Bill Text: IL SB2977 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Adoption Act. Allows any person 21 years of age or over who was relinquished under the Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act or who had a birth certificate issued under specified provisions of the Vital Records Act to petition for the appointment of a confidential intermediary. Requires the confidential intermediary to provide such a petitioner with a DNA test kit upon request with no fee. Allows a petitioner to use the remedy in the Adoption Act for a missing or lost original birth certificate to be used for missing or lost birth certificate issued under specified provisions of the Vital Records Act.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Failed) 2025-01-07 - Session Sine Die [SB2977 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SB2977-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 SB2977 Introduced 1/31/2024, by Sen. Sara Feigenholtz SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
750 ILCS 50/18.3a from Ch. 40, par. 1522.3a
Amends the Adoption Act. Allows any person 21 years of age or over who was relinquished under the Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act or who had a birth certificate issued under specified provisions of the Vital Records Act to petition for the appointment of a confidential intermediary. Requires the confidential intermediary to provide such a petitioner with a DNA test kit upon request with no fee. Allows a petitioner to use the remedy in the Adoption Act for a missing or lost original birth certificate to be used for missing or lost birth certificate issued under specified provisions of the Vital Records Act.
LRB103 38259 JRC 68394 b
A BILL FOR
SB2977 LRB103 38259 JRC 68394 b
AN ACT concerning civil law.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Adoption Act is amended by changing Section
18.3a as follows:
(750 ILCS 50/18.3a) (from Ch. 40, par. 1522.3a)
Sec. 18.3a. Confidential intermediary.
(a) General purposes. Notwithstanding any other provision
of this Act,
(1) any adopted or surrendered person 21 years of age
or over; or
(2) any adoptive parent or legal guardian of an
adopted or surrendered person under the age of 21; or
(3) any birth parent of an adopted or surrendered
person who is 21 years of age or over; or
(4) any adult child or adult grandchild of a deceased
adopted or surrendered person; or
(5) any adoptive parent or surviving spouse of a
deceased adopted or surrendered person; or
(6) any adult birth sibling of the adult adopted or
surrendered person unless the birth parent has checked
Option E on the Birth Parent Preference Form or has filed a
Denial of Information Exchange with the Registry and is

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not deceased; or
(7) any adult adopted birth sibling of an adult
adopted or surrendered person; or
(8) any adult birth sibling of the birth parent if the
birth parent is deceased; or
(9) any birth grandparent; or
(10) any person 21 years of age or over who was
relinquished pursuant to the Abandoned Newborn Infant
Protection Act or who had a birth certificate issued
pursuant to Section 13 of the Vital Records Act.
may petition the court in any county in the State of Illinois
for appointment of a confidential intermediary as provided in
this Section for the purpose of exchanging medical information
with one or more mutually consenting biological relatives,
obtaining identifying information about one or more mutually
consenting biological relatives, or arranging contact with one
or more mutually consenting biological relatives. The
petitioner shall be required to accompany his or her petition
with proof of registration with the Illinois Adoption Registry
and Medical Information Exchange.
(a-5) In addition, any former youth in care as defined in
Section 4d of the Children and Family Services Act who was
adopted or surrendered may petition the court in any county in
the State for appointment of a confidential intermediary as
provided in this Section for the purposes of obtaining
identifying information or arranging contact with (i) siblings

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or birth relatives if the former youth in care is between the
ages of 18 and 21 or (ii) former foster parents or foster
siblings if the former youth in care is over the age of 18. A
petitioner under this subsection is not required to register
with the Illinois Adoption Registry and Medical Information
Exchange.
(b) Petition. Upon petition, the court shall appoint a
confidential intermediary. The petition shall indicate if the
petitioner wants to do any one or more of the following as to
the sought-after relative or relatives: exchange medical
information with the biological relative or relatives, obtain
identifying information from the biological relative or
relatives, or to arrange contact with the biological relative.
(c) Order. The order appointing the confidential
intermediary shall allow that intermediary to conduct a search
for the sought-after relative by accessing those records
described in subsection (g) of this Section.
(d) Fees and expenses. The court shall not condition the
appointment of the confidential intermediary on the payment of
the intermediary's fees and expenses in advance of the
commencement of the work of the confidential intermediary. No
fee shall be charged to any petitioner.
(d-5) The confidential intermediary shall provide any
petitioner under paragraph (a)(10) with a DNA test kit upon
request with no fee.
(e) Eligibility of intermediary. The court may appoint as

