NY Dom Rel L § 114 (2021)
2021 New York Laws DOM - Domestic Relations Article 7 - Adoption Title 2 - Adoption From an Authorized Agency 114 - Order of Adoption.

§  114.  Order of adoption. 1. If satisfied that the best interests of   the adoptive child will be promoted  thereby,  the  judge  or  surrogate   shall  make  an  order  approving  the  adoption  and directing that the   adoptive child shall thenceforth be regarded and treated in all respects   as the child of the adoptive parents or parent. In  determining  whether   the  best  interests  of  the  adoptive  child  will  be promoted by the   adoption, the judge or surrogate shall give  due  consideration  to  any   assurance by a local commissioner of social services that he or she will   provide  necessary  support  and  maintenance  for  the  adoptive  child   pursuant to the social services law. Such order shall contain  the  full   name,  date  and place of birth and reference to the schedule annexed to   the petition containing the medical history of the  child  in  the  body   thereof  and  shall direct that the child's medical history, heritage of   the birth parents, which shall include  nationality,  ethnic  background   and  race;  education,  which  shall  be  the  number of years of school   completed by the birth parents at the time of the birth and also at  the   time  of surrender of the adoptive child; general physical appearance of   the birth parents at the time of the birth  and  also  at  the  time  of   surrender  of  the  adoptive  child, which shall include height, weight,   color of hair, eyes, skin; occupation of the birth parents at  the  time   of  the  birth  and also at the time of surrender of the adoptive child;   health and medical history of the birth parents at the time of the birth   and also at the time of surrender of the adoptive child,  including  all   available  information  setting forth conditions or diseases believed to   be hereditary, any drugs or medication taken during the pregnancy by the   child's mother;  and  any  other  information  which  may  be  a  factor   influencing the child's present or future health, including the talents,   hobbies  and  special interests of the birth parents as contained in the   petition, be furnished to the adoptive parents, the commissioner and the   appropriate local  registrar  of  vital  statistics.  If  the  judge  or   surrogate is also satisfied that there is no reasonable objection to the   change  of  name  proposed,  the order shall direct that the name of the   adoptive child be changed  to  the  name  stated  in  the  agreement  of   adoption  and that henceforth he or she shall be known by that name. All   such orders made by a family court judge  of  Westchester  county  since   September  first,  nineteen hundred sixty-two, and on file in the office   of the county clerk of such county shall be transferred to the clerk  of   the  family  court  of such county. Such order and all the papers in the   proceeding shall be filed in  the  office  of  the  court  granting  the   adoption  and  the  order  shall be entered in books which shall be kept   under seal and which shall be  indexed  by  the  name  of  the  adoptive   parents  and  by  the  full  original  name  of  the  child. Such order,   including orders heretofore entered, shall be subject to inspection  and   examination  only as hereinafter provided. Notwithstanding the fact that   adoption records shall be sealed and secret, they may be microfilmed and   processed pursuant to an order of the court, provided  that  such  order   provides  that the confidentiality of such records be maintained. If the   confidentiality is violated, the person or company violating it  can  be   found  guilty of contempt of court. The fact that the adoptive child was   born out of wedlock shall in no case appear in such order.  The  written   report of the investigation together with all other papers pertaining to   the  adoption  shall  be  kept  by the judge or surrogate as a permanent   record of his or her court and such papers must be sealed by him or  her   and withheld from inspection. No certified copy of the order of adoption   shall  issue  unless  authorized  by  court order, except that certified   copies may issue to the agency or agencies in the  proceeding  prior  to   the  sealing  of the papers. Before the record is sealed, such order may   be granted upon written ex parte application on  good  cause  shown  and    upon  such  conditions  as  the  court  may  impose. After the record is   sealed, such order may  be  granted  only  upon  notice  as  hereinafter   provided  for  disclosure or access and inspection of records. The clerk   upon  request  of  a  person  or  agency  entitled  thereto  shall issue   certificates of adoption which shall contain only the new  name  of  the   child  and  the  date  and  place of birth of the child, the name of the   adoptive parents and the date when and  court  where  the  adoption  was   granted,  which  certificate  as to the facts recited therein shall have   the same force and effect as a certified copy of an order  of  adoption.   For the purposes of this subdivision, the term "commissioner" shall mean   the  state commissioner of health and, with respect to an adoptive child   born in the city of New York, the  commissioner  of  health  and  mental   hygiene of the city of New York.2.  No  person,  including the attorney for the adoptive parents shall   disclose the surname of the child directly or indirectly to the adoptive   parents except upon order of the  court.  No  person  shall  be  allowed   access  to  such  sealed  records and order and any index thereof except   upon an order of a judge or surrogate of the court in  which  the  order   was  made  or of a justice of the supreme court. No order for disclosure   or access and inspection shall be granted except on good cause shown and   on due notice to the adoptive parents and to such additional persons  as   the  court  may  direct.  Nothing  contained  herein  shall be deemed to   require the state commissioner of health or his  designee  to  secure  a   court  order authorizing disclosure of information contained in adoption   or  birth  records  requested  pursuant  to  the  authority  of  section   forty-one   hundred   thirty-eight-c   or   section   forty-one  hundred   thirty-eight-d of the public  health  law;  upon  the  receipt  of  such   request  for  information,  the  court  shall  transmit  the information   authorized to be released thereunder to the state commissioner of health   or his designee.3. In like manner as a court of general  jurisdiction  exercises  such   powers,  a  judge or surrogate of a court in which the order of adoption   was made may open, vacate or set aside such order of adoption for fraud,   newly discovered evidence or other sufficient cause.4. Good cause for disclosure or access to  and  inspection  of  sealed   adoption  records  and  orders  and  any  index thereof, hereinafter the   "adoption records", under this section may  be  established  on  medical   grounds  as  provided herein. Certification from a physician licensed to   practice medicine in the state  of  New  York  that  relief  under  this   subdivision  is required to address a serious physical or mental illness   shall be prima facie evidence of good cause.  Such  certification  shall   indentify the information required to address such illness. Except where   there  is an immediate medical need for the information sought, in which   case the court may grant access to the adoption records directly to  the   petitioner,  the  court  hearing  petition  under  the subdivision shall   appoint a guardian ad litem or other  disinterested  person,  who  shall   have  access  to  the  adoption records for the purpose of obtaining the   medical information sought from those records or, where the records  are   insufficient   for  such  purpose,  through  contacting  the  biological   parents. The guardian  or  other  disinterested  person  shall  offer  a   biological  parent  the  option  of  disclosing  the medical information   sought by the petitioner pursuant to this subdivision, as  well  as  the   option  of  granting consent to examine the parent's medical records. If   the guardian or other disinterested person appointed does not obtain the   medical  information  sought  by  the  petitioner,  such   guardian   or   disinterested person shall make a report of his or her efforts to obtain   such  information  to  the  court.  Where further efforts to obtain such   information are appropriate, the court may in its  discretion  authorize    direct disclosure or access to and inspection of the adoption records by   the petitioner.