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Current through October 23, 2012
(a) The Registrar shall establish a new certificate of birth for a person born in the District, upon receipt of one of the following documents:
(1) An adoption form prepared according to § 7-209;
(2) An adoption form prepared and filed according to the laws of a state or foreign country;
(3) A certified copy of an order issued by the Court determining the parentage of such a person; or
(4) A written acknowledgement of parentage of the person, pursuant to § 16- 2345.
(a-1)(1) The Registrar shall establish a new certificate of birth for an adoptee born outside of the United States upon receipt of a request of the adoptive parent or the adoptee, if the adoptee is 18 years of age or older, and receipt of either:
(A) An adoption form prepared according to § 7-209; or
(B)(i) A copy of the foreign adoption decree;
(ii) A certified translation of the foreign adoption decree; or if birth information is not already included in the foreign adoption decree, evidence as to the child's birth date and birthplace, which may be evidenced by:
(I) An original birth certificate;
(II) A post-adoption birth certificate issued by the foreign jurisdiction, including a certified copy, extract, or translation; or
(III) Other equivalent document, such as a record of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or the U.S. Department of State; and
(iii) Evidence of IR-3 immigrant visa status, or successor immigrant visa status, for the child by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
(2) Following review by the Registrar, all adoption documents issued by the foreign jurisdiction shall be returned to the adoptive parent or adoptee, whichever is applicable.
(3) Subsections (f) and (g) of this section shall not apply to this subsection.
(b) The Registrar shall not establish a new certificate of birth if so requested by the adoptive parents pursuant to § 16-314 (a).
(c) The actual place and date of birth shall be shown on a new certificate of birth. The new certificate shall be substituted for the original certificate of birth in the files. The new certificate shall nowhere on its face show that parentage has been established by judicial process or by acknowledgement. The original certificate of birth and the evidence of adoption, parentage determination, or parentage acknowledgement shall not be subject to inspection; except, that:
(1) By the Registrar only for the purpose of properly administering the vital statistics program under this chapter; or
(2) Upon order of the Court.
(d) A certificate of birth shall be amended upon receipt of an adoption form concerning an amended decree of adoption. The Registrar shall issue regulations to govern amendment of certificates of birth.
(e) The Registrar shall restore the original certificate of birth to its place in the files upon receipt of the report or decree of invalidation of adoption. The new certificate and evidence shall not be subject to inspection except upon order of the Court or as provided by regulations implementing this chapter.
(f) If no certificate of birth is on file for the person for whom a new birth certificate is to be established under this section, and the date and place of birth have not been determined in the adoption or parentage proceedings, a delayed certificate of birth shall be filed with the Registrar under § 7-207 or § 7-208 before a new certificate of birth is established. The new birth certificate shall be prepared on the delayed birth certificate form.
(g) Each copy of the original certificate of birth shall be sealed from inspection when a new certificate of birth is established.
(Oct. 8, 1981, D.C. Law 4-34, § 11, 28 DCR 3271; May 21, 1992, D.C. Law 9-101, § 3, 39 DCR 2146; Mar. 2, 2007, D.C. Law 16-191, § 32, 53 DCR 6794; Sept. 24, 2010, D.C. Law 18-230, § 602, 57 DCR 6951.)
HISTORICAL AND STATUTORY NOTES
Prior Codifications
1981 Ed., § 6-210.
Effect of Amendments
D.C. Law 16-191, in subsec. (a)(4), deleted "or § 46-720" from the end.
D.C. Law 18-230 rewrote subsec. (a-1), which had read as follows:
"(a-1) The Registrar shall establish a new certificate of birth for an adoptee born outside of the United States, upon receipt of a request from the adopting parents, or the adoptee if 18 years of age or older, and receipt of one of the following documents:
"(1) An adoption form prepared according to § 7-209; or
"(2) An adoption decree and the original certificate of birth, or evidence as to the date and place of birth of the adoptee from sources determined by the Court to be reliable, prepared according to the laws of the country where the birth occurred."
Legislative History of Laws
For legislative history of D.C. Law 4-34, see Historical and Statutory Notes following § 7-201.
Law 9-101, the "Vital Records Adoptive Birth Registration Amendment Act of 1992," was introduced in Council and assigned Bill No. 9-192, which was referred to the Committee on Human Services. The Bill was adopted on first and second readings on February 4, 1992, and March 3, 1992, respectively. Signed by the Mayor on March 23, 1992, it was assigned Act No. 9-173 and transmitted to both Houses of Congress for its review. D.C. Law 9-101 became effective on May 21, 1992.
For Law 16-191, see notes following § 7-103.
Law 18-230, the "Adoption Reform Act of 2010", was introduced in Council and assigned Bill No. 18-547, which was referred to the Committee on Human Services. The Bill was adopted on first and second readings on June 1, 2010, and June 15, 2010, respectively. Signed by the Mayor on July 12, 2010, it was assigned Act No. 18-547 and transmitted to both Houses of Congress for its review. D.C. Law 18-230 became effective on September 24, 2010.
