Original Birth Certificates. Massachusetts is an Unrestricted State . On November 3, 2022, it became the 12th state in the US to affirm or restore the unrestricted right of all adult adopted people to request and obtain their own original birth certificates.
Court Records. Court adoption records are sealed and unavailable except by court order. A court may release the name of a birthparent only by consent of the birthparent or by court order. A person seeking information must demonstrate good cause for the court to release the information.
Identifying Information. Identifying information held by an adoption agency may not be released except by court order or upon mutual consent of the parties seeking information. A birthparent must be given at least thirty days notice of the release of identifying information. No other record or information is authorized for release under Massachusetts law.
Descendant Rights. A child of a deceased adopted person has a right to request the pre-adoption birth record in the same way as the adopted person. If the child is still a minor, the parent of the minor child may apply for the record. No other persons are specifically authorized to request the birth record of a deceased adopted person.
Adoption Registry. While Massachusetts law authorizes the creation of an “adoption contact information registry,” no such registry appears to exist in the state.
Adult Adoption. Massachusetts law allows for adoption of adults. The adult being adopted must be younger than the adopting parent and must also consent to the adoption. The spouse of the adopting parent must join in the petition, with certain exceptions.
Relevant parts of Massachusetts vital records law. The entire Massachusetts vital records statute is available here.
Chapter 46, Section 1A: Birth records of abandoned children or foundlings
Each town clerk shall receive or obtain and record in the record of births facts relative to births of abandoned children and foundlings found within the limits of his town and the identity of whose parents is unknown. The facts relative to births required by section one shall, so far as possible, be set forth in records subject to this section, except that the town wherein such child or foundling was found shall be recorded as the place of birth, and that the date recorded as the date of birth shall be that determined by the commissioner of children and families. Such a record shall constitute the birth record of such child or foundling.
Chapter 46, Section 2B: Pre-adoption birth certificates; application for inspection by adopted persons
Upon written application, which shall include proof of identity and payment of applicable fees, by an adopted person 18 years of age or older who was born in the commonwealth or by an adoptive parent of an adopted person under 18 years of age and born in the commonwealth, the state registrar shall:-
(a) make available for inspection at the offices of the state registry the birth certificate prior to adoption which indicated the prior legal parent or parents listed on the initial birth certificate or if there has been more than 1 adoption, the birth certificate prior to the first adoption which indicates the parent or parents listed on the birth certificate prior to adoption.
(b) send by certified mail return receipt to the adopted person age 18 or older or to the parents of an adopted person under 18 years of age a photocopy of the contents of the birth record with the following notation on it: ”The contents of this birth record are being released under section 2B of chapter 46 of the Massachusetts General Laws or under a court order. This record was amended by adoption. This is not a certified copy of a birth record.”
Chapter 46, Section 2C: Pre-adoption birth certificates; access by child of deceased adopted parent
If an adopted person is deceased, his child, if 18 years or older, or such child’s parent or guardian if such child is less than 18 years of age, shall be eligible to apply for the information his adopted parent would have access to under section 2B and to participate in the adoption contact information registry pursuant to section 31.
Section 13: Correction of Records
(a) If the record relating to a birth, marriage, acknowledgment or adjudication of paternity, or death does not contain all the required facts, or if it is claimed that the facts are not correctly stated therein, the town clerk or state registrar shall receive from the person required by law to furnish the information for the original record, or by credible persons having knowledge of the case, an affidavit containing the missing or corrected facts required to correct or complete the record, accompanied by documentary evidence substantiating such facts beyond a reasonable doubt. Except as hereinafter provided, such amendments or additions can be made only to reflect the correct information at the time of the event. The minimum documentary evidence to be required shall be specified by regulations promulgated pursuant to section 4 of chapter 17.
(b) Any record filed under this chapter may be amended, corrected or supplemented within one year after the date of the event without such affidavit or documentary evidence if allowed by regulations promulgated pursuant to the provisions of section 4 of chapter 17, except such amendments, corrections, or supplements which are expressly provided for hereinafter.
(c) If a person shall have acquired the status of a child born in wedlock by the intermarriage of his parents and the acknowledgment of his father or an adjudication of paternity by a court or administrative agency of competent jurisdiction under the laws of the commonwealth or any other law, the record of his birth shall be amended so as to read, in all respects, as if such person had been reported at the time of birth as born to such parents in lawful wedlock.