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confidential intermediary any person certified by the
Department of Children and Family Services as qualified to
serve as a confidential intermediary. Certification shall be
dependent upon the confidential intermediary completing a
course of training including, but not limited to, applicable
federal and State privacy laws.
(f) (Blank).
(g) Confidential intermediary access to information.
Subject to the limitations of subsection (i) of this Section,
the confidential intermediary shall have access to vital
records maintained by the Department of Public Health and its
local designees for the maintenance of vital records, or a
comparable public entity that maintains vital records in
another state in accordance with that state's laws, and all
records of the court or any adoption agency, public or
private, as limited in this Section, which relate to the
adoption or the identity and location of an adopted or
surrendered person, of an adult child or surviving spouse of a
deceased adopted or surrendered person, or of a birth parent,
birth sibling, or the sibling of a deceased birth parent. The
confidential intermediary shall not have access to any
personal health information protected by the Standards for
Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information
adopted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
of 1996 unless the confidential intermediary has obtained

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written consent from the person whose information is being
sought by an adult adopted or surrendered person or, if that
person is a minor child, that person's parent or guardian.
Confidential intermediaries shall be authorized to inspect
confidential relinquishment and adoption records. The
confidential intermediary shall not be authorized to access
medical records, financial records, credit records, banking
records, home studies, attorney file records, or other
personal records. In cases where a birth parent is being
sought, an adoption agency shall inform the confidential
intermediary of any statement filed pursuant to Section 18.3,
hereinafter referred to as "the 18.3 statement", indicating a
desire of the surrendering birth parent to have identifying
information shared or to not have identifying information
shared. Information provided to the confidential intermediary
by an adoption agency shall be restricted to the full name,
date of birth, place of birth, last known address, last known
telephone number of the sought-after relative or, if
applicable, of the children or siblings of the sought-after
relative, and the 18.3 statement. If the petitioner is an
adult adopted or surrendered person or the adoptive parent of
a minor and if the petitioner has signed a written
authorization to disclose personal medical information, an
adoption agency disclosing information to a confidential
intermediary shall disclose available medical information
about the adopted or surrendered person from birth through

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adoption.
(h) Missing or lost original birth certificate or birth
certificate issued under Section 13 of the Vital Records Act;
remedy. Disclosure of information by the confidential
intermediary shall be consistent with the public policy and
intent of laws granting original birth certificate access as
expressed in Section 18.04 of this Act. The confidential
intermediary shall comply with the following procedures in
disclosing information to the petitioners:
(1) If the petitioner is an adult adopted or
surrendered person, or the adult child, adult grandchild,
or surviving spouse of a deceased adopted or surrendered
person, the confidential intermediary shall disclose:
(A) identifying information about the birth parent
of the adopted person which, in the ordinary course of
business, would have been reflected on the original
filed certificate of birth, as of the date of birth,
only if:
(i) the adopted person was born before January
1, 1946 and the petitioner has requested a
non-certified copy of the adopted person's
original birth certificate under Section 18.1 of
this Act, and the Illinois Department of Public
Health has issued a certification that the
original birth certificate was not found, or the
petitioner has presented the confidential

