* N.Y. OBC Tour 5 *
STATE OF NEW YORK
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
EXECUTIVE DIVISION
March 22, 1950
Hon. Lawrence E. Walsh
Counsel to the Governor
Capitol
Albany, New York
Dear Mr. Walsh:
Re: Assembly Int. 2344.
The above bill is the New York City counter-part of Assembly Int. 1881, which has been amended at accordance with suggestions made by this department.
We have no objection to the enactment of the above bill.
Very truly yours,
[signed]
Earl W. Murray
Director
Office of Legal Affairs.
EWM:sg
4
CITY OF NEW YORK
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
NEW YORK 7, N.Y.
March 31, 1950 Ass. Int. 2344…Pr. 2474…Corso
AN ACT To Amend the administrative code of the
city of New York, in relation to sup-
plemental birth records Honorable Thomas E. Dewey
Governor of the State of New York
Albany, New York
Dear Governor:
I have received your request for my recommendation on the above bill, which is before you for executive action.
The object of this bill is to amend the New York City Administrative Code, effective July 1, 1950, so as to require the New York City Department of Health to make a new birth record wherever it receives notification from a court clerk or proof is submitted of a judgment, order or decree relating to adoption of the person (N. Y. C. Adm. Code �567-2.0(a)3new). The Department of Health would be required to enter a notation on every new birth record made because of adoption that the record was filed pursuant to the new paragraph 3 (N.Y.C. Adm. Code �567-2.0(b)).
The effect of this bill would be to eliminate the present requirement that on every new birth record made because of adoption, the notation “by adoption” must be entered. The substitution of a requirement of entry of notice of filing pursuant to N.Y.C. Adm. Code �567-2.0(a)(3) would have the salutory effect of preserving to a large extent, the intimate relationship of adoptions.
The bill has been approved by the New York City Department of Health.
I recommend that you approve the bill.
Very truly yours,
[signed]
DEPUTY MAYOR.
5
to be added
Adoptees in New York State are meant have their original birth certificates available to them.
The certificates were sealed to protect “illegitimates,” all adoptees included, from the stigma of illegitimacy. The intent behind Public Health Law � 4138 and NYC Administrative Code � 167-168 was to “preserve the records and make them available, but [to] prevent outsiders as well as curious clerks from securing the data on the original certificate, except if they could secure a court order” (Message of the Governor 1936, at 29). These sections have *not* been amended in any way to make the procedure for accessing original birth certificates either easier or more difficult. Consequently, the intent of these laws remains the same today.
None of the bills currently before the Legislature amending PHL 4138 are desirable. They should all be rejected. Commentary on adoption records bills for the current legislative session is to be found here. Links to the Legislature’s pages for these bills are also available there.
Both statutes do, however, still call for amendment. The intent of the law should be explicitly stated as part of the law. The procedure for adoptees to access their own original birth certificates should occur through the Department of Health Vital Statistics, with no additional charge. That way, adoptees would be treated the same way under the law as non-adopted persons.
The current version of PHL 4138 may be read at the Assembly website (scroll down to Section 4138) or directly through the Senate gopher.
For an acceptable alteration of these two statutes, see Bastard Nation’s Model Adoption Records Legislation.
The U.S. jurisdictions of Alaska, Kansas, Oregon(*records will be open once Doe v. State fails and OR Measure 58 is upheld), Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have open records, so their laws are also worth consulting.
End of sealing original birth certificates.
