Information on birth certificate law

NASHUA – A workshop to inform adoptees, birth parents and adoptive parents about the new law on access to birth certificates is being held tonight from 7-9 at the Hunt Room at the Nashua Public Library.

The law was passed in May and goes into effect Jan. 1. New Hampshire is the seventh state to allow adult adoptees access to their original birth certificate.

The workshop will explain the process on how an adoptee can access a copy of his or her original birth certificate by filling out the pre-adoption order form. The law allows a birth parent to fill out a contact preference form to express their desire for contact. The form allows a parent to indicate his or her desire for contact with a birth child.

If a birth parent chooses not to be contacted, he or she is required to fill out a birth parent updated medical history form.

An extensive effort is under way by the law’s supporters to inform as many adoptees and birth parents as possible about the new law. The forms are available online at www.sos.nh.gov/vitalrecords/index.html or by phone at 271-4650.