A South Florida lawmaker wants to make it easier for fellow adoptees to get copies of their birth records.
Democratic Representative Richard Stark of Weston is sponsoring a bill that would force the state to give adult adoptees non-certified copies of their birth certificates within 45 days of receiving the request.
Stark says it’s not fair to deny adults access to their biological history.
“Why don’t I have the same civil rights as everybody else? If I want to get a copy of my birth certificate, I can’t get it. I’m over the age of 18.”
Critics worry fewer mothers will be willing to put their children up for adoption without a privacy guarantee.
Adoptees counter that advances in gene therapy make access to birth records more important than ever.