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intermediary with the non-certified copy of the
original birth certificate which omits the name of
the birth parent;
(ii) the adopted person was born after January
1, 1946, and the petitioner has requested a
non-certified copy of the adopted person's
original birth certificate under Section 18.1 of
this Act and the Illinois Department of Public
Health has issued a certification that the
original birth certificate was not found.
In providing information pursuant to this
subdivision (h)(1)(A), the confidential intermediary
shall expressly inform the petitioner in writing that
since the identifying information is not from an
official original certificate of birth filed pursuant
to the Vital Records Act, the confidential
intermediary cannot attest to the complete accuracy of
the information and the confidential intermediary
shall not be liable if the information disclosed is
not accurate. Only information from the court files
shall be provided to the petitioner in this Section.
If the identifying information concerning a birth
father is sought by the petitioner, the confidential
intermediary shall disclose only the identifying
information of the birth father as defined in Section
18.06 of this Act;

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(B) the name of the child welfare agency which had
legal custody of the surrendered person or
responsibility for placing the surrendered person and
any available contact information for such agency;
(C) the name of the state in which the surrender
occurred or in which the adoption was finalized; and
(D) any information for which the sought-after
relative has provided his or her consent to disclose
under paragraphs (1) through (4) of subsection (i) of
this Section.
(2) If the petitioner is an adult adopted or
surrendered person, or the adoptive parent of an adult
adopted or surrendered person under the age of 21, or the
adoptive parent of a deceased adopted or surrendered
person, the confidential intermediary shall provide, in
addition to the information listed in paragraph (1) of
this subsection (h):
(A) any information which the adoption agency
provides pursuant to subsection (i) of this Section
pertaining to medical information about the adopted or
surrendered person; and
(B) any non-identifying information, as defined in
Section 18.4 of this Act, that is obtained during the
search.
(3) If the petitioner is not defined in paragraph (1)
or (2) of this subsection, the confidential intermediary

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shall provide to the petitioner:
(A) any information for which the sought-after
relative has provided his or her consent under
paragraphs (1) through (4) of subsection (i) of this
Section;
(B) the name of the child welfare agency which had
legal custody of the surrendered person or
responsibility for placing the surrendered person and
any available contact information for such agency; and
(C) the name of the state in which the surrender
occurred or in which the adoption was finalized.
(h-5) Disclosure of information shall be made by the
confidential intermediary at any time from the appointment of
the confidential intermediary and the court's issuance of an
order of dismissal.
(i) Duties of confidential intermediary in conducting a
search. In conducting a search under this Section, the
confidential intermediary shall first determine whether there
is a Denial of Information Exchange or a Birth Parent
Preference Form with Option E selected or an 18.3 statement
referenced in subsection (g) of this Section on file with the
Illinois Adoption Registry. If there is a denial, the Birth
Parent Preference Form on file with the Registry and the birth
parent who completed the form selected Option E, or if there is
an 18.3 statement indicating the birth parent's intent not to
have identifying information shared and the birth parent did

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not later file an Information Exchange Authorization with the
Registry, the confidential intermediary must discontinue the
search unless 5 years or more have elapsed since the execution
of the Denial of Information Exchange, Birth Parent Preference
Form, or the 18.3 statement. If a birth parent was previously
the subject of a search through the State confidential
intermediary program, the confidential intermediary shall
inform the petitioner of the need to discontinue the search
until 10 years or more have elapsed since the initial search
was closed. In cases where a birth parent has been the object
of 2 searches through the State confidential intermediary
program, no subsequent search for the birth parent shall be
authorized absent a court order to the contrary.
In conducting a search under this Section, the
confidential intermediary shall attempt to locate the relative
or relatives from whom the petitioner has requested
information. If the sought-after relative is deceased or
cannot be located after a diligent search, the confidential
intermediary may contact other adult relatives of the
sought-after relative.
The confidential intermediary shall contact a sought-after
relative on behalf of the petitioner in a manner that respects
the sought-after relative's privacy and shall inform the
sought-after relative of the petitioner's request for medical
information, identifying information or contact as stated in
the petition. Based upon the terms of the petitioner's

