After over 80 years of discrimination, secrets and sealed records, on November 14, 2019, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed legislation (S3419/A5494) which allows adoptees to receive a copy of their pre-adoption birth certificate when they turn 18 years old.

Any adopted person born and adopted in New York state who is over the age of 18 may now access their pre-adoptive, original birth certificate (OBC).  In addition, the new law allows  OBC access for both direct line descendants of an adoptee who has passed and the lawful representative of the adopted person or their descendants.

How and Where to Request Your New York OBC

All New York birth certificates are issued from two different sources dependent on the county of which you were born into. The state health department handles birth certificate requests for all people born in New York except for those born in New York City.  New York City is its own vital records district and handles birth certificate requests for people born in any of the five boroughs. This includes original birth certificates of people who were born in one of the boroughs and later adopted.

EXPECT SIGNIFICANT DELAYS

We all appreciate everyone’s patience as New York workers try to fulfill the high volume of requests for Pre-Adoption Birth Certificates during a global pandemic.

Currently, both New York state and New York City are experiencing significant delays in processing orders for Pre-Adoption Birth Certificates (OBC). At the direction of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s Executive Order 202, pertaining to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, offices are currently operating with reduced staff and resources along with a huge increase in the number of death certificates due to COVID-19.

Please continue to be patient. Please do not resubmit applications or email the DOH for an update on the status of your application. With their limited staff; this will only take needed time away from the search to fulfill our applications. We need to all do our best not to bog the system down.

OBC STATUS UPDATE

If you were born in ANY other county  in New York State that is NOT  part of the city Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens or Staten Island, you must apply for a copy of the original birth certificate with the New York State’s Department of Health Office of Vital Statistics.

BORN IN NEW YORK CITY

If you were born in one of the five boroughs of New York City – Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens or Staten Island –  you must apply for a copy of the original birth certificate with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

BORN IN NEW YORK STATE

If you were born in ANY other state  and then ADOPTED in New York, the new OBC law cannot compel another state to release their documents; however, the New York State’s Department of Health Office of Vital Statistics is working with out of state born NY adoptees to release the “identifying information, that would have appeared on such original birth certificate” as the law prescribes.

BORN IN ANOTHER STATE

The Coalition is not a government agency, does not provide direct search services, and is unable to assist you with accessing information in closed adoption records.  We ARE NOT SEARCHERS, however, we can point you in the right direction. Please see the Guide to Finding Your Birth Parents if Born and Adopted in New York State

Please refer to the New York State Vital Records FAQs; Pre-Adoption Birth Certificate Frequently Asked Questions

Page updated January 16, 2020. All New York Information can be found at https://health.ny.gov/vital_records/obtaining_birth_certificate.htm and https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/services/birth-certificates.page Â