86R12873 EAS-D
By: Calanni, Deshotel, Howard, Metcalf, H.B. No. 2725
Harris, et al.
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 noncertified copy of
the original birth certificate provides, in person or by mail,
appropriate proof of the person's identity.
(h) For a noncertified copy of the person's original birth
certificate provided under Subsection (g), the state registrar
shall collect a fee in an amount equal to the fee charged for
issuance of a noncertified copy of a birth certificate and issue the
copy within the time prescribed for issuance of other noncertified
copies of 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 the adopted person who is
the biological offspring of the birth parent. A birth parent may
complete a contact preference form for each child born to the parent
who is placed for adoption. The birth parent may select 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 post on the department's Internet
website the contact preference form and the supplemental medical
history form 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 completes a contact preference form
and selects the option to be directly contacted by the adopted
person or the option to be contacted by the adopted person through
an intermediary may not change that selection after the form is on
file with the state registrar. A birth parent may modify the
intermediary contact information as necessary.
(g) A birth parent who completes a contact preference form
and selects the option not to be contacted by the adopted person may
subsequently file a supplemental contact preference form with the
state registrar electing direct contact by the adopted person or
contact by the adopted person through an intermediary.
(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 entitled
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 right to obtain a
noncertified copy of the adopted person's original birth
certificate on or after the person's 18th birthday; and
(B) the birth parents may 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.
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, 2020.
(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, 2020.
(c) The birth parent of a person who was adopted before
January 1, 2020, may file a contact preference form and a
supplemental medical history form with the state registrar not
later than July 1, 2020, 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, 2020. 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, 2020. A suit for adoption in which
an order terminating parental rights under Chapter 161, Family
Code, is rendered before January 1, 2020, 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, 2019.