NJ Assembly Passes Adoption Records Bill

 Adoptees in New Jersey are a step closer to getting access to their birth records.

The state Assembly on Thursday voted to approve a conditional veto settlement that was brokered by Gov. Chris Christie and lawmakers that would open the records for the first time since they were sealed in 1940.

The compromise delays access for nearly three years to give birth parents time to have their names removed from birth certificates.

Birth parents of children adopted before Aug. 1, 2015 would have until the end of 2016 to ask that their names be removed. Those who do would be asked to give some medical history.

Biological parents of children adopted after Aug. 1, 2015 would not have the option of redacting their names.

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