption Network Cleveland.
Ohio is the 9th state to change their laws to allow access to adoptee
records from a previously closed period. Equal access to original birth
certificates can now be celebrated in the state of Ohio.
For more information: http://bit.ly/ohadopteelaw.
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