(d) If a person is born to parents not married to each other or if the mother and her husband at the time of the birth or conception of the child complete an affidavit denying that the husband is the father of the child, or if there is an adjudication of the nonpaternity of the mother’s husband, such person’s birth record shall be amended to include the putative father’s information required by section 1 provided that:
(1) the mother and the putative father have signed and filed an acknowledgment of paternity with the clerk in the city or town where the birth occurred, the state registrar, or the probate and family court having jurisdiction over the parties or the child pursuant to chapter 209C;
(2) there has been a judgment of paternity by a court or administrative agency of competent jurisdiction under the laws of the commonwealth and the court presents to the state registrar a certified copy of such judgment on a form provided by the state registrar to amend the birth certificate;
(3) there has been an acknowledgment of paternity, or a judgment of paternity by a court or administrative agency of competent jurisdiction under the laws of the commonwealth or of another state or a foreign country, and one of the following persons requests an amendment and presents to the state registrar a copy of such judgment: the mother, the father named in such acknowledgment or judgment of paternity, the father named currently on the birth record, the subject of the record, the legal guardian of the subject, or the legal representative of any of the foregoing;
(4) there has been a judgment of paternity by a court or administrative agency of competent jurisdiction in the commonwealth and the court orders the state registrar to amend the birth certificate to include the information relating to the father. Such order may include an order to amend information relating to the name of the child; or
(5) there has been a judgment of paternity by a court or administrative agency of competent jurisdiction in the commonwealth approving or adopting a judgment establishing paternity issued by a court or administrative agency of competent jurisdiction under the law of another state or a foreign country, and the court presents to the state registrar a certified copy of such judgment on a form provided by the state registrar to amend the birth certificate. The clerk of the city or town where the child was born or the state registrar shall amend the birth certificate consistent with the findings of the court and the certificate shall be required to read, in all respects, as if such information had been reported at the time of such birth. The fact that paternity was established after the child’s birth shall not be ascertainable from the new certificate but the actual place and date of birth shall be shown. The original certificate and the evidence upon which the amended birth certificate was made and the original birth certificate shall be subject to inspection by the mother, the father, the subject of the record, any man presumed to be the father under section 6 of chapter 209C, or government officials requiring access for their official duties, including the IV–D agency as set forth in chapter 119A, or a legal representative of the subject of the record; an order of the probate and family court in the county where the child was born is required for anyone else seeking access to the original record or evidence.
(e)(1) If a person has completed medical intervention for the purpose of permanent sex reassignment, the birth record of that person shall be amended to permanently and accurately reflect the reassigned sex if the following documents have been received by the state registrar or town clerk:
(i) an affidavit executed by the person to whom the record relates or by the parent or guardian if such person is a minor indicating the individual’s sex; and
(ii) a physician’s notarized statement that the person has completed medical intervention, appropriate for that individual, for the purpose of permanent sex reassignment and is not of the sex recorded on the record.
(2) The affiant shall furnish a certified copy of the legal change of name if the affiant is seeking a birth record with the legal change of name instead of the name as appearing on the birth record prior to the amendment.
(f) If the birth of a child is recorded as that of a child born in wedlock to the mother and the man who was her husband at the time of such birth, and the nonpaternity of the husband has been legally determined by a court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to the laws of the commonwealth or by a court or administrative agency of competent jurisdiction under the laws of another state or foreign country, or if the birth of a child is recorded as that of a child whose parentage has been acknowledged by the mother and the putative father and either parent rescinds the acknowledgment as provided in section 11 of chapter 209C or under similar law of another state or foreign country, the birth record shall be amended to remove the father’s information provided that:
(1) there has been a judgment of nonpaternity by a court under the laws of the commonwealth and the court presents to the state registrar a certified copy of such judgment, together with a form provided by the state registrar to amend the birth certificate; or
(2) there has been a judgment of nonpaternity by a court or administrative agency of competent jurisdiction under the laws of another state or foreign country and one of the following persons requests an amendment and presents to the state registrar a certified copy of such judgment: the mother, the father named in such judgment of nonpaternity, the subject of the record, the legal guardian of the subject of the record, or the legal representative of any of the foregoing.
(g) If a person shall have been adopted by judicial decree, the clerk of the town where such person was born or the state registrar shall receive the certificate of such adoption issued under the authority of section 6A of chapter 210 or a certified copy of the decree for such adoption, whether issued by a probate court for the commonwealth or by the appropriate court of any other state or country. Except as hereinafter provided, said clerk or state registrar, after receiving such certificate of adoption or any such certified copy, shall forthwith correct the record of birth of the person so adopted. If such certificate or certified copy does not contain the facts relative to the adopting parents hereinafter required for correcting such record, the clerk or state registrar shall not correct such record until he has received an affidavit, signed and sworn to by the adopting parents, or by the person adopted, furnishing such facts. If a person who was in the custody of the department of children and families is adopted and the adopting parents surrender the person back to the department, that person shall have the right to change the birth certificate back to that person’s biological name.
