Committee hears SB 381 on adoptees' access to original birth certificates; moves bill to suspense

Senator Wahab presented SB 381, saying "In California, adoptees do not have access to their own original birth certificate because the certificate is sealed at adoption," and described the bill as a measure to restore access and lessen barriers for adoptees. The senator said the bill would authorize disclosure of an original birth certificate to an adopted person or a descendant of an adopted person and would require the state registrar to create a nonbinding contact preference form for birth parents.

Wendy Turk of the California Alliance for Adoptee Rights testified in support and framed the change as both a civil-rights and administrative issue. Turk told the committee that moving access from a judicial to a nonjudicial administrative process could "reduce unnecessary court involvement," help courts with backlogs, and that fees for obtaining an original certificate could help offset implementation costs. Turk closed her remarks by urging committee members to "please vote yes on SB 381."

Wahab summarized the bill's purpose as addressing health and identity concerns that can arise when adoptees cannot access family health histories and information about race, heritage and cultural affiliation. She noted provisions that would remove a current inability to request certain amended birth certificates that omit city and county of birth or parental race/color, and she cited that similar laws have been enacted in a number of other states in recent years.

The committee did not take a policy-level debate in this session (members had been instructed to limit testimony to fiscal aspects), and no Department of Finance comment was recorded for the bills heard this morning. After testimony, the chair moved SB 381 to the committee's suspense file "without objection." The bill will remain in suspense pending further committee action or reintroduction on a future agenda.