We do all the tedious work so you don’t have to.
All information is taken from official state legislative pages unless otherwise indicated. We also link each bill to LegiScan, an easy way to check on bills. For more information on these bills, click on the appropriate links. Go to individual State Pages for more details on state actions. such as Action Alerts, testimonies, reports, and news stories. BN submits testimony and letters regularly to legislatures, but these documents will not go live until after a hearing or floor vote has taken place. Depending on state rules, some bills may be renumbered during sessions or when they are carried over from a previous session. Reported by Marley Greiner (additions and corrections are welcome!)
Prior legislative sessions: 2024! 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014
2025 State Legislative Schedules and dates
Original Birth Certificate and Adoption Records
HB1395 Legislative Page Legiscan
Summary: Another attempt to restore the right of Mississippi-born adopted people to obtain a copy of their original birth certificates. The bill is a little confusing, but it appears that the OBC will be released without restriction to those 21 and older. A Contact Preference Form is included in the bill, but if a parent forbids contact, the OBC will still be released, although other identifying information will not.
Sponsor: Rep Billy Calvert
Oppose:
Support: Bastard Nation (waiting for confirmation from other organizations)
Actions:
January 20, 2025: Introduced; Referred to House Judiciary Committee B
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SB2284 Legislative Page Legiscan
Summary: Restores the right of adopted people 18 and over, without restrictions or conditions. It also releases a certified copy of the adoption decree and any parental identification included on it. Also allows adopted people to receive a copy of an amended BC if an adoption has been vacated or annulled. The bill has bi-partisan support, but both houses ate overwhelming Republican.
Sponsor: Sen Kathy Hogan (D), Rep Gretchen Dobervich (D). Sen Carrie McLeod (R). Sen SuAnn Olson (R), Sen Desiree VanOosting (R). Sen Mark F Weber
Oppose: In 2017 the Catholic Conference of North Dakota and Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota opposed a similar bill. We haven’t seen any comments this session.
Support: Bastard Nation, Adoptee Rights Law Center, Adoptees United. We do not know the origin of this bill. ND Adoptee Rights has not posted on FB since mid-2022.
Actions:
January 20, 2025: Introduced; 1st reading; Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee
January 29, 2025: Hearing scheduled in Senate Judiciary Committee
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HB102 Legislative Page Legiscan
Summary: Lowers age from 21 to 18 for adopted people born in Tennessee to receive their adoption recordsl; allows release of adoption records that indicate the biological parent was the victim of and/or incest and isdeceased; allows release of adoption records to the adoptive parents if the adoptee is unde 18. Very long summary here
Sponsor: Rep William Lamberth (R), Rep Mark Cochran (R)
Oppose:
Support
Actions:
January 14, 2025: Introduced; waiting assignment
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HB1887 Legislative Page Legiscan
Summary: Restores the right of Texas-born adoptees 18 and older to obtain their OBCs. If also allows an adult sibings; surviving spouses, and adoptive parents to obtain a copy of the document if the adoptee is deceased. This is the latest attempt to rescue OBCs from the grubby fingers of the Texas adoption industry and their friends in Senate–specifically Dr. Donna Campbell, who has chosen this hill to die on. These bills have no problem passing in the House
Sponsor: Rep William Metcalf (R)
Oppose:
Support: Bastard Nation, Texas Adoptee Rights Coalition, Adoptee Rights Law Center, Gladney Adoptees for Rights and Equality, TxSTAR, TxCare
Actions:
January 16, 2025: Introduced
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HB129 Legislative Page Legiscan
Summary: Restores the right of Utah-born adopted people to their OBCs and other adoption documents, defined under current Utah law to include “adoption-related documenst filed with the office, a petition for adoption, a decree of adoption, an original birth certificate, or evidence submitted in support of a supplementary birth certificate.”
Sponsor: Rep Raymond P Ward (R)
Oppose:
Support: Bastard Nation, Adoptee Rights Law Center, Adoptees United.
Actions:
January 21, 2025: Introduced in House Rules Committee; 1st Reading, Referred to House Judiciary Committee
January 23, 2025: Received in Standing Committee of House Judiciary Committee
January 29, 2025: Hearing scheduled in House Judiciary Committee
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HB2093 Legiscan
Summary: Nearly Identical to last session’s bill that passed House 66-32. Unrestricted access for all Virginia-born adoptees at the age of 18 with no restrictions or conditions. The ony change from last session is the addition of a Cntact Preference Form, which does not restrict access.
Sponsor: Pat. Wendell Walker
Support: Bastard Nation, Adoptee Rights Law Center, Adoptees United, Capitol Adoptee Rights Coalition, Children’s Home Society of Virginia, C2 Adoptions, Virginia Adoptee Rights Alliance
Oppose:
Actions
January 7, 2025: Prefiled: Referred to House Health and Human Services Committee
January 14, 2025: Referred to House Behavioral Health Subcommittee
January 23, 2025: House Behavioral Health Subcommittee recommends 6-2; Sent to House Health and Human Services Committee
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ADOPTEE-RELATED BILL YOU MIGHT TO INTERESTED IN
Coming Soon!