(h) The clerk or state registrar shall on forms provided by the state registrar complete an amended, corrected, or supplemented record of birth, death, acknowledgment or adjudication of paternity, or marriage. The original record of birth, death, acknowledgment or adjudication of paternity, or marriage and all returns and index entries in whatever format they are maintained shall be identified as corrected, amended, or supplemented. Effective January 1, 2000, all documentary evidence, including certificates of adoption or certified copies thereof, shall be sent to the state registrar for permanent filing. Until that date, the clerk shall transmit to the state registrar a certified copy of the corrected, amended or supplemented record, noting the documentary evidence to substantiate the affidavit. If the affidavit is initially submitted to the state registrar, the state registrar shall forward to the town clerk where the birth or death occurred, a certified copy of the corrected, amended or supplemented record, noting the documentary evidence to substantiate the affidavit, and the town clerk shall thereupon correct, amend or supplement the record in his office. If a copy of the record had been sent to the town clerk of the residence of the parents at the time of birth or where the deceased lived at the time of death, the state registrar shall forward to such city or town clerk a certified copy of the corrected, amended or supplemented record, noting the documentary evidence to substantiate the affidavit, and the town clerk shall thereupon correct, amend or supplement the record in his office. Reference to the record of the affidavit or such decree shall be made on the margin of the original record. If the clerk or state registrar furnishes a copy of such a record, he shall certify to the facts contained therein as corrected, amended or supplemented. Except as provided in the following two sentences, said clerk or other official responsible for the keeping of such records shall not release said information contained in such original record except upon proper judicial order, or when requested by a person seeking his own birth or marriage record, or by a person whose official duties, in the opinion of the state registrar or town clerk, entitle him to the information contained in the original record. Death records which are corrected, amended or supplemented after January 1, 1996, as well as the affidavit of the party seeking the correction, amendment, or supplementation of the death record and all documentary evidence or related records submitted in support of such affidavit shall not be restricted, except for records or other items of documentary evidence submitted in support of the affidavit which are considered medical records for purposes of paragraph (c) of clause twenty-sixth of section 7 of chapter 4 are restricted by section 2A of this chapter, or are restricted by judicial order. If the original record has been amended following adoption in accordance with this section, the clerk or state registrar shall issue information contained in the original record only upon receipt of an order of the probate court for the county in which said adoption was granted or in accordance with section 2B, or in the case of an adoption granted outside the commonwealth, upon order of the probate court for the county in which said birth occurred or in accordance with said section 2B, instructing said clerk or state registrar to release the information contained in such original record. Evidence contained in the adoption record of a parent’s willingness to provide information about her identity to the adopted person shall, except in extraordinary circumstances, be considered sufficient evidence to warrant the granting of an order for release of the information contained in the birth certificate registered prior to adoption. If the corrected, amended or supplemented record is that of a person who has acquired the status of a child born in wedlock, or whose record has been amended through an adoption decree, or whose record has been amended through addition of the name of the father, the clerk or state registrar shall not indicate on such copy that the record has been corrected, amended or supplemented.
(i) Such affidavit, or a certified copy of the record of any other town or of a written statement made at the time by any person since deceased required by law to furnish evidence thereof, may be made the basis for completing the record of a birth, marriage or death not containing all the facts required by section 1 of this chapter. No delayed record of birth shall be established for any deceased person more than five years after the date of death nor shall any delayed record of marriage be established if both the wife and husband are deceased, except as provided by sections 13A, 13B and 13C.
(j) Upon the adoption of any abandoned child or foundling within the commonwealth and adopted according to the laws thereof and as to whose birth the facts required by section 1 or section 1A to be recorded have not been recorded, or, if recorded, cannot be identified, the state registrar upon receipt of an affidavit executed by the adopting parents, setting forth all the material facts known to him or them concerning said child or foundling, and of an order issued by the commissioner of children and families determining the date of birth of such child or foundling as nearly as may be, shall receive and record the facts relative to such births as provided in section 1 or section 1A. In addition to any other certificates or copies of such records authorized by law, said commissioner may, upon application, issue certificates setting forth the facts concerning said abandoned child or foundling appearing in any records of the department of children and families if no certificate of birth is recorded in the city or town where the child was born or the state registry.
(k) The person upon whose application a record of a birth, marriage or death is corrected or amended, or a delayed record of a birth, marriage or death is entered shall pay the fee as determined by the secretary of administration and finance.
Chapter 46, Section 31: Adoption Contact Information Registry
The registry of vital records and statistics, subject to appropriation, shall establish and maintain an adoption contact information registry for the purpose of connecting parents listed on the initial birth certificate to any of their children who were adopted by others. The adoption contact registry shall, at minimum, be capable of recording updated address and other information supplied by parents and adoptees needed for one to contact the other.
Registration shall be entirely voluntary and participation may at any time be terminated through proper notification to the registry.
The commonwealth shall make reasonable efforts to inform the public about the existence of this registry.
Relevant parts of Massachusetts adoption law related to court records and information. The entire Massachusetts adoption statute is available here.
Chapter 210, Section 5C. Inspection of pleadings, reports, etc.; docket book
All petitions for adoption, all reports submitted thereunder and all pleadings, papers or documents filed in connection therewith, docket entries in the permanent docket and record books shall not be available for inspection, unless a judge of probate of the county where such records are kept, for good cause shown, shall otherwise order. Such petitions, reports, pleadings, papers, documents and permanent docket and record books shall be segregated. A separate permanent docket book shall be provided for all such entries. This section shall apply to the index of the court of all such entries, a separate index of which shall be provided.
Relevant portions of Massachusetts adoption law relating to information in child placing agency records. The entire Massachusetts adoption statute is available here.
Chapter 210, Section 5D. Release of information concerning adoption
(a) A placement agency, as defined in section 1A of chapter 15D, holding records relating to an adopted person, the biological parents of an adopted person or the adoptive parents of an adopted person shall:
(1) release to such adopted person, if he has reached the age of eighteen years, upon his written request, information about his biological parents which will not identify or tend to lead to the identification of the biological parents or their present or former locations.
