With a new Vermont law effective on July 1, 2023, the Vermont Department of Children and Families recently released information on how to obtain a copy of your own (or your ancestor’s) original birth certificate. Here’s text from the the state’s announcement.
Starting July 1, 2023, Vermont’s new adoption law will give adopted persons 18 and older (and their direct descendants):
- Unrestricted access to their original birth certificates — if they were born in Vermont.
- Access to identifying information about their former parents — if the adoption was finalized in Vermont and the former parents did not file a request for nondisclosure.
Adopted People and their Descendants
- May contact the Vermont Department of Health to request their original birth certificate.
- On July 1, the form will be found on the Department of Health website here.
- Cost: $10.00
- They will receive:
- A certified copy of the original birth certificate;
- A copy of any adoption-related document filed with the birth certificate (e.g., adoption report or adoption decree); and
- Information from the Vermont Adoption Registry, if available that may indicate whether if the former/biological parent(s) would like to have contact and, if so, how they’d like it to happen: directly or through an intermediary
- May file a form with the Vermont Adoption Registry to indicate whether they’d like to have their contact information released to the former/biological parent(s) and/or sibling(s).
- May contact the Vermont Adoption Registry to request any additional information for which they may be eligible.
Biological/Former parents
- May file a form with the Vermont Adoption Registry to indicate whether they’d like to have contact and, if so, how they’d like it to happen: directly or through an intermediary.
More Information (from NEAR and its Partners)
More information and copies of basic forms through the adoption registry. A more detailed FAQ about the new law is also available here.