SB 685 - This act allows an adopted person, the adopted person's attorney, or the adopted person's descendants, if the adopted person is deceased, to obtain a copy of the adopted person's original birth certificate from the State Registrar upon written application and proof of identification. The adopted person shall be 18 years of age or older and born in Missouri. The State Registrar shall release the original birth certificate if the birth mother is deceased or cannot be found. Under these circumstances, the registrar shall inform the adopted person that the birth certificate shall be released five years from the date of the initial application and upon the adopted person's subsequent written application for release of the birth certificate and notification to the state registrar that the five years have passed.
If the birth mother is not deceased, the State Registrar shall, within three months of application by the adopted person, make reasonable efforts to contact the birth mother via telephone, personally and confidentially, to obtain the birth mother's written consent or denial to release the original birth certificate. If the birth mother could not be contacted, the adopted person may re-apply for a copy of the original birth certificate once every two years from the end of the three-month period during which the attempted contact with the birth mother was previously made.
ADRIANE CROUSE