(2) release to a biological parent of an adopted person, upon the biological parent’s written request, information about such adopted person which will not reveal or tend to reveal his identity after adoption or his present or former locations, and which will not tend to lead to his identity after adoption or present or former locations.
(3) release to an adoptive parent, if the adopted person is under the age of eighteen years, upon the adoptive parent’s written request, information about the adopted person and his biological parents which will not identify or tend to lead to the identification of the biological parents or their present or former locations.
Such information shall include such nonidentifying information which the agency holds concerning the medical, ethnic, socio-economic, and educational circumstances of the person. The agency, in its discretion, shall further release such nonidentifying information concerning the circumstances under which the adopted person became available for adoption as it deems to be in the best interest of the person so requesting.
(b) If a placement agency, as defined in section nine of chapter twenty-eight A, has received written permission from a biological parent of an adopted person to release the identity of the biological parent to the adopted person and the said agency has received written permission from the adopted person, or written permission from the adoptive parents if the adoptive person is under the age of twenty-one, to release the identity after adoption of the adopted person to the biological parent, then the agency shall release the identity of the adopted person to the biological parent and the identity of the biological parent to the adopted person; provided, however, that if the biological parent is surviving, that he or she has given written consent at least thirty days before the release of said identifying information. The term ”biological parent”, as used in this subsection, shall mean a biological mother, or a father named on the birth certificate of the adopted person filed in court with the adoption papers, or a man who has signed, as father, an adoption surrender filed in court with the adoption papers.
(c) Information released to a person pursuant to paragraphs (a) and (b) shall be provided in writing if such person so requests.
(d) Such placement agency shall:
(1) release to the biological parent of an adopted person, upon the biological parent’s written request, any personal data, as defined in section one of chapter sixty-six A, which it holds relating to the biological parent.
(2) release to an adoptive parent, upon his written request, any personal data, as defined in section one of chapter sixty-six A, which it holds relating to the adoptive parent.
(3) in making any disclosure of information pursuant to this paragraph, the agency shall remove personal identifiers relating to a third person. No agency shall rely on any exception contained in clause Twenty-sixth of section seven of chapter four to withhold personal data otherwise accessible under this paragraph.
(e) All other adoption records held by such placement agency shall be confidential and shall not be released.
Chapter 201, Section 1: Nature of adoption; district or juvenile court
A person of full age may petition the probate court in the county where he resides for leave to adopt as his child another person younger than himself, unless such other person is his or her wife or husband, or brother, sister, uncle or aunt, of the whole or half blood. A minor may likewise petition, or join in the petition of his or her wife or husband, for the adoption of a natural child of one of the parties. If the petitioner has a husband or wife living, competent to join in the petition, such husband or wife shall join therein, and upon adoption the child shall in law be the child of both; provided, however, that the prayer of the petition may be granted although the spouse of the petitioner is not a party to the petition if the court finds: (i) the failure of the spouse to join in the petition or to consent to the adoption is excused by reason of prolonged unexplained absence, legal separation, prolonged separation, incapacity or circumstances constituting an unreasonable withholding of consent; (ii) the husband and wife are not in the process of an ongoing divorce; and (iii) the granting of the petition is in the best interests of the child. If a person not an inhabitant of this commonwealth desires to adopt a child residing here, the petition may be made to the probate court in the county where the child resides.
The district or juvenile court may, if it appears necessary or convenient, exercise the powers authorized by this chapter, but only in respect to a pending proceeding before such district or juvenile court.
Section 2: Written consent of certain persons; form of consent; identification of father
A decree of adoption shall not be made, except as provided in this chapter, without the written consent of the child to be adopted, if above the age of twelve; of the child’s spouse, if any; of the lawful parents, who may be previous adoptive parents, or surviving parent; or of the mother only if the child was born out of wedlock and not previously adopted. A person whose consent is hereby required shall not be prevented from being the adoptive parent.
Such written consent shall be executed no sooner than the fourth calendar day after the date of birth of the child to be adopted. It shall be attested and subscribed before a notary public in the presence of two competent witnesses, one of whom shall be selected by said person. The agency or person receiving custody shall act as guardian of the child until such time as a court of competent jurisdiction appoints a guardian or grants a petition for adoption. Execution of such consent shall be carried out in a manner which shall preserve privacy and confidentiality. A copy of said consent shall be filed with the department of children and families. A consent executed in accordance with the provisions of this section shall be final and irrevocable from date of execution.
The form of such consent shall be as follows:—
I, as the (relationship) of (name of child), age , of the sex, born in (place of birth), on (date of birth), do hereby voluntarily and unconditionally surrender (child) to the care and custody of (agency or person receiving custody) for the purpose of adoption or such other disposition as may be made by a court of competent jurisdiction. I waive notice of any legal proceeding affecting the custody, guardianship, adoption or other disposition of (child).
I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS SURRENDER IS FINAL AND CANNOT BE REVOKED.
/s/ (person giving consent)
On this day of (insert year), before me personally came and appeared and in my presence duly executed the foregoing instrument, and (he, she) acknowledged to me that (he, she) executed the same as (his, her) free act and deed, fully cognizant of its irrevocability.
