Bill Text: MS SB2322 | 2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Mississippi Surrogacy and In Vitro Child and Parent Act; enact.