In May 2021, Iowa became the most recent state to sign into law adoptee access to original birth certificates.

In the United States, birth records are handled at the state level. Many/most state enacted laws in the early twentieth century blocking access for adoptees to their birth records, including the original birth certificate (OBC). In recent decades, many have argued the laws to seal OBCs are antiquated -- because the stigma around unmarried motherhood and adoption has decreased in recent years, and DNA testing has made birth parent anonymity a vestige of the past.

IOWA FOLLOWS APPROXIMATELY 30 US STATES IN GRANTING ADOPTEES SOME TYPE OF ACCESS TO AN OBC AT AGE 18. HOWEVER, ONLY 9 STATES (AL, AK, CO, KS, ME, NH, NY, OR, AND RI) GRANT UNRESTRICTED ACCESS.

Iowa’s legislation grants birth parents the option of contacting the state to request name confidentiality. Some other states (Ohio, for example) have chosen to include similar stipulations in their OBC legislation.

Birth parents also have the option of filling out medical history forms and allowing the state to do the sharing with the adoptee. It has become well-understood and accepted that genetic health risks related to family history are significant and important factors whether you are adopted or not. This is a barrier adoptees face if not in contact with biological family. If a birth parent doesn’t wish to have contact with the adopted child but is open to sharing medical information, Iowa has allowed a way they can do so.