New Law Will Open Adoption Records

A new law signed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will allow thousands of Connecticut adoptees to obtain copies of their original birth certificates.

The law brings the state in line with more than a dozen others that have opened access to such records.

But new access to records applies only to adults whose adoptions were finalized after Oct. 1, 1983. Advocates are hoping state officials will eventually go further and allow thousands more adopted children to get the same information.

States across the country sealed birth certificates of adoptees from the 1940s through the 1980s, often with the intent of protecting adoptive families or the privacy of unwed mothers. But in recent years, a growing number of states have changed course.

Connecticut's new law will take effect July 1, 2015.
 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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