85R3180 LED-D
By: Deshotel H.B. No. 547
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to birth records of adopted persons; authorizing a fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 192.008, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsections (g) and
(h) to read as follows:
(d) Except as provided by Subsections (e), [and] (f), and
(g), only the court that granted the adoption may order access to an
original birth certificate and the filed documents on which a
supplementary certificate is based.
(g) The state registrar shall on written request provide to
a person who was adopted or, if the adopted person is deceased, an
adult descendant, adult sibling, surviving spouse, or adoptive
parent of the adopted person, a noncertified copy of the person's
original birth certificate if:
(1) the adopted person was born in this state;
(2) the request is made on or after the adopted
person's 18th birthday;
(3) a supplementary birth certificate was issued for
the adopted person; and
(4) the person requesting the certificate furnishes,
in person or by mail, appropriate proof of the person's identity.
(h) For a noncertified birth certificate provided under
Subsection (g), the state registrar shall collect a fee in an amount
equal to the fee charged for issuance of any other noncertified
birth certificate and issue the certificate within the time
prescribed for issuance of other noncertified birth certificates.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 192, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 192.0085 to read as follows:
Sec. 192.0085. CONTACT PREFERENCE FORM AND SUPPLEMENTAL
MEDICAL HISTORY FORM. (a) The state registrar shall develop a
contact preference form for a birth parent to provide the birth
parent's preference regarding contact by an adopted person who is
the biological offspring of the birth parent. Each birth parent
shall complete a contact preference form for each child born to the
parent and select on the form one of the following options:
(1) the birth parent wishes to be directly contacted
by the adopted person;
(2) the birth parent wishes to be contacted by the
adopted person only through an intermediary selected and identified
by the birth parent; or
(3) the birth parent does not wish to be contacted by
the adopted person.
(b) The state registrar shall:
(1) include on the contact preference form a space for
a birth parent who wishes to be contacted through an intermediary to
identify a person to serve as the intermediary and provide that
person's contact information; and
(2) ensure the intermediary information required
under Subdivision (1) is completed on the form if that option is
selected by the birth parent.
(c) The state registrar shall develop a supplemental
medical history form for a birth parent to provide medical
information in addition to the information included in the adopted
person's genetic history report provided under Section 162.005,
Family Code.
(d) The department shall make the contact preference form
and the supplemental medical history form available on the
department's Internet website and make copies of the forms
available in the state registrar's office.
(e) Instead of providing a contact preference form to a
person or other entity listed in Section 162.0061(a)(1)(B), Family
Code, a birth parent may directly file a contact preference form or
a supplemental medical history form with the state registrar.
(f) A birth parent who initially selects the option to be
directly contacted by the adopted person or contacted by the
adopted person through an intermediary by filing the contact
preference form with the state registrar may not change that
preference after the preference is on file with the state
registrar. A birth parent may modify the intermediary contact
information as necessary.
(g) A birth parent who initially selects the option not to
be contacted by the adopted person may subsequently authorize
direct contact by the adopted person or contact by the adopted
person through an intermediary by filing a supplemental contact
preference form with the state registrar authorizing the contact.
(h) The state registrar shall provide a copy of the birth
parent's contact preference form and any available supplemental
medical history form to an adopted person or other person
authorized to receive a noncertified copy of the adopted person's
original birth certificate under Section 192.008.
SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 162, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 162.0061 to read as follows:
Sec. 162.0061. CONTACT PREFERENCE FORM: NOTICE AND FILING.
(a) The Department of Family and Protective Services or the
licensed child-placing agency, person, or other entity placing a
child for adoption shall:
(1) inform the child's birth parents that:
(A) Chapter 192, Health and Safety Code, governs
the birth parent contact preference form and the rights of an
adopted child to obtain a noncertified copy of the adopted person's
original birth certificate; and
(B) the birth parents are required to provide a
completed contact preference form to the Department of Family and
Protective Services, the licensed child-placing agency, person, or
other entity placing a child for adoption, or the state registrar;
(2) provide the child's birth parents with a contact
preference form; and
(3) forward each original completed contact
preference form to the state registrar.
(b) The notice to a child's birth parents required by this
section shall be provided at the time the birth parent's parental
rights to a child are terminated.
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), a petition for
adoption may not be granted until a copy of each birth parent's
contact preference form has been filed.
(d) A court having jurisdiction of a suit affecting the
parent-child relationship may by order waive the contact preference
form filing requirement of this section if the child's birth
parents cannot be located or are deceased or the court determines
that it is in the best interest of the child to waive the
requirement.
SECTION 4. (a) The state registrar shall develop the
contact preference form and the supplemental medical history form
as required by Section 192.0085, Health and Safety Code, as added by
this Act, not later than January 1, 2018.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 192.008(g), Health and Safety
Code, as added by this Act, the state registrar is not required to
comply with that provision until July 1, 2018.
(c) The birth parent of a person who was adopted before
January 1, 2018, may file a contact preference form and a
supplemental medical history form with the state registrar not
later than July 1, 2018, and after that date at the discretion of
the state registrar. Notwithstanding Section 192.0085(f), Health
and Safety Code, as added by this Act, a birth parent may file a
supplemental contact preference form modifying the birth parent's
contact preference at any time before July 1, 2018. The latest
contact preference form on file with the state registrar and filed
before that date controls.
SECTION 5. Section 162.0061, Family Code, as added by this
Act, applies only to a suit for adoption in which an order
terminating parental rights under Chapter 161, Family Code, is
rendered on or after January 1, 2018. A suit for adoption in which
an order terminating parental rights under Chapter 161, Family
Code, is rendered before January 1, 2018, is governed by the law in
effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.