ALLOW ADOPTED INDIVIDUAL TO OBTAIN
A COPY OF ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH
House Bill 4896
Sponsor: Rep. Lisa Wojno
Committee: Families and Children's Services
Complete to 3-4-08
A SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILL 4896 AS INTRODUCED 6-12-07
The bill would amend the Public Health Code by adding Section 2832a to allow an adopted individual born in this state who is 21 years or older to obtain a certified copy of his or her original certificate of live birth that was sealed from inspection under the Code.
Application Procedure. Upon receipt of a written application, the state registrar would be required to issue to the adopted individual a certified copy the original certificate of live birth. The standard procedures and fees currently applicable to an applicant for a certified copy would apply to the adopted individual. The copy of the original certificate of live birth would have the following phrase marked on the face of the copy: "This document is a copy of a sealed record and is not the active birth certificate of the individual whose name appears on this document."
Contact Preference Form Procedure. At any time a birth parent of an adopted individual born in this state could submit to the State Registrar a contact preference form. Upon receipt of the form from a birth parent, the State Registrar would be required to match the contact preference form with the adopted individual's sealed record and file the form with the original certificate of live birth that was sealed from inspection. A contact preference form that has been submitted by a birth parent to the State Registrar would be confidential and would be placed in the adopted individual's sealed file until issued as provided under this section.
If a certified copy of an adopted individual's original certificate of live birth is issued, the State Registrar would also be required to issue to the adopted individual a copy of the contact preference forms in the file at the time of issuance.
Contact Preference Form. The Department of Community Health would be required to prescribe the contact preference form to be completed at the option of the birth parent. The form would include the following to be completed by the birth parent:
(a) I would like to be contacted.
(b) I would prefer to be contacted only through a confidential intermediary as provided in the Probate Code.
(c) I prefer not to be contacted at this time. If I decide later that I would like to be contacted, I will register with the Central Adoption Registry established in the Probate Code. I have completed an updated medical history as part of this contact preference form.
MCL 4896
FISCAL IMPACT:
House Bill 4896, as introduced, will have a fiscal impact on the Department of Community Health. The costs are dependent upon the number of eligible adopted persons who seek to obtain a birth certificate from the department under this provision, for which the current standard fee pursuant to statute is $26. At this time we do not have information indicating the total number of persons affected by this bill. The number of adoption placements annually in Michigan has averaged 2,645 per year over the past 10 years, indicating there may be a significant number of persons affected.
Currently, the costs of vital records program services exceed the fee revenue of the program. The costs to DCH of providing this service and establishing forms and procedures will have to be supported by the fee revenue, and by existing revenue of the department or additional state funding if demand is significant. The department indicates that as currently written, the bill will require vital records electronic system revisions that could require one-time up-front costs of $120,000 to $350,000.
Fiscal Analyst: Susan Frey
■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.