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request, the confidential intermediary shall contact a
sought-after relative on behalf of the petitioner and inform
the sought-after relative of the following options:
(1) The sought-after relative may totally reject one
or all of the requests for medical information,
identifying information or contact. The sought-after
relative shall be informed that they can provide a medical
questionnaire to be forwarded to the petitioner without
releasing any identifying information. The confidential
intermediary shall inform the petitioner of the
sought-after relative's decision to reject the sharing of
information or contact.
(2) The sought-after relative may consent to
completing a medical questionnaire only. In this case, the
confidential intermediary shall provide the questionnaire
and ask the sought-after relative to complete it. The
confidential intermediary shall forward the completed
questionnaire to the petitioner and inform the petitioner
of the sought-after relative's desire to not provide any
additional information.
(3) The sought-after relative may communicate with the
petitioner without having his or her identity disclosed.
In this case, the confidential intermediary shall arrange
the desired communication in a manner that protects the
identity of the sought-after relative. The confidential
intermediary shall inform the petitioner of the

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sought-after relative's decision to communicate but not
disclose his or her identity.
(4) The sought-after relative may consent to initiate
contact with the petitioner. The confidential intermediary
shall obtain written consents from both parties that they
wish to disclose their identities to each other and to
have contact with each other.
(j) Oath. The confidential intermediary shall sign an oath
of confidentiality substantially as follows: "I, ..........,
being duly sworn, on oath depose and say: As a condition of
appointment as a confidential intermediary, I affirm that:
(1) I will not disclose to the petitioner, directly or
indirectly, any confidential information except in a
manner consistent with the law.
(2) I recognize that violation of this oath subjects
me to civil liability and to a potential finding of
contempt of court. ................................
SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me, a Notary Public, on (insert
date)
................................."
(k) Sanctions.
(1) Any confidential intermediary who improperly
discloses confidential information identifying a
sought-after relative shall be liable to the sought-after
relative for damages and may also be found in contempt of
court.

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(2) Any person who learns a sought-after relative's
identity, directly or indirectly, through the use of
procedures provided in this Section and who improperly
discloses information identifying the sought-after
relative shall be liable to the sought-after relative for
actual damages plus minimum punitive damages of $10,000.
(3) The Department shall fine any confidential
intermediary who improperly discloses confidential
information in violation of item (1) or (2) of this
subsection (k) an amount up to $2,000 per improper
disclosure. This fine does not affect civil liability
under item (2) of this subsection (k). The Department
shall deposit all fines and penalties collected under this
Section into the Illinois Adoption Registry and Medical
Information Fund.
(l) Death of person being sought. Notwithstanding any
other provision of this Act, if the confidential intermediary
discovers that the person being sought has died, he or she
shall report this fact to the court, along with a copy of the
death certificate. If the sought-after relative is a birth
parent, the confidential intermediary shall also forward a
copy of the birth parent's death certificate, if available, to
the Registry for inclusion in the Registry file.
(m) Any confidential information obtained by the
confidential intermediary during the course of his or her
search shall be kept strictly confidential and shall be used

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for the purpose of arranging contact between the petitioner
and the sought-after birth relative. At the time the case is
closed, all identifying information shall be returned to the
court for inclusion in the impounded adoption file.
(n) (Blank).
(o) Except as provided in subsection (k) of this Section,
no liability shall accrue to the State, any State agency, any
judge, any officer or employee of the court, any certified
confidential intermediary, or any agency designated to oversee
confidential intermediary services for acts, omissions, or
efforts made in good faith within the scope of this Section.
(p) An adoption agency that has received a request from a
confidential intermediary for the full name, date of birth,
last known address, or last known telephone number of a
sought-after relative pursuant to subsection (g) of Section
18.3a, or for medical information regarding a sought-after
relative pursuant to subsection (h) of Section 18.3a, must
satisfactorily comply with this court order within a period of
45 days. The court shall order the adoption agency to
reimburse the petitioner in an amount equal to all payments
made by the petitioner to the confidential intermediary, and
the adoption agency shall be subject to a civil monetary
penalty of $1,000 to be paid to the Department of Children and
Family Services. Following the issuance of a court order
finding that the adoption agency has not complied with Section
18.3, the adoption agency shall be subject to a monetary

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