Date
State of
Notary Public
County of
Signed by (name of person giving consent) as (his, her) freely executed consent in the presence of each of us, and of each other, who thereafter have hereunto signed our names as witnesses.
Any surrender given outside of the commonwealth shall be valid for the purpose of this section if it was taken in accordance with laws of the state or the country where it was executed.
If an agency or person receiving a child born out of wedlock for purposes of a subsequent adoption receives from the child’s mother an executed consent form as prescribed by this chapter, and no person has acknowledged paternity of the child in accordance with chapter two hundred and nine C or has been adjudicated the father of the child by any court of competent jurisdiction, then the person or agency shall request that the mother voluntarily provide a sworn written statement, executed before a notary and in the presence of two competent witnesses, one of whom shall be selected by the mother, that identifies the child’s father and his current or last known address. Any such statement shall be used solely for the purpose of notifying the person named as the father of the status of the child.
Section 2A: Decree of adoption; entry; conditions precedent
No decree of adoption shall be entered for the adoption of a child below the age of fourteen until one of the following conditions has been met:
(A) The child sought to be adopted has been placed with the petitioners for adoption by the department of children and families or by an agency authorized by said department for such purpose, or
(B) The petitioner is a blood relative of the child sought to be adopted, or
(C) The petitioner is a step-parent of the child sought to be adopted, or
(D) The petitioner was nominated in the will of a deceased natural parent of the child as a guardian or an adoptive parent, or
(E) The petition for adoption has been approved in writing by the department of children and families or by an agency authorized by said department. Any petitioner aggrieved by the refusal of the department or of an agency to approve such petition after being requested to do so, may appeal such refusal to the probate court in which the petition for adoption is pending, which court shall make final determination as to the allowance or dismissal of the petition.
Chapter 210, Section 3: Dispensing with required consent in certain cases
(a) Whenever a petition for adoption is filed by a person having the care or custody of a child, the consent of the persons named in section 2, other than that of the child, shall not be required if:— (i) the person to be adopted is 18 years of age or older; or (ii) the court hearing the petition finds that the allowance of the petition is in the best interests of the child pursuant to paragraph (c).
(b) The department of children and families or a licensed child care agency may commence a proceeding, independent of a petition for adoption, in the probate court in Suffolk county or in any other county in which the department or agency maintains an office, to dispense with the need for consent of any person named in section 2 to adoption of the child in the care or custody of the department or agency. Notice of such proceeding shall be given to such person in a manner prescribed by the court. The court shall appoint counsel to represent the child in the proceeding unless the petition is not contested by any party. The court shall issue a decree dispensing with the need for consent or notice of any petition for adoption, custody, guardianship or other disposition of the child named therein, if it finds that the best interests of the child as provided in paragraph (c) will be served by the decree. Pending a hearing on the merits of a petition filed under this paragraph, temporary custody may be awarded to the petitioner. The entry of such decree shall have the effect of terminating the rights of a person named therein to receive notice of or to consent to any legal proceeding affecting the custody, guardianship, adoption or other disposition of the child named therein. The department shall provide notice of the hearing on the merits to any foster parent, pre-adoptive parent or relative providing care for the child informing the foster parent, pre-adoptive parent or relative of his right to attend the hearing and be heard. The provisions of this paragraph shall not be construed to require that a foster parent, pre-adoptive parent or relative be made a party to the proceeding.
A petition brought pursuant to this paragraph may be filed and a decree entered notwithstanding the pendency of a petition brought under chapter 119 or chapter 201 regarding the same child. The chief justice of the trial court may, pursuant to the provisions of section 9 of chapter 211B, assign a justice from any department of the trial court to sit as a justice in any other department or departments of the trial court and hear simultaneously a petition filed under this paragraph and any other pending case or cases involving custody or adoption of the same child. A temporary or permanent custody decree shall not be a requirement to the filing of such petition.
A juvenile court or a district court shall enter a decree dispensing with the need for consent of any person named in section 2 to the adoption of a child named in a petition filed pursuant to section 24 of chapter 119 in such court upon a finding that such child is in need of care and protection pursuant to section 26 of said chapter 119 and that the best interests of the child as defined in paragraph (c) will be served by such decree. The entry of such decree shall have the effect of terminating the rights of a person named therein to receive notice of or to consent to any legal proceeding affecting the custody, guardianship, adoption or other disposition of the child named therein. Facts may be set forth either in the care and protection petition filed pursuant to said section 24 of said chapter 119 or upon a motion made in the course of a care and protection proceeding, alleging that the allowance of the petition or motion is in the best interests of the child.
The department of children and families shall file a petition or, in the alternative, a motion to amend a petition pending pursuant to section 26 of chapter 119 to dispense with parental consent to adoption, custody, guardianship or other disposition of the child under the following circumstances: (i) the child has been abandoned; (ii) the parent has been convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction of the murder or voluntary manslaughter of another child of such parent, of aiding, abetting, attempting, conspiring or soliciting to commit such murder or voluntary manslaughter or of any assault constituting a felony which results in serious bodily injury to the child or to another child of the parent; or (iii) the child has been in foster care in the custody of the commonwealth for 15 of the immediately preceding 22 months. For the purposes of this paragraph, a child shall be considered to have entered foster care on the earlier of: (a) the date of the first judicial finding, pursuant to section 24 or section 26 of chapter 119, that the child has been subjected to abuse or neglect; or (b) the date that is 60 days after the date on which the child is removed from the home. For the purposes of this paragraph, ”serious bodily injury” shall mean bodily injury which involves a substantial risk of death, extreme physical pain, protracted and obvious disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ or mental faculty.