Traditional Safe Haven Bills
HB1099 Legislative Page Legscan
Summary: Indiana and SHBB Inc are at it again. This time to raise the age of babies eligible for safe haven “relinquishment” from 30 to 60 days. The biill also repeals the definition of “abandoned infant” and amends definition of “foster youth.” According to Legislative Services Report the bill could potentially affect the DCS family case manager workload to the extent the policy and procedures for an abandoned infant are different than a safe haven infant.
Sponsor: Rep Dale DeVon (R)
Support: SHBB Inc
Oppose: Bastard Nation, Adoptees United, Adoptee Rights Law Center, Missouri Open, New York Adoptee Rights Coalition, Texas Adoptee Rights Coalition, Equal Access Oklahoma, Oklahoma Original Birth Certificates for All Adult Adoptee, Michigan Adoptee Rights Coalition, Stop Safe Haven Baby Boxes Now, Saving Our Sisters, National Association of Adoptees, and Parents. Oppose expansion of age.
Actions:
- January 8, 2025: First reading: referred to Committee on Family, Children and Human Affairs
- January 29, 2025: Hearing scheduled in House Family, Children and Human Affairs Committee
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HB1311 Legislative Page Legiscan
HB1311 Summary: Provides that when the department of child services (department) or a licensed child placing agency takes custody of a child who is voluntarily left with an emergency services provider or in a newborn safety device, the department or licensed child placing agency shall: (1) not later than 72 hours after taking custody of the child, contact each licensed child placing agency in Indiana and request that the licensed child placing agency inform the department of any suitable prospective adoptive parent for the child known to the licensed child placing agency; and (2) collaborate with licensed child placing agencies to identify a prospective adoptive parent for the child. Requires the department to: (1) request that the Indiana department of health conduct one or more searches of the putative child registry on behalf of the child before a petition is filed to terminate parental rights with regard to the child, with at least one request being made not earlier than 30 days after the estimated date of birth of the child; and (2) notify an individual identified as a potential father by the registry search that the individual’s consent to termination of the parent-child relationship will be irrevocably implied if the individual does not file a paternity action with regard to the child. Provides that when considering an out-of-home placement for the child during child in need of services proceedings, if a court, the department, or the licensed child placing agency is unable to locate a suitable and willing relative (or de facto custodian, if applicable) with whom to place the child, the court or the department shall consider placing the child with a prospective adoptive parent before considering any other placement for the child. Requires that a child’s case plan include certain information. (NOTE: Current Indians law permits a SH and SHBB locations to contact adoption agencies for permanent placement; they are not required to inform state social service agencies of the event.
Sponsor: Rep Ryan Lauer
Support:
Oppose:
Actions:
January 13, 2025: Introduced; 1st Reading; Referred to House Judiciary Committee
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SB Legislative Page Legiscan
Summary: Amends the current South Carolina Safe Haven Law to clarify procedures and practices at safe haven drop off locations, social and adoption services and courts. Long summary here.
Sponsor: Sen Billy Garett (R)
Oppose:
Support:
Actions:
January 14, 2025: Introduced;1st reading; Referred to Senate Family and Veterans’ Services Committee
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Safe Haven Baby Box Bills
Many Safe Haven Baby Box bills have been introduced this year.
Please go to the Legislation Page at the top Stop Haven Baby Boxes Now! website for detailed legislative information as well as many other details, including individual state pages.
Federal Legislation
Most federal legislation does not pertain to adoptee civil rights directly, but we are featuring several bills that are connected to the activist concerns and our community.
HR8617 / SB4448 Equal Citizenship for Children Act of 2024-sponsored by Rep Adam Smith and Sen Maizie Hirono Carried over from 2023. Currently in the House Judiciary Committee.
This bill expands the application of automatic acquisition of citizenship for certain children born outside of the United States. Specifically, the bill provides citizenship retroactively to such a child who, while under the age of 18, (1) resided in the United States as a lawful permanent resident (or had a pending application for such status), and (2) was in the legal custody of the child’s citizen parent. It also eliminates the physical custody requirement for the automatic acquisition of citizenship. The bill applies to a child meeting these requirements who was born after noon on January 9, 1941, but who turned 18 before February 27, 2001 (the effective date of the Child Citizenship Act of 2000).
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HR6700 Adoption Counts Act sponsored by Rep Doug Lamborn. (December 11, 2023). Referred to House Ways and Means Committee
Would you believe that nobody really knows how many adoptions take place in the US each year? We would! The bill intends to fix this by requiring state courts to report the number of private adoptions performed each year to the Children’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Data collected will include age at time of adoption, whether adoption is by step-parent, legal guardian, unrelated person, or gestational surrogacy. Covers domestic and international cases.
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HR6220 ADOPT Act (Adoption Deserves Oversight, Protection, and Transparency Act of 2023) sponsored by Rep Ann M Kuster. (November 11, 2023) Currently in House Judiciary Committee.
Reigns in non-licensed for-profit adoption intermediaries, aka brokers, by (1) prohibiting adoption advertising and paid private adoption services unless they are through a licensed child-placing agency or licensed attorney; and (2) restricting payments to birthmothers unless the payments are made through a licensed provider in the state where the mother lives.
