Reference is to the bill as introduced.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking all after the enacting words and inserting:
/ SECTION 1. Section 44-63-140(1) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(1)(a) For
a person born in this State, the state registrar shall prepare a
supplementary Certificate of Birth in the name of the adoptee,
free of any reference to or indication of the fact that the
child was adopted and showing the adoptive parents as the
real parents, except that an adoption of an
adult must display the words 'By Adoption' on the face of the
amended certificate.
The state
registrar shall furnish a copy of the amended certificate to the
county registrar who shall file the amended certificate in lieu
of the copy of the original birth certificate. The state
registrar shall require the county registrar to return the copy
of the original certificate recorded at the county office to the
state office to be placed in the special sealed file.
Periodically, the state registrar shall transmit copies of
amendatory certificates to the county registrar in the county of
birth. (b)
The original birth certificate and the
evidence of adoption are not subject to inspection, except upon
order of a court of competent jurisdiction. However, a person
twenty-one years of age or older who was born in the State of
South Carolina and who has had his original certificate of birth
sealed due to an adoption may, upon written request to the state
registrar, receive a copy of his orginal birth certificate and
any evidence of the adoption held with the original record. The
copy of the original birth certificate must be in a form that
clearly indicates it is not a certified copy and that it may not
be used for legal purposes. All procedures, fees, and waiting
periods applicable to nonadopted citizens born in the State of
South Carolina seeking copies of certificates of birth
apply.
(c)
The department shall develop a contact
preference form and a medical history form to provide to a
biological parent upon request to be completed at his option.
Upon completion, a contact preference form and a medical history
form must be filed with the state registrar and accompany an
original sealed birth certificate issued to an adoptee pursuant
to subitem (b).
(d)
The contact preference form must allow the
biological parent to indicate whether he has completed or
updated a medical history form and must allow the biological
parent to choose one of the following contact options and
provide contact information as appropriate:
(1)
I would like to be contacted.
(2)
I would prefer to be contacted only through an
intermediary.
(3)
I prefer not to be contacted at this time. If I
decide later that I would like to be contacted, I will submit an
updated contact preference form to the state registrar.
Only department staff authorized to
process applications made pursuant to subitem (b) may process
contact preference and medical history forms.
(e)
The medical history form and contact preference
form are confidential communications from the biological parent
to the person named on the sealed birth certificate and must be
placed in a sealed file upon receipt from the biological parent
in the file containing the sealed original birth certificate.
The sealed file containing the contact preference form and
medical history form must be released to an adoptee requesting
the adoptee's own original birth certificate pursuant to subitem
(b). The contact preference form and medical history form are
private communications from the biological parent to the adoptee
named on the sealed birth certificate, and the state registrar
shall retain a copy of the forms upon release to the
adoptee."
SECTION 2. Immediately
upon enactment, the Office of the State Registrar of the
Department of Health and Environmental Control shall conduct a
public service campaign to inform the public of the provisions
of the act, including the right of an adult adoptee age
twenty-one years or older to obtain a copy of the adoptee's own
original birth certificate and medical history provided by a
biological parent and the right of a biological parent to
execute a contact preference form indicating whether or not the
biological parent would like to have contact with the adult
adoptee.
SECTION 3. This act takes effect one year after approval by the Governor and applies only to adoptions finalized after that date. /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.