Overview of current state-level adoptee rights or adoption-related legislation in the United States for the upcoming 2026 legislative sessions. Federal legislation related to adopted people is here. Legislative maps and bill analysis for prior sessions are available for 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Map and Bill Descriptions
Summaries and analysis by Gregory D. Luce. Current through March 26, 2026
KEY: Active • Enacted • Dead/Carried Over
2026 Adoptee Rights Legislation (Domestic)
Active Bills
KEY: Support | Neutral | Oppose | Impacts intercountry adoptees
California
SB381 [PASSED SENATE] Unrestricted equal rights bill that would release an adult adopted person’s original birth record upon request. This bill started off as a completely different bill in 2025, and a “strike all” amendment gutted the old bill and substituted new language. At its core, the bill would restore the equal right of California-born adult adopted people to request and obtain their own original birth records. The bill also allows adult descendants of a deceased adopted person to request the record. It also has a standard “contact preference form” that a birthparent may file to express any preference for contact. Senator Aisha Wahab is carrying the bill. It passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 13, 2026, then through the Senate Health Committee the next day. It ultimately passed the full Senate 35-0. It is now in the Assembly for consideration. The California Alliance for Adoptee Rights is the primary organization advocating for the bill.
SB927 Allows an adult intercountry adoptee to secure a court order that validates an intercountry adoption that had already been finalized in the adoptee’s country of birth but was not previously registered in state court. This bill, authored by Sen. Steven Choi, would authorize an adult adoptee “to file a petition on their own behalf if both the adoptive parent or parents and the adoption agency that facilitated an intercountry adoption adoption failed to file a petition to readopt . . . .” It applies specifically to adoptions finalized in the country of birth and for which an IR-3 “orphan visa” was issued to allow the child’s immigration to the United States. In substance, the bill allows an adult adopted person to register or validate their full and final foreign adoption in a California state court—presuming it had not been registered previously—resulting in a court order that can be used to create a California state-issued delayed registration of birth. While California uses the term “readoption” to describe this procedure, it is not generally considered a readoption nor a finalized adoption, as the adoption had already been finalized in the country of birth. It does not apply to any other intercountry adoptions where the adoption needed to be finalized in state court, such as an IR-4 visa. The bill also requires specific certified documents, such as the foreign adoption decree, that may not be readily available to the adult adoptee decades after an adoption. It has a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 21, 2026.
Pennsylvania
HB536/SB644 Eliminates redactions and other discriminatory provisions previously enacted in 2018. These bills do what’s needed to amend current Pennsylvania law so that Pennsylvania-born adult adopted people will have a right to receive a copy of their own original birth certificate without any discriminatory provisions. Specifically, they eliminate the nutty creation of a “summary” document that lists information on the birth record but does not provide an actual copy of the record. The bills also eliminate a high school graduation (or equivalent) requirement to request your original birth record. And, importantly, the bills repeal the ability of a birthparent to redact information on the original birth record. Rep. Tara Probst introduced the bill in the House, where it is currently assigned to the Health Committee. Sen. Cris Dush in the Senate is the prime sponsor, and it has been assigned to the Health and Human Services Committee.
South Carolina
H5347 Restores the right of adult adopted people to request and obtain a copy of their own original pre-adoption birth certificates. South Carolina has fiddled with adoptee rights and original birth records for years now, each time getting it wrong. This one gets it right—if it can survive past opposition from legislators, typically on the basis of “birthparent privacy.” H5347 would repeal prior restrictive provisions, largely related to requiring consent or death of the birthparent (called “cake or death” provisions). The bill retains a current birthparent contact preference form, which does not impact the release of the original birth record. Introduced relatively late in the session, it must cross-over to the Senate by April 10, 2026. It is being carried by Rep. Cody T. Mitchell (R-Darlington), and has been assigned to the House Committee on Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs. The South Carolina legislature adjourns by May 14, 2026.
Enacted
New York
A1944/S7365. [ENACTED] 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). A1944 was first introduced in 2023, and it was carried again in 2025 by Assemblymember Amy Paulin; S7365 is being carried by Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal. The bills ultimately passed both chambers, and Governor Hochul signed the A1944 into law on November 21, 2025. It is effective December 21, 2025.