The department shall concurrently identify, recruit, process and approve a qualified family for adoption.
The department need not file a motion or petition to dispense with parental consent to the adoption, custody, guardianship or other disposition of the child, or, where the child is the subject of a pending petition pursuant to section 26 of chapter 119, a motion to amend the petition to dispense with parental consent to the adoption, custody, guardianship or other disposition of the child, if the child is being cared for by a relative or the department has documented in the case plan a compelling reason for determining that such a petition would not be in the best interests of the child or that the family of the child has not been provided, consistent with the time period in the case plan, such services as the department deems necessary for the safe return of the child to the child’s home if reasonable efforts as set forth in section 29C of said chapter 119 are required to be made with respect to the child.
(c) In determining whether the best interests of the child will be served by granting a petition for adoption without requiring certain consent as permitted under paragraph (a), the court shall consider the ability, capacity, fitness and readiness of the child’s parents or other person named in section 2 to assume parental responsibility and shall also consider the ability, capacity, fitness and readiness of the petitioners under said paragraph (a) to assume such responsibilities. In making the determination, the health and safety of the child shall be of paramount, but not exclusive, concern.
In determining whether the best interests of the child will be served by issuing a decree dispensing with the need for consent as permitted under paragraph (b), the court shall consider the ability, capacity, fitness and readiness of the child’s parents or other person named in section 2 to assume parental responsibility, and shall also consider the plan proposed by the department or other agency initiating the petition. In making the determination, the health and safety of the child shall be of paramount, but not exclusive, concern.
In considering the fitness of the child’s parent or other person named in section 2, the court shall consider, without limitation, the following factors:
(i) the child has been abandoned;
(ii) the child or another member of the immediate family of the child has been abused or neglected as a result of the acts or omissions of one or both parents, the parents were offered or received services intended to correct the circumstances which led to the abuse or neglect and refused, or were unable to utilize such services on a regular and consistent basis so that a substantial danger of abuse or neglect continues to exist, or have utilized such services on a regular and consistent basis without effectuating a substantial and material or permanent change in the circumstances which led to the abuse or neglect;
(iii) a court of competent jurisdiction has transferred custody of the child from the child’s parents to the department, the placement has lasted for at least six months and the parents have not maintained significant and meaningful contact with the child during the previous six months nor have they, on a regular and consistent basis, accepted or productively utilized services intended to correct the circumstances;
(iv) the child is four years of age or older, a court of competent jurisdiction has transferred custody of the child from the child’s parents to the department and custody has remained with the department for at least 12 of the immediately preceding 15 months and the child cannot be returned to the custody of the parents at the end of such 15-month period; provided, however, that the parents were offered or received services intended to correct the circumstances and refused or were unable to utilize such services on a regular and consistent basis;
(v) the child is younger than four years of age, a court of competent jurisdiction has transferred custody of the child from the child’s parents to the department and custody has remained with the department for at least 6 of the immediately preceding 12 months and the child cannot be returned to the custody of the parents at the end of such 12-month period; provided, however, that the parents were offered or received services intended to correct the circumstances and refused or were unable to utilize such services on a regular and consistent basis;
(vi) the parent, without excuse, fails to provide proper care or custody for the child and there is a reasonable expectation that the parent will not be able to provide proper care or custody within a reasonable time considering the age of the child provided that the parents were offered or received services intended to correct the circumstances and refused or were unable to utilize such services on a regular and consistent basis;
(vii) because of the lengthy absence of the parent or the parent’s inability to meet the needs of the child, the child has formed a strong, positive bond with his substitute caretaker, the bond has existed for a substantial portion of the child’s life, the forced removal of the child from the caretaker would likely cause serious psychological harm to the child and the parent lacks the capacity to meet the special needs of the child upon removal;
(viii) a lack of effort by a parent or other person named in section 2 to remedy conditions which create a risk of harm due to abuse or neglect of the child;
(ix) severe or repetitive conduct of a physically, emotionally or sexually abusive or neglectful nature toward the child or toward another child in the home;
(x) the willful failure to visit the child where the child is not in the custody of the parent or other person named in section 2;
(xi) the willful failure to support the child where the child is not in the custody of the parent or other person named in section 2. Failure to support shall mean that the parent or other person has failed to make a material contribution to the child’s care when the contribution has been requested by the department or ordered by the court;
(xii) a condition which is reasonably likely to continue for a prolonged, indeterminate period, such as alcohol or drug addiction, mental deficiency or mental illness, and the condition makes the parent or other person named in section 2 unlikely to provide minimally acceptable care of the child;
(xiii) the conviction of a parent or other person named in section 2 of a felony that the court finds is of such a nature that the child will be deprived of a stable home for a period of years. Incarceration in and of itself shall not be grounds for termination of parental rights; or
(xiv) whether or not there has been a prior pattern of parental neglect or misconduct or an assault constituting a felony which resulted in serious bodily injury to the child and a likelihood of future harm to the child based on such prior pattern or assault.
