Beginning this month, adopted individuals in North Carolina have a new path to acquiring their birth certificates, thanks to the enactment of Senate Bill 248. As of January 1, those adopted in the state and born after 1971 can now request certified birth certificates through their county's Register of Deeds. This marks a step away from the former process which centralized the release of such documents in the North Carolina Vital Records Office in Raleigh, often causing delays and extra fees for adoptees seeking their records.
The law streamlines the procedure for obtaining birth certificates, which will henceforth appear identical to ones issued for non-adopted persons. They will recognize the adoptive parents as the legal parents, omitting any mention of the adoption. Yet, the law doesn't modify the status of sealed records: original birth certificates, those dated prior to an adoption event, and corresponding adoption files will stay sealed, out of public reach. In a statement obtained by Union County News, Sen. Todd Johnson, the proponent of the legislation, remarked, “This will help alleviate people who were adopted in their County from waiting months and paying unnecessary fees to obtain a copy of their birth certificate."
Integration with the North Carolina’s electronic birth registration system, known as NCDAVE, promises a more efficient process at the county level, which is appreciated by many who have struggled with the previous system. Adoptees from Union County, for instance, can now obtain their vital records from the local Union County Register of Deeds office directly.
Crystal Gilliard, the Register of Deeds of Union County, according to the information on the county's website, voiced her support for the change: "I join many other Registers of Deeds throughout North Carolina in thanking Senator Johnson for his efforts to make this possible."
