§ 4138-e. Adoptee's right to a certified copy of his or her birth
certificate. 1. The legislature hereby states its intention to
acknowledge, support and encourage the life-long health and well-being
needs of persons who have been and will be adopted in this state. The
legislature further recognizes that the denial of access to accurate and
complete medical and self-identifying data of any adopted person, known
and wilfully withheld by others, may result in such person succumbing to
preventable disease, premature death or otherwise unhealthy life, is a
violation of that person's human rights and is contrary to the tenets of
government. As such, the provisions of this section seek to establish
considerations under the law for adopted persons equal to such
considerations permitted by law to all non-adopted persons; this section
does so while providing for the privacy of an adopted person and his or
her birth.

2. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commissioner or
a local registrar or any person authorized by the commissioner or a
local registrar, upon application, proof of identity and payment of a
nominal fee, shall issue certified copies of original long form line by
line, vault copy birth certificates, including any change attached to
that certificate by a birth parent or parents, and any information
provided to the commissioner or a local registrar pursuant to
subdivision one of section one hundred fourteen of the domestic
relations law, to (i) an adopted person, if eighteen years of age or
more, or (ii) if the adopted person is deceased, the adopted person's
direct line descendants, or (iii) the lawful representatives of such
adopted person, or lawful representatives of such deceased adopted
person's direct line descendants, as the case may be.

(b) When it shall be impossible for the commissioner or a local
registrar to provide a copy of an adult adopted person's original long
form birth certificate (as may occur in the case of an adopted person
born outside of, but adopted within, the state and such certificate is
not part of the records of the commissioner or a local registrar), the
true and correct information about the adopted person and the adopted
person's birth parents, including their identifying information, that
would have appeared on such original birth certificate shall be provided
to: (i) the adopted person, if eighteen years of age or more, or (ii) if
the adopted person is deceased, the adopted person's direct line
descendants, or (iii) the lawful representatives of such adopted person,
or lawful representatives of such deceased adopted person's direct line
descendants, as the case may be by any authorized agency as defined in
paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision ten of section three hundred
seventy-one of the social services law. In such case, the agency shall
be held harmless from any liability arising out of the disclosure.

(c) For purposes of this subdivision, the term "commissioner" shall
include the state commissioner of health, the commissioner of health and
mental hygiene of the city of New York and for records of birth prior to
January first, nineteen hundred fourteen, the local registrars of the
cities of Albany, Buffalo and Yonkers.