For the purposes of this section ”abandoned” shall mean being left without any provision for support and without any person responsible to maintain care, custody and control because the whereabouts of the person responsible therefor is unknown and reasonable efforts to locate the person have been unsuccessful. A brief and temporary absence from the home without intent to abandon the child shall not constitute abandonment.
Hearings on petitions to dispense with consent to adoption that allege that a child has been abandoned shall be scheduled and heard on an expedited basis. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the following circumstances shall constitute grounds for dispensing with the need for consent to adoption, custody, guardianship or other disposition of the child: (i) the child has been abandoned; (ii) the parent has been convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction of the murder or voluntary manslaughter of another child of such parent, of aiding, abetting, attempting, conspiring or soliciting to commit such murder or voluntary manslaughter or of an assault constituting a felony which resulted in serious bodily injury to the child or to another child of the parent. For the purposes of this section, ”serious bodily injury” shall mean bodily injury which involves a substantial risk of death, extreme physical pain, protracted and obvious disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ or mental faculty.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the petitioner and a birth parent from entering into an agreement for post-termination contact or communication. The court issuing the termination decree under this section shall have jurisdiction to resolve matters concerning the agreement. Such agreement shall become null and void upon the entry of an adoption or guardianship decree.
Notwithstanding the existence of any agreement for post-termination or post-adoption contact or communication, the decree entered under this section shall be final.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a birth parent who has entered into a post-termination agreement from entering into an agreement for post-adoption contact or communication pursuant to section 6C once an adoptive family has been identified.
Chapter 210, Section 5E: Department of children and families adoption report
The department of children and families shall submit a report detailing the number and nature, as defined jointly by department and the University of Massachusetts center for adoption research and policy in Worcester, of adoptions processed by the department during each calendar quarter to be filed with said center on the first day of each calendar quarter.
Chapter 201, Section 6: Decree of court; force and effect; private hearings
If the court is satisfied of the identity and relations of the persons, and that the petitioner is of sufficient ability to bring up the child and provide suitable support and education for it, and that the child should be adopted, it shall make a decree, by which, except as regards succession to property, all rights, duties and other legal consequences of the natural relation of child and parent shall thereafter exist between the child and the petitioner and his kindred, and such rights, duties and legal consequences shall, except as regards marriage, incest or cohabitation, terminate between the child so adopted and his natural parents and kindred or any previous adopting parent; but such decree shall not place the adopting parent or adopted child in any relation to any person, except each other, different from that before existing as regards marriage, or as regards rape, incest or other sexual crime committed by either or both. The court may also decree such change of name as the petitioner may request. If the person so adopted is of full age, he shall not be freed by such decree from the obligations imposed by section six of chapter one hundred and seventeen and section twenty of chapter two hundred and seventy-three.
In evaluating whether a petitioner is of sufficient ability to provide suitable support for the child, the court shall give consideration to assurances by the department of children and families that it will provide an adoption subsidy for the child.
No decree shall be made under this section until there has been filed in the court a statement, signed and sworn to by the petitioner, or petitioners, setting forth the date of birth and place of residence of each adopting parent and such other facts relating to each such parent as would be required by section thirteen of chapter forty-six for the correction of the record of the birth of the person sought to be adopted, and also a copy of the birth record of such person; provided, that in case such person has been previously adopted, either a copy of the record of his birth amended to conform to the previous decree of adoption or a copy of such decree may be so filed; and, provided further, that the filing of any such copy may be dispensed with if the judge is satisfied that it cannot be obtained.
Every decree of adoption entered by the court shall include the words ”This adoption is final and irrevocable.”
The probate judge may determine that the hearing on any adoption petition shall be held in chambers. He shall, on the request of any party to an adoption proceeding, hold the hearing thereon in chambers, except that if said petition is contested, the consent of the other party or parties shall be required. No person shall be allowed to be present at any such hearing unless his presence is necessary either as a party or as a witness, and the probate judge shall exclude the general public from the hearing.
Chapter 210, Section 6A: Certificates of adoption
The court shall forthwith, following the making of a decree of adoption, issue to the petitioner, or petitioners, a certificate of adoption setting forth all the facts relating to the adopting parent, or parents, as appearing in the statement required to be filed by section six, the name of, and all other facts relating to, the person adopted, as appearing in any copy of birth record or decree of adoption filed as required by said section, the name of the court making such decree and the date thereof, and, if such decree authorizes a change in the name of the person adopted, his name as so changed; provided, that if such person has been born out of wedlock, the name, or names, of, and all other facts relating to, his natural parent, or parents, shall be omitted from such certificate.
Certificates under this section shall be made on forms furnished by the commissioner of public health, and shall provide for the indicating thereon by the adopting parent, or parents, as to whether or not a correction of the record of the birth of the person adopted is desired; and, in case such desire is so indicated, the court shall forthwith send a certified copy of such certificate to the clerk of the city or town where such person was born.