Utah
HB333 [ENACTED] “Clean-up” bill in response to restrictions the Utah judiciary put on adoption records released by state courts. This bill comes less than six months after implementation of HB129, which provided a less-than unrestricted right to request adoption documents, which includes the original birth record and other records, including certain court records. Upon implementation of HB129, the Utah judiciary interpreted the legislation to apply only prospectively, to adoptions finalized on or after November 20, 2025. This bill makes it clear that court adoption records are available upon request to the adult adopted person “regardless of the date of the adoption.” The bill, however, adds a new restriction: that the physical address of a named birth parent will be redacted from the released records. The bill also leaves in place the ability of a birth parent to file for a court order to prevent the release of any records to the adult adopted person. Rep. Raymond Ward is the sponsor. The bill easily passed the House and Senate and Governor Spencer Cox signed it into law on March 18, 2026.
Virginia
HB301 [ENACTED!] Restores the right of adult adopted people to request and obtain their own original pre-adoption birth certificates. As introduced, HB301 was identical to a 2025 bill, which addedd a contact preference form (CPF) to allow a birthparent to indicate a preference for contact with the adopted person. The CPF does not affect the release of the birth record to the adopted person. The primary provision of the bill states that “upon written request and proof of identification, the State Registrar shall provide an adult adopted person access to his original birth certificate and contact preference form, if available . . . and make such certificate and form available for copying.” The primary bill author (known as a chief “patron” under Virginia legislative procedures) is Democrat Katrina Callsen, who is joined by Delegates Debra Gardner (D) and Wendell Walker (R)(previously the chief patron for prior bills). The bill sailed through House committee and passed the full House of Delagates on a 84-10 vote. In the Senate, the bill also made it easily through committees and was approved by the full Senate on a 28-12 vote. Gov. Spanberger signed the bill into law on April 13, and it becomes effective on July 1, 2026. The Virginia Adoptee Rights Alliance is the primary organization advocating for the bill.
Dead or Carried Over
Minnesota
SB4382 [DIED IN COMMITTEE] Provides for release of a certified copy of the adoption decree to the adult adopted person and to adoptive parents, without the need for a court petition. This bill provides a critically necessary remedy for adult adopted people to secure a certified copy of their own adoption decree from the Minnesota district court that issued the decree. A certified copy of the adoption decree is essential to secure US citizenship for intercountry adoptees, particularly for the tens of thousands of Korean-born adoptees whose adoptions were not finalized in Korea but were instead finalized in a Minnesota state court. A certified copy of the decree may also be necessary for US-born adoptees to prove any prior name changes and/or to show they are one and the same person, particularly adoptees who were older when they were adopted. Senator Erin Maye Quade is the Senate sponsor, and the bill has been referred to the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee for consideration. It did not move before committee deadline and is expected to be reintroduced in the 2027-2028 biennium.
Mississippi
HB838 [DEAD] Releases a copy of the original birth record to the adult adopted person upon request if 21 years of age or older. Mississippi typically has multiple OBC bills filed each year, all of which have either died in committee or amended with discriminatory provisions. HB838 is identical to last session’s HB1395. While the bill appears to preserve birth parent vetoes over release of identifying information, it attempts to negate such vetoes by exempting them from the release of the adopted person’s birth record. How the state or its courts will interpret an apparent conflict is unclar. Rep. Billy Adam Calvert is the bill’s sponsor again in 2026. Bills in Mississippi must typically move ahead quickly in the session to stay alive, and this one again died without advancing in committee. Note: the age of majority in Mississippi is currently 21 years of age, though bills are often introduced each year, including this year, to change it to 18.
Wisconsin
SB388/AB390 [DEAD]. Provides for release of an “impounded” original birth record to a Wisconsin-born adoptee who is at least 18 years of age. This is a near identical bill from prior bills that made their appearances in the last two sessions of the Wisconsin legislature, each time sponsored by Sen. André Jacque and Rep. Paul Tittl. As in prior years, the bill is fairly straightforward and provides for the release of an adopted person’s “impounded” birth record to the adoptee if the adopted person is at least 18 years old. It retains all other intermediary provisions in current Wisconsin law related to additional identifying information about birthparents. The bill does not apply to descendants or other family members of the adopted person. The Senate Committee on Mental Health, Substance Abuse Prevention, Children and Families heard SB388 in early September. The Assembly Committee on Children and Families heard the bill on November 5, 2025. Both bills died in the legislature on March 23, 2026, without further consideration.