Overview of current state-level adoptee rights or adoption-related legislation in the United States for the 2025 legislative sessions. Federal legislation related to adopted people is here. Legislative maps and bill analysis for prior sessions are available for 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Map and Bill Descriptions
Summaries and analysis provided by Gregory D. Luce. Current as of January 15, 2025. Color Key.
KEY: Active • Enacted • Dead/Carried Over
2025 Adoptee Rights Legislation (Domestic)
Active State Bills
KEY: Support | Neutral | Oppose | Impacts intercountry adoptees
Maryland
HB243 Carryover bill from 2024 that repeals the requirement that an adult’s legal parents must consent to the person’s adoption— even as an adult. Adult adoption—i.e., the adoption of one adult by another adult or adults—is an option in every state in the United States, and very few states have significant limitations on the procedure. Most states allow adults to adopt other adults, and the only requirement for most of these adoptions is the consent of the adult to be adopted. Maryland, however, is currently one of two states in the United States to require the consent of the adult adoptee as well as the adoptee’s legal parents at the time of the proposed adoption. As such, adults who legally wish to end their current relationship with their parents—for whatever reason— may not do so in Maryland unless they first obtain their current parents’ consent. This bill eliminates the need of an adult to consent for an adoption from their parents. It was introduced in 2024 and received hearings in committee and voted out of the Maryland House on a unanimous vote. It has returned for the 2025 session.
Nebraska
LB70 Messy adult adoption bill that continues the requirement of any legal parent to consent to adoption of their adult child. This is a mess of a bill in a mess of a state for adult adoption. First, Nebraska is one of the few states that significantly restrict adult adoptions. It currently requires the prospective adoptee to have a parent-child relationship with the proposed adoptive parent at least six months before the age of majority, as well as the adult to have no living parents. If person’s legal parents are alive, thoe parents must have “relinquished the adult child for adoption by a written instrument,” abandoned the adult child prior to the age of majority, or are not capable of consenting to the adoption. HB243 now adds a provision that, if the adult child has only one legal parent, that parent must still consent to the adoption.
New York
A8412/S7261. Extends the issuance of New York state foreign certificates of birth to adult intercountry adopted people. In most states an intercountry adoptee as a minor can be issued a certificate of foreign birth so long as there is a full and final adoption registered in state court. This bill extends the issuance of a foreign certificate of birth (which New York calls a “certificate of birth data”) to any adoptee of any age, including people adopted as adults. It also makes the ability to obtain a certificate of birth data retroactive for adoptees who did not previously receive such a certificate as a child (New York did not begin issuing certificates of birth data to intercountry adoptees until the late 1970s). A8412 was introduced in 2023, and it is carried by Assemblymember Amy Paulin; S7261 is being carried by Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal. While it moved out of committee in the Senate last year, it got stuck in the Senate Rules Committee, where it starts again in 2025.
SB7303. Requires insurance coverage for medically-related genetic testing for adoptees and those who were in foster care. We are starting to see DNA-related bills like this in various states. This is fairly straightforward and requires medical insurers to “provide coverage for comprehensive medical genetic testing to determine the presence or absence of an inherited genetic characteristic . . . to persons who were adoptees . . . or who were persons placed in foster care.” Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (D-Staten Island) introduced the bill. It was assigned to the Senate Insurance Committee, where it did not receive further consideration in 2024 and where it starts again in 2025.
Tennessee
HB102 Lowers age to obtain adoption records from 21 to 18; allows limited release of certain adoption records in cases where evidence of rape or incest had earlier prohibited release. Tennessee has a complex system to obtain “adoption records,” which includes an original birth record and additional adoption-related records. Current law allows an adult adopted person at age 21 to request and obtain these records, though the fee to request records is a whopping $150. HB102 lowers the age to 18. Current law also prohibits release of adoption records when the “records indicate that, with respect to the adopted person, the biological parent was the victim of rape or incest.” HB102 would allow release in such cases if the biological parent is deceased. The bill also expands release of records to include requests from adoptive parents whose children are under 18, in addition to the state agency in certain cases. Rep. William Lamberth (R-Portland) introduced the bill early in the session.
Texas
HB1887 Releases a noncertified copy of an adopted person’s original birth record upon request if the adopted person is at least 18 years of age. Texas advocates continue their decades-long effort to enact an unrestricted equal rights law for the release of an adopted person’s own original birth record. HB1087, sponsored by Rep. Will Metcalf (R-District 16), is straightforward and reinstates the right of a Texas-born adult adopted person to request and obtain their own original birth record if they are at least 18 years of age. If the adopted person is deceased, the bill allows an adult descendant, adult sibling, surviving spouse, or an adoptive parent of the adopted person to request and obtain the record. It has not yet been assigned to committee.
Utah
HB129 Provides adoption documents, which include an original birth record, upon request of the adult adopted person. Utah last amended its current law in 2020 to require a birthparent’s permission to release any “adoption documents.” That law went into effect in November 2021. This bill attempts to repeal the 2020 law and to establish the simple unrestricted right of an adult adopted person to request and obtain copies of their “adoption documents.” Under Utah law, adoption documents include “adoption-related document 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.” Introduced on January 7, 2025, the bill is being carried by Representative Raymond Ward (R-Davis County).
Virginia
HB2093 Reintroduced OBC bill that now adds a contact preference form. Delegate Wendell S. Walker (R-District 52) has prefiled a bill that the Virginia legislature has seen before: in 2023 and 2024. This time, the bill adds a contact preference form, which gives the option for birthparents to express a preference for contact from the adult adopted person. The Virginia Adoptee Rights Alliance has been pursuing the bill since 2023.
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