Missouri Adoption Resources

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Missouri
Surnames/tags: Adoption Missouri Adoption_Angels

Adoption Angels Project

The Adoption Angels Project is currently editing and expanding all Resources by Location pages. It is a work in progress. McBeth-165 00:50, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

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Missouri is a partially "open state" as of 2017, "adoptees born before 1941 can request a copy of their original birth certificate beginning August 28, 2016. Adoptees born in and after 1941 can request a copy of their original birth certificate beginning January 1, 2018."

Contents 1 Original birth certificate 2 Non Identifying Information 3 Third Party Agencies 4 State Laws 5 Additional Local Resources 6 WikiTree Project

Original birth certificate

Adult adoptees born prior to 1941 may now request their original birth certificate through the Missouri Bureau of Vital Records. The Missouri Adoptee Rights Act can be found here: http://www.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills161/billpdf/truly/HB1599T.PDF

https://health.mo.gov/IVrecords/ online forms

Non Identifying Information

https://health.mo.gov/IVrecords/ online forms

The Department shall issue a non-certified copy of the original birth certificate stamped “For genealogical purposes only—not to be used for establishing identity” to the applicant with the identifying information redacted for the birth parent who indicated they preferred not to be contacted or preferred to be contacted through an intermediary when: • The original birth certificate only lists one (1) parent and that birth parent has filed a Birth Parent Contact Preference Form indicating that he/she prefers not to be contacted or prefers contact by an intermediary; • The original birth certificate lists two (2) parents and one (1) birth parent has filed a Birth Parent Contact Preference Form indicating that he/she prefers not to be contacted or prefers contact through an intermediary and the other parent has not filed a Birth Parent Contact Preference Form; or • The original birth certificate lists two (2) parents and one (1) birth parent has filed a Birth Parent Contact Preference Form indicating that he/she prefers not to be contacted or prefers contact through an intermediary and the other parent has filed a Birth Parent Contact Preference Form indicating that he/she prefers to be contacted.

Bureau of Vital Records Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services 930 Wildwood Drive Jefferson City, MO 65109

Telephone: 573-751-6387 Email: VitalRecordsInfo@health.mo.gov

Office Hours

Telephone and Lobby Customer Service by Appointment Monday – Friday 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. CST (excluding state and federal holidays)

Email Customer Service: Monday – Friday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. CST (excluding state and federal holidays)

Third Party Agencies

(adoption agencies, orphanages, intermediaries)

State Laws

From the St Louis Circuit Court but it covers the laws for the entire state https://www.stlcitycircuitcourt.com/juvenile/adoption/Adoptee%20Packet%2001112017.pdf

The Missouri Adoptee Rights Act can be found here: http://www.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills161/billpdf/truly/HB1599T.PDF

Can adoptees receive copies of their birth parents’ vital records, such as birth, marriage or death certificates? No, they cannot.

What happens if the original birth certificate cannot be located? If the Department cannot locate the original birth certificate, the Department will issue to the applicant a written statement that no record was found.

Legal adoptions began in 1857 but, since 1917 adoptions are authorized only by decree of courts exercising juvenile jurisdiction. https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1055&context=mlr ee page 301 Prior to legal adoptions be mandated by state law, adoptions were things that just happened, often handled by churches, families, or neighbors. Little to no records exist for these early instances.

Additional Local Resources

WikiTree Project