Alabama Adoption Records: How Adoptees and Birth Parents Can Access Them

Alabama changed its adoption records law more significantly than most families realize. Since 2019, adult adoptees in Alabama have had an unrestricted right to their original birth certificate — the one listing their biological parents — without needing a court order, a caseworker's permission, or a "reason" that a judge finds convincing. That is a meaningful departure from the sealed-records framework that governed Alabama adoptions for decades, and it changes the landscape for everyone involved in an adoption: adoptees searching for information, birth parents wondering what information might be shared, and adoptive parents navigating conversations with their children.

What Records Exist in an Alabama Adoption

An adoption in Alabama creates two distinct sets of records.

The new birth certificate. When an Alabama adoption is finalized, the court clerk sends a "Report of Adoption" to the Alabama Center for Health Statistics (Vital Records) within 10 days of the final decree. The Center creates a new birth certificate listing the adoptive parents as the legal mother and father and reflecting the child's new legal name (if a name change was part of the adoption). This new certificate is the official, legally operative document for all purposes — passports, school enrollment, employment verification, and legal proceedings.

The original birth certificate. The original birth certificate — created at birth and listing the biological parents — is sealed by the state when the new certificate is issued. Prior to 2019, this original certificate was essentially permanently inaccessible without a court order. Act 2019-319 changed that.

The case file. Separate from the birth certificate, the adoption case file maintained by either DHR or the private agency includes the child's case history, medical records, background information on biological parents, placement history, and legal documents. Access to this file is governed by different rules than access to the birth certificate.

Adult Adoptee Access to Original Birth Certificates

Under Act 2019-319, now codified in Alabama Code § 26-10E-31, any adult adoptee born in Alabama who is at least 19 years old can obtain their original birth certificate. The process is:

Submit a written request to the Alabama Department of Public Health, Center for Health Statistics. The request must include:

• The adoptee's full legal name (current)
• Date of birth
• Place of birth (city/county)
• Proof of identity (typically a government-issued ID)
• The applicable fee

The fee. Alabama charges $25.00 for the creation of the original birth certificate record and one certified copy.

Processing time. The Center for Health Statistics processes these requests in the order received. Standard processing is typically several weeks; expedited processing options may be available for an additional fee.

What the certificate contains. The original birth certificate lists the biological mother's name as it was at the time of the child's birth, and the biological father if he was named at birth. It reflects the name given to the child by the biological mother before any court-ordered name change.

There is no judicial gatekeeping for this process. The adoptee does not need to state a reason, obtain a social worker's approval, or demonstrate a medical need. The right is unconditional once the adoptee reaches age 19.

The Contact Preference Form: What Birth Parents Can Do

The law includes a mechanism for birth parents who have concerns about contact — or who actively want contact — with an adoptee who requests the original certificate. This is the Contact Preference Form (CPF).

Birth parents can file a CPF with the Alabama Department of Public Health expressing one of three preferences:

• Direct contact — the birth parent welcomes contact from the adoptee
• Intermediary contact — the birth parent is open to contact but prefers it to go through a third party (typically an adoption agency or APAC)
• No contact — the birth parent prefers not to be contacted

The CPF is included in the adoptee's file and is given to the adoptee when they request the original birth certificate. Critically, the CPF is advisory — it is not legally enforceable. An adoptee who receives a "no contact" form is not legally prohibited from attempting to contact the biological parent. Conversely, a birth parent who files a "direct contact" form cannot compel an adoptee to respond.

The CPF exists to communicate preferences and facilitate informed decisions, not to create legal obligations.

If you are a birth parent who placed a child for adoption in Alabama and want to file a Contact Preference Form (or update an existing one), contact the Alabama Department of Public Health, Center for Health Statistics.

Accessing the Adoption Case File

The original birth certificate is one piece of an adoptee's information picture. The adoption case file — held by DHR or the placing agency — contains considerably more: medical history of biological parents, social history, psychological evaluations if any were conducted, documentation of the circumstances of the placement, and correspondence from the legal proceedings.

For DHR adoptions, the case file is maintained by the DHR Office of Permanency. Adult adoptees can request non-identifying information from DHR at any time. Identifying information — the biological parents' names and contact details — is handled through the Alabama Pre/Post-Adoption Connections (APAC) program, managed by the Children's Aid Society of Alabama. APAC can facilitate mutual consent registries and help with searches using information from the case file.

For private agency adoptions, the case file is maintained by the placing agency. Adoptees should contact the agency directly to request non-identifying information. Agencies have an obligation to share non-identifying medical and social history information, though their specific procedures vary.

For independent (private) adoptions, the case file is in the Probate Court records for the county where the adoption was finalized. Court records, including adoption case files, are typically sealed in Alabama — meaning they are not publicly accessible. An adult adoptee who has already obtained their original birth certificate and wants the complete court record generally needs to petition the Probate Court that handled the case, stating that they are the adult adoptee.

Mutual Consent Registry

Alabama operates a mutual consent adoption registry, which allows birth parents and adult adoptees to register their willingness to make contact. If both a birth parent and an adoptee register with the same identifying information, the registry facilitates an introduction.

The mutual consent registry is maintained through APAC (Alabama Pre/Post-Adoption Connections). Registry participation is voluntary and does not override any party's right (or preference) to not be contacted.

For adoptees who have already obtained their original birth certificate and want to make contact, the registry may not be necessary — they already have the information. For birth parents who want to initiate contact before an adoptee reaches 19, the registry is the appropriate mechanism.

For Adoptive Parents: What to Tell Your Child

The change to open records in Alabama is an important conversation for adoptive parents to have with their children. The reality under current Alabama law is:

• Your child will be able to obtain their original birth certificate when they reach age 19, without your involvement or approval.
• The biological parents have no way to prevent this access.
• Open adoption agreements — written agreements about ongoing contact between adoptive family and birth family — are not legally enforceable under Alabama law. Even if such an agreement exists, the adoptive parents have the legal right to modify or terminate contact if they believe it is in the child's best interest.

These facts argue for transparency with children about their adoption story from an early age. Children who grow up knowing they are adopted, and who have age-appropriate information about their biological family, typically manage the transition to accessing their original birth certificate more smoothly than those for whom adoption was a secret or a source of shame.

APAC offers workshops specifically for adoptive parents on how to talk with children about their adoption story, how to support a search when the time comes, and how to manage the emotional complexity of biological family contact.

For Birth Parents: What the Law Means for You

If you placed a child for adoption in Alabama, and particularly if that child is now approaching age 19 or is already an adult, Act 2019-319 has changed the practical situation. Your child can now access the original birth certificate without your knowledge or consent.

This is not a punishment or a legal judgment — it reflects Alabama's policy choice that adoptees have a right to their own biological information. If you want to have some control over how a potential contact is handled, filing a Contact Preference Form is the clearest way to communicate your preferences to an adoptee who requests the certificate.

APAC provides intermediary services for birth parents who want to make contact with an adult adoptee, or who want support in preparing for potential contact. These services are free and available to any birth parent whose child was placed through DHR or a licensed Alabama agency.

Records for International and Interstate Adoptions

If you adopted a child born in another state who is living in Alabama, the original birth certificate was issued by the birth state — not Alabama. Access to that certificate is governed by the laws of the birth state, not Alabama. Some states have open records policies similar to Alabama's; others still require a court order. You will need to research the specific birth state's law.

If you adopted a child born in Alabama who is now living in another state, the Alabama records access process described in this post applies — the adoptee submits their request to the Alabama Department of Public Health regardless of where they currently live.

For international adoptions, original birth country records are governed by the laws of that country and are separate from any documentation created in the United States.

If you are navigating the adoption process in Alabama now and want to understand how records access will work for your child in the future, the Alabama Adoption Process Guide includes a section on Act 2019-319 and what the open records framework means for families completing adoptions under the current Minor Adoption Code (Title 26, Chapter 10E).

See more United States guides →