If either of the parents who have adopted a child so request, the register of probate shall issue a special certificate of adoption upon which the original or prior name of the child and the names of its natural parents shall not appear.
Chapter 210, Section 6B: Adoption nunc pro tunc
In the event that either of the petitioning adopting parents to a petition for adoption, which has been filed with the probate court, should die prior to the entry of a decree of adoption, the probate court may enter a decree within three months following the date of death nunc pro tunc to the date of the filing of the adoption petition. Said decree shall have all of the effect of a decree of adoption as to both petitioners and the person adopted as provided for in section seven.
Chapter 210, Section 9: Succession to property; right of child adopted in foreign state
A person adopted in another state or country, in accordance with the laws thereof, shall upon proof of such fact be entitled in this commonwealth to the same rights of succession to property by grant, trust settlement, entail, devise, bequest, or by intestacy as he would have had if he had been adopted in the commonwealth.
Chapter 46, Section 1B. Filing reports of out-of-state births or adoptions
Any resident of the commonwealth who is the parent of a child born outside the commonwealth may personally present to the town clerk of the town where such parent was domiciled at the time of such birth, or in the case of an adopted child, at the time of such adoption, an original certificate or other written evidence of the birth, and a certified copy of the adoption decree if adopted, or a duly authenticated photostatic copy thereof. The town clerk may file such documents as evidence establishing such birth or adoption, or may make a copy thereof, which he shall attest as a true copy, and which he may then file as such evidence.
If such evidence is not, in the opinion of the town clerk, sufficient to establish such birth or adoption, and he refuses to file the same, a judge of probate in the county where such town lies may, on petition and after a hearing at which the clerk shall have an opportunity to be heard, order him to receive such certificate, written evidence or photostatic copy as sufficient evidence to establish such birth or adoption, whereupon such clerk shall file the same.
I am a Minnesota lawyer, born and adopted in the District of Columbia, and the founder of Adoptee Rights Law Center PLLC. I've been practicing law in Minnesota state and federal courts since 1993, and have been the executive director of Adoptees United Inc. since 2021. I also have a sense of humor.
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I work hard to get the laws and facts straight in every state---and to keep them regularly updated. If you see something that's not quite right or doesn't fit your experience, let me know with either a quick comment or an email.
Greg Probate court records in MA? Are they open to the public- decrees, etc from the probate packets? What does the law say on this?
Hi there,
I have an adoptee who is from Boston. She was told her records from her adoption (1940s) were sealed and would not be opened .. is there a way to get around this now that her adoptive parents have passed??
When was she told that? You are able to apply for a copy of a birth record established prior to an adoption (without first obtaining a court order) if you are: An adoptee who was born in Massachusetts on or before July 17, 1974. https://www.mass.gov/how-to/apply-for-a-pre-adoption-birth-record
can children of a deceased adult adoptee gain information on their deceased adopted parent?Only an adult child (18 years or older) of a deceased parent who was an adoptee born in Massachusetts on or before July 17, 1974.
Hello,
My grandmother was put up for adoption in 1947. Would their be any way for me to gain access to her adoption record?
I’m a birth mother.
Pregnant at 16, gave birth 05/22/1966 to male identical twins.
Catholic Charities-Norwich, CT, that my parents retained, handled the whole situation.
I was sent to St. Mary’s Center for unwed mothers and my twins were born at St. Margaret’s Hospital..the Center and the Hospital were in the same building.
My infant sons already had prospective adoptive parents and were brought back to Connecticut, so I would guess, the finalization of the adoption.
I have the non- identifying info and I’ve researched it to exhaustion..that was in 1995.
->Will their birth certificate be in Massachusetts or Connecticut?
If the birth was in Massachusetts, the original birth certificate is in Massachusetts. If the adoption occurred in Connecticut, the court file associated with the adoption is in Connecticut. Many court files have copies of the original birth certificate in the court file, especially if it is an “interstate” placement—i.e., born in one state, adopted in another.
Greg,
I am so fed up with being treated as a person who should not be “trusted” with the truth about who I am because I am adopted. Just needed to say that to someone who might understand. Jean
I was born in Boston in 1949. I have my pre adoption birth certificate with mother’s name. Father’s name has obviously been erased with a lightly handwritten “see corrected “ across that left hand section. Is there a way to access the original information?
That’s wild. My only thought is to contact vital records to request the documents that supported the “correction.” I anticipate that they will say no, though.
Hi, I am asking on behalf of my best friend as she is trying to obtain her adoption records; She was born in 1983 in Stoughton, Ma. Her family never told her about the adoption until recently and she is unsure of how to obtain a copy of the record. Is there a way for her to obtain the record, even though she found out from a relative her biological father has passed and she is unsure of her biological mother’s status. No one told her their names, Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Are you aware of any groups or individuals working to gain legal access for natural parents to their relinquished childrens’ OBCs? This would be in Massachusetts which allows access for adoptees and APs of children under 18, but not original parents. Perhaps a silly thing to top a bucket list, but at 72, never having seen it, how I’d love to hold that piece of paper in my hands while I still live. Thanks for any info you can provide.
I am not aware of any organized efforts to do this. It seems dumb that you cannot get it on request now that all Massachusetts-born adoptees can.