HB 847 -- ADOPTION RECORDS

SPONSOR:  Fraser

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass by consent" by the Committee
on Civil and Administrative Law by a vote of 15 to 0.

Under current law, the Division of Family Services maintains a
registry by which birth parents and adopted adults may indicate
their desire to be contacted by each other.  Adopted adults must
still petition a court to obtain this identifying information.
This bill allows adult siblings of adopted persons to
participate in the registry.  The bill also allows courts to
directly disclose identifying information to adopted adults upon
their written request if their biological parents or adult
siblings have consented in writing to disclosure.

FISCAL NOTE:  No impact on state funds.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that siblings of adopted people
cannot find each other, under the current law.  Adopted people
and their siblings sometimes need to find their biological
relatives for medical reasons, such as finding bone marrow
donors  for leukemia victims.

Testifying for the bill were Representative Fraser; Freda Hynes;
and Theda Brabec.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

Richard Smreker, Senior Legislative Analyst

Missouri House of Representatives
Last Updated November 26, 2001 at 11:46 am