Colorado Adoption Records: How to Access Your Original Birth Certificate

Colorado is one of the more adoptee-friendly states in the country when it comes to original birth certificate access. Since 2016, the law has given adult adoptees an unrestricted right to their original birth certificate — no court order required, no need to prove "good cause," no veto from birth parents. If you were born in Colorado and adopted, and you're 18 or older, you can get your original birth certificate.

Here's how the system works and what options are available for deeper search and reunion support.

Who Can Access Colorado Adoption Records

Colorado law distinguishes between several types of records and several categories of people who can access them:

Adult adoptees (18+): Have an unrestricted right to their original birth certificate. This is the document that existed before the adoption was finalized and reflects the birth parent's name(s) at the time of birth. This right has been in place since 2016, making Colorado an "unrestricted" state under adoptee rights classifications.

Adoptive parents of minor adoptees: Can request the original birth certificate on behalf of a minor child who was adopted.

Custodial grandparents: Can request the original birth certificate of a grandchild in their custody.

Birth parents: Have access to non-identifying information about a child they placed for adoption, but do not have an automatic right to the adoptee's current information or to contact the adoptee without consent.

How to Request Your Original Birth Certificate

The original birth certificate (OBC) application goes through the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) Vital Records office.

What you need:

• A completed application form (available at cdphe.colorado.gov)
• A non-refundable processing fee
• A government-issued photo ID (or other proof of identity)
• If you're an adoptive parent or guardian requesting on behalf of a minor: documentation of your legal relationship to the child

Processing time: The CDPHE Vital Records office typically processes OBC requests within a few weeks of receiving a complete application. If you submit an incomplete application or there's a discrepancy in identifying information, expect delays.

Important note: The OBC you receive reflects information at the time of birth — specifically what the attending physician or hospital recorded. If the birth father's name wasn't listed at birth (which is common in adoptions), it won't appear on the OBC. The OBC gives you your birth mother's name as recorded at birth; it may or may not give you additional information depending on the specific circumstances.

The Colorado Voluntary Adoption Registry

Colorado maintains a Voluntary Adoption Registry that connects adult adoptees, birth parents, and adult siblings who all consent to contact. Unlike the OBC right, which is unilateral, the registry is mutual — it only facilitates contact when both parties register.

How it works: Both the adoptee and the birth relative independently register with CDPHE, indicating they are open to contact. If a match is found, the registry notifies both parties. This process is completely voluntary and neither party is obligated to respond.

The registry is separate from the OBC access right. You can request your OBC without registering, and you can register without requesting your OBC.

Search assistance: If you want help identifying birth relatives beyond what the OBC provides, Colorado also uses Confidential Intermediaries (CIs) — court-appointed individuals who can conduct searches and facilitate communication between adoptees and birth relatives who haven't registered. The CI process involves a court application and fees, but can reach parties who haven't voluntarily registered.

Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains: Search and Reunion Program

LFSRM operates a dedicated Search and Reunion program that assists adoptees who were placed through their agency. If your adoption was facilitated by LFSRM or a predecessor agency, they may have records beyond what CDPHE maintains. Their program helps connect adoptees with non-identifying information, and in some cases facilitates reunion when both parties consent.

Even if your adoption was through a different agency, LFSRM's program can sometimes assist with accessing older records.

What Records Are Sealed vs. Open in Colorado

The 2016 law change specifically addressed the OBC. Other adoption records — court records, placement records held by agencies, medical history records — have different access rules:

Court records: Colorado adoption court records are generally sealed. They can be accessed by court order, which requires showing cause. Adult adoptees seeking court records face a higher bar than for the OBC.

Agency records: Records held by the placing agency (if it still exists) may be accessible in limited form. Agencies can share non-identifying information — medical history, circumstances of placement — without a court order. Identifying information requires more formal procedures.

Medical history: If you need your birth family's medical history for health reasons, Colorado courts may be more receptive to releasing relevant records with a medical affidavit. This is a separate pathway from the OBC request.

After You Get Your Records

The OBC gives you a starting point — typically your birth mother's name as recorded at the time of birth. From there, searching has become dramatically more accessible through DNA testing services (23andMe, AncestryDNA), which can identify biological relatives who have tested. Many adoptees find their birth families through DNA rather than through official record channels.

The combination of an open OBC record and widely available consumer DNA testing has made Colorado one of the easier states in which to pursue biological family search if that's your goal.

For families currently going through the adoption process — building a file that supports future search by your adoptee — the Colorado Adoption Process Guide explains how adoption records are created, what gets sealed at finalization, and what steps you can take now to preserve information for your child's future access.

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