2007 Minnesota Statutes

259.89 ACCESS TO ORIGINAL BIRTH RECORD INFORMATION.
    Subdivision 1. Request. An adopted person who is 19 years of age or over may request
the commissioner of health to disclose the information on the adopted person's original birth
record. The commissioner of health shall, within five days of receipt of the request, notify the
commissioner of human services in writing of the request by the adopted person.
    Subd. 2. Search. Within six months after receiving notice of the request of the adopted
person, the commissioner of human services shall make complete and reasonable efforts to notify
each parent identified on the original birth record of the adopted person. The commissioner, the
commissioner's agents, and licensed child-placing agencies may charge a reasonable fee to the
adopted person for the cost of making a search pursuant to this subdivision. Every licensed
child-placing agency in the state shall cooperate with the commissioner of human services in
efforts to notify an identified parent. All communications under this subdivision are confidential
pursuant to section 13.02, subdivision 3.
For purposes of this subdivision, "notify" means a personal and confidential contact with
the birth parents named on the original birth record of the adopted person. The contact shall not
be by mail and shall be by an employee or agent of the licensed child-placing agency which
processed the pertinent adoption or some other licensed child-placing agency designated by the
commissioner of human services. The contact shall be evidenced by filing with the commissioner
of health an affidavit of notification executed by the person who notified each parent certifying
that each parent was given the following information:
(a) The nature of the information requested by the adopted person;
(b) The date of the request of the adopted person;
(c) The right of the parent to file, within 30 days of receipt of the notice, an affidavit with
the commissioner of health stating that the information on the original birth record should not be
disclosed;
(d) The right of the parent to file a consent to disclosure with the commissioner of health
at any time; and
(e) The effect of a failure of the parent to file either a consent to disclosure or an affidavit
stating that the information on the original birth record should not be disclosed.
    Subd. 3. Failure to notify parent. If the commissioner of human services certifies to the
commissioner of health an inability to notify a parent identified on the original birth record
within six months, and if neither identified parent has at any time filed an unrevoked consent to
disclosure with the commissioner of health, the information may be disclosed as follows:
(a) If the person was adopted prior to August 1, 1977, the person may petition the appropriate
court for disclosure of the original birth record pursuant to section 259.61, and the court shall
grant the petition if, after consideration of the interests of all known persons involved, the court
determines that disclosure of the information would be of greater benefit than nondisclosure.
(b) If the person was adopted on or after August 1, 1977, the commissioner of health shall
release the requested information to the adopted person.
If either parent identified on the birth record has at any time filed with the commissioner of
health an unrevoked affidavit stating that the information on the original birth record should not
be disclosed, the commissioner of health shall not disclose the information to the adopted person
until the affidavit is revoked by the filing of a consent to disclosure by that parent.
    Subd. 4. Release of information after notice. If, within six months, the commissioner of
human services certifies to the commissioner of health notification of each parent identified on
the original birth record pursuant to subdivision 2, the commissioner of health shall disclose the
information requested by the adopted person 31 days after the date of the latest notice to either
parent. This disclosure will occur if, at any time during the 31 days both of the parents identified
on the original birth record have filed a consent to disclosure with the commissioner of health and
neither consent to disclosure has been revoked by the subsequent filing by a parent of an affidavit
stating that the information should not be disclosed. If only one parent has filed a consent to
disclosure and the consent has not been revoked, the commissioner of health shall disclose, to the
adopted person, original birth record information on the consenting parent only.
    Subd. 5. Death of parent. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions 3 and 4, if a parent
named on the original birth record of an adopted person has died, and at any time prior to the
death the parent has filed an unrevoked affidavit with the commissioner of health stating that the
information on the original birth record should not be disclosed, the adopted person may petition
the court of original jurisdiction of the adoption proceeding for disclosure of the original birth
record pursuant to section 259.61. The court shall grant the petition if, after consideration of the
interests of all known persons involved, the court determines that disclosure of the information
would be of greater benefit than nondisclosure.
    Subd. 6. Determination of eligibility for enrollment or membership in a federally
recognized American Indian tribe. The state registrar shall provide a copy of an adopted
person's original birth record to an authorized representative of a federally recognized American
Indian tribe for the sole purpose of determining the adopted person's eligibility for enrollment
or membership in the tribe.
History: 1981 c 311 s 39; 1982 c 545 s 24; 1982 c 584 s 5; 1984 c 654 art 5 s 58; 1986 c
444; 1989 c 88 s 1-3; 1989 c 282 art 2 s 167; 1994 c 631 s 31; 1999 c 245 art 8 s 40; 1Sp2001
c 9 art 15 s 32