§79. Record of adoption decree

A.(1) Whenever a final decree of adoption shall be entered, the clerk of court shall forward, on a form supplied by the Department of Children and Family Services, his certificate of the decree to the state registrar who shall make a new certificate of live birth of the person adopted, in the new name if the name has been changed in the decree.

(2)(a) If the child is adopted by a married couple, the names of both parties shall be recorded as the parents, even if one of the petitioning parties dies prior to entry of the final judgment of adoption. However, if the child is adopted by a step-parent who was married to the legal parent of the child and the legal parent dies prior to the filing of the petition for adoption, the names of both the deceased legal parent and the step-parent shall be recorded on the child's birth certificate at the request of the step-parent.

(b) If the child is adopted by a single person, the word "adopted" may be written on the new birth certificate if the adopting parent requests it, otherwise no such wording shall be imprinted on the document and the name of the single adopting parent shall be recorded on the new birth certificate.

(3) Upon request of an adopting parent of a child whose birth certificate has the word "adopted" indicated thereon, the state registrar shall immediately reissue a birth certificate which has no reference or other indication that the child was adopted.

(4) The state registrar shall seal and file the original certificate of birth with the certificate of the decree. This sealed package may be opened only on the order of a competent court.

B. If no original record of birth is located in the files of the state registrar of vital records, then unless the child is known to have been born out of the state of Louisiana, he shall file a new certificate of birth in the adoptive name as evidence of the name of the child, names of parents, birth date, and birthplace. The state registrar may require additional documentary evidence necessary to establish the circumstances of birth.

C. A person born in a foreign country who is adopted in the state of Louisiana, but who is not a United States citizen, or who is a naturalized United States citizen, and a person born in a foreign country and adopted outside the United States by adoptive parents who are residents of the state of Louisiana at the time of the adoption, may obtain a new birth certificate according to the following conditions, limitations, and procedures:

(1) Where a certified copy of the original foreign birth certificate of the adopted person, and, if the certificate is not in English, a certified verbatim translation of the certificate are available, the state registrar, upon receipt of the certificate translation and a certified copy of the order or decree of adoption, shall prepare a birth certificate in the new name of the adopted person and shall seal and file the foreign certificate and order or decree of adoption.

(2) Where the certified copy of the original birth certificate of the adopted person and certified translation are not available, the court having jurisdiction of adoptions in the parish, upon evidence presented by the Department of Children and Family Services from information secured at the port of entry or upon evidence from other reliable sources, may make findings on the date, place of birth, and parentage of the adopted person. Upon receipt of a certified copy of such findings of the court, together with a certified copy of the order or decree of adoption, the state registrar shall prepare a birth certificate in the new name of the adopted person and shall seal and file the certified copy of the findings of the court and the certified copy of the order or decree of adoption.

(3) A birth certificate issued pursuant to the provisions of this Subsection shall show specifically the true or probable country, island, or continent of birth. Except as provided in the following Paragraph, the birth certificate shall be annotated with the provision "not proof of United States citizenship".

(4) Where a certified copy of a certificate of naturalization is received by the state registrar together with the documents required by this Subsection, the date and number of the certificate of naturalization shall be included in the birth certificate, and the birth certificate shall be accepted by all state agencies as evidence of United States citizenship.

D. All motions for records under this Section shall be in accordance with, and be subject to, the provisions of Children's Code Articles 1188 through 1192, and, if an adoption agency is involved, the agency shall be served with a copy of a motion as provided in Article 1313 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Acts 1992, No. 705, §2, eff. July 6, 1992; Acts 1995, No. 395, §1; Acts 2017, No. 148, §1.