Michigan’s HB4529 has been introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives. Here’s what it does (and doesn’t do).
As introduced, HB4529 continues to require the use of the state’s Central Adoption Registry for an adult adopted person to obtain a copy of their own birth record. While it removes the “donut hole” in the current law that has for decades restricted the rights of most Michigan-born adoptees, the bill nevertheless requires consent from a birthparent to obtain the birth record. That consent must be filed with the Central Adoption Registry and adopted people must still begin the process of seeking their own birth records by contacting an adoption agency or the court. There is no direct way to request and obtain your own birth record under this bill.
HB4529 Status and Information
This information is regularly updated.
Current Status: In the House of Representatives
Author/Sponsors: Republican Pat Outman (primary) along with three other Republicans and five Democrats
Current Assigned Committee: Families, Children, and Seniors
Last Action: May 9, 2023. Introduced
Current Bill Text/Page: Available here.
The bill is confusing. While on the one hand the bill appears to require affirmative birthparent consent to obtain your own birth record, on the other hand it also states that the record is available unless a parent has filed a denial of release.
The bill retains an overly bureaucratic and unnecessary complicated framework. By retaining the involvement of the Central Adoption Registry, which also depends upon courts and public and private adoption agencies to release information, the bill fails to create a simple and direct route to request and obtain a birth record. Any proposed bill should separate the Central Adoption Registry from the process to obtain a vital record. This one fails to do so.
How it Would Work
An illustration of the bill’s structure and how it would work.
