Tag Archive for: adoption laws

New Adoption Rules Go into Effect in January

new jersey adoption rulesStarting in January, adults born in New Jersey and adopted as children will be able to obtain an uncertified, long-form copy of their original birth certificate from the New Jersey Department of Health, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry (the State Registrar). Their adoptive parents; legal guardians or other legal representatives; adult direct descendants, siblings and spouses; and state and federal agencies with official reasons, can also gain access to certificates. What does this mean for you if you are adopted, or an adoptive parent? Read more

New Jersey Passes Historic Adoption Law

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History was made yesterday in New Jersey when Governor Chris Christie signed into law a new provision allowing adoptees access to their birth records. When the law is enacted in 2017, it will mark the first time New Jersey will unseal adoption records since they were closed in 1940. Read more

New Jersey State Senate Passes Adoption Records Access Bill

adoptionOn Monday, May 12, the New Jersey Senate approved a groundbreaking measure that would give people adopted in the state access to their original birth certificates. The move is the result of a decades-long push by a group of advocates for adoptees and their biological parents to open New Jersey adoption records for the first time since they were sealed in 1940. Read more

In Surrogacy Case, Infertile Woman Fights To Be Named Legal Mother

In its annual look back at notable law cases argued before the New Jersey Supreme Court over the past year, the New Jersey Law Journal highlights a case that divided the court on the rights of infertile women. Namely, should an infertile woman who uses a surrogate to have a baby be allowed to be named on the child’s birth certificate as mother, or is the woman required to go through the New Jersey adoption process first before being considered a child’s legal mother? Read more

American Women Must Pay Child Support in International Adoption Case

You may remember headlines back in April 2010 when Tory Hansen, an American woman who adopted a Russian boy, sent the child back to Moscow on a one-way flight accompanied by a letter saying the boy was disturbed, violent and she didn’t want him anymore. The incident created such an uproar that Russia temporarily halted U.S. adoptions. Read more