Adoption: Creative Solutions to Complex Problems

Access to PA Adoption Records

For most of Pennsylvania’s 232 year history, court-held adoptionrecords have been inaccessible by adoptees, adopting parents and biological parents.Adoptees were only permitted access to medical information and only by Order of Court.

In 2010, Act 101 (which we assisted in drafting) expanded access to some adoption records by adoptees, adopting parents and biological parents to include non-identifying information that did not compromise the confidentiality of the birth parents.

In November 2019 we obtained the first known Court Order under this Act to allow an adoptee complete accessto the file, including the records of the adoption agency involved in the placement.The Order also allows the adoptee to copy relevant parts of the file relating to the adoptee’s biological family background, not just the medical records.While not all petitioners may be as successful in every court, we will continue to make our services available to those involved in the adoption process to maximize their rights under the Act.