Birth Records and Adoption

After an adoption, Minnesota birth records are changed to show the new name of the adopted person and new parent information. For adopted persons born elsewhere in the U.S., birth record changes are handled by the state or territory where they were born. 

When people born in Minnesota are adopted, the court involved forwards the adoption paperwork to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). The adoptive parents must also provide a $40 fee, which is sometimes included with the court documents. When MDH has received the proper documents and the fee, it replaces the original birth record with the new information. The original record and all correspondence pertaining to it are sealed, making it confidential and only released according to Minnesota law.

If the adopted person is born outside the U.S. and adopted in Minnesota, the adoptive parents file the adoption papers from the country of birth, and the district court collects a $40 fee from the adoptive parents. The court sends the fee and a Certificate of Adoption form to MDH so that a Minnesota birth record can be established for the foreign-born adoptee.

Adoptive parents must order and pay a separate fee to receive a birth certificate – see the Available Records and Services page for ordering information. They must complete the application with the adopted person’s current information, rather than information from before the adoption.

Instructions for courts

Complete the Certificate of Adoption (PDF) form to replace the original birth record. Verify the information in "Section 3: Information from the birth record before adoption." It must match the pre-adoption birth record exactly; if the information doesn’t match, MDH will return the form to the court. Enter information about both parents in "Section 1: Adoptive Parents," even for stepparent adoptions.

Collect the $40 fee to register the replacement birth record. MDH won’t process the request without payment. The adoptive parents may use the Birth Certificate after Adoption Request (PDF) form to order a birth certificate that shows the post-adoption information. The fee is $26.

Accessing original birth records
(as of July 2024)

Access to original birth records is restricted to certain requesters. 

Adopted people

As of July 2024, adopted people born in Minnesota who are 18 or older can request and receive noncertified copies of their original birth records. If the adopted person is deceased, their legal representative or certain people related to the adopted person can request the records. Previously, adopted people’s access to their original birth record depended on the disclosure preferences of the birth parent(s). 

Use the form Request for Original Birth Record Information under Minnesota Statute 144.2252 (PDF) to submit your request. 

We will provide requesters with the following for Minnesota-born adoptees, if they are available on the date of the request:   

• A noncertified copy of the adopted person’s original birth record 
• Any evidence of the adoption (details such as court file number or the date, county, and state of the adoption) filed with the State Registrar 
• A copy of a contact preference form if birth parent(s) on the original record submitted one (Contact preference forms can be submitted at any time; only forms submitted prior to your request will be included.)
• Report of any Affidavit of Disclosure or Non-Disclosure filed by a birth parent on the original record, on or before June 30, 2024. We’ll provide information included on disclosure documents, if allowable.

This request can only be fulfilled by MDH; it’s not available through county vital records offices. We will notify you if we cannot find the requested birth record. 

MDH creates birth records for people born outside the U.S. who are adopted in Minnesota. MDH may have evidence of adoption for such records established in 2001 or later. (Evidence of adoption is not available for records established before 2001.) As of July 2024, foreign-born adopted people age 18 or older may request evidence of adoption from MDH. Use the form Request for Original Birth Record Information under Minnesota Statute 144.2252 (PDF) to submit a request. 

Other eligible requesters

Noncertified copies of original birth records may be released to a: 

• Birth parent named on the original birth record.
• Representative of a federally recognized American Indian tribe, for the sole purpose of determining the adopted person’s eligibility for tribal enrollment or membership.
• Person with a valid, certified copy of a court order that directs the release of an original birth record to them.

These requesters must submit a Request for Original Birth Record of an Adopted Person (PDF) to obtain the record. Others looking for information about a sibling who was adopted should visit the Minnesota Department of Human Services Adoption and kinship webpages or call 651-431-4682.

Birth parents

As of July 1, 2024, Minnesota law changed to allow access to original birth records by adoptees. Any Affidavit of Disclosure or Non-disclosure submitted by a birth parent on or before June 30, 2024, to provide or restrict access to the record has expired. An adopted person’s access to original birth records is no longer determined by the disclosure preferences of the birth parent(s).

Contact preference form

Birth parents may submit a Birth Parent Contact Preference (PDF) form for past and future adoptions to indicate whether they would like to be contacted by the adopted person. Only birth parents named on the original birth record of an adopted person can submit the form. MDH will attach the form to the original birth record and provide it when the adoptee requests the record. Birth parents may submit a new form to change their preference at any time, and MDH will destroy the old form. 

Regardless of the contact preference expressed by birth parents, adopted people will still be able to receive a noncertified copy of their original birth records and to initiate contact with birth parents.

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