Sec. 7-53. Birth certificates of adopted persons born in this state.
Sec. 7-53. Birth certificates of adopted persons born in this state. Upon receipt
of the record of adoption referred to in subsection (e) of section 45a-745 or of other
evidence satisfactory to the department that a person born in this state has been adopted,
the department shall prepare a new birth certificate of such adopted person, except that
no new certificate of birth shall be prepared if the court decreeing the adoption, the
adoptive parents or the adopted person, if over fourteen years of age, so requests. Such
new birth certificate shall include all the information required to be set forth in a certificate of birth of this state as of the date of birth, except that the adopting parents shall
be named as the parents instead of the genetic parents and, when a certified copy of the
birth of such person is requested by an authorized person, a copy of the new certificate
of birth as prepared by the department shall be provided. Any person seeking to examine
or obtain a copy of the original record or certificate of birth shall first obtain a written
order signed by the judge of the probate court for the district in which the adopted person
was adopted or born in accordance with section 45a-753, or a written order of the Probate
Court in accordance with the provisions of section 45a-752, stating that the court is of
the opinion that the examination of the birth record of the adopted person by the adopting
parents or the adopted person, if over eighteen years of age, or by the person wishing
to examine the same or that the issuance of a copy of such birth certificate to the adopting
parents or the adopted person, if over eighteen years of age, or to the person applying
therefor will not be detrimental to the public interest or to the welfare of the adopted
person or to the welfare of the genetic or adoptive parent or parents. Upon receipt of
such court order, the registrar of vital statistics of any town in which the birth of such
person was recorded, or the department, may issue the certified copy of the original
certificate of birth on file, marked with a notation by the issuer that such original certificate of birth has been superseded by a replacement certificate of birth as on file, or may
permit the examination of such record. Immediately after a new certificate of birth has
been prepared, an exact copy of such certificate, together with a written notice of the
evidence of adoption, shall be transmitted by the department to the registrar of vital
statistics of each town in this state in which the birth of the adopted person is recorded.
The new birth certificate, the original certificate of birth on file and the evidence of
adoption shall be filed and indexed, under such regulations as the commissioner adopts,
in accordance with chapter 54, to carry out the provisions of this section and to prevent
access to the records of birth and adoption and the information therein contained without
due cause, except as provided in this section. Any person, except such parents or adopted
person, who discloses any information contained in such records, except as provided
in this section, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more
than six months, or both. Whenever a certified copy of an adoption decree from a court of
a foreign country, having jurisdiction of the adopted person, is filed with the department
under the provisions of this section, such decree, when written in a language other than
English, shall be accompanied by an English translation, which shall be subscribed and
sworn to as a true translation by an American consulate officer stationed in such foreign
country.
(1949 Rev., S. 580; 1957, P.A. 298, S. 2; 1961, P.A. 319; 1972, P.A. 127, S. 5; P.A. 75-170, S. 1; P.A. 77-246, S. 17;
77-604, S. 63, 84; 77-614, S. 323, 610; P.A. 88-364, S. 73, 123; P.A. 93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 94-26; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21,
58; P.A. 96-202, S. 3; P.A. 01-163, S. 15; P.A. 03-19, S. 17.)
History: 1961 act authorized department to accept evidence satisfactory to it of fact of adoption, provided for adopted
person or adopting parents to give written authorization for certification or examination of original record, provided for
sending a copy of the new certificate rather than notice to other municipalities and required that copy of adoption decree
in foreign language be accompanied by English translation; 1972 act changed age of majority from 21 to 18; P.A. 75-170
deleted provision which allowed adopted person or adopting parents access to birth certificate upon written request; P.A.
77-246 substituted "genetic parents" for "natural parents" and "adoptive" for "adopting" and allowed release of certificate
on order of adoption records review board or of any court; P.A. 77-604 replaced release upon order of any court with
release in accordance with Sec. 8 of P.A 77-246 (Sec. 45-68k); P.A. 77-614 substituted department of health services for
department of health, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 88-364 substituted order of the probate court for order of the adoption
records review board; P.A. 93-381 replaced department of health services with department of public health and addiction
services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 94-26 added provision requiring that copy of original birth certificate be noted that
it has been superseded by a new certificate; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and
Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 96-202 made technical
change; P.A. 01-163 made technical changes, added provision re requests for no new certificate of birth and revised
provisions re issuance of certified copy and examination of record, requiring probate court order to examine or obtain a
copy of the original record or certificate of birth; P.A. 03-19 made technical changes, effective May 12, 2003.
See Sec. 19a-41 re regulations specifying methods of reporting, recording, issuing, maintaining, indexing, correcting
and amending vital records and statistics.
Cited. 138 C. 599. The enactment of public act 77-246 while appeal was pending effected a "substantial change in the
law" concerning the disclosure of adopted persons' birth records and, thus, was not applied retroactively. 177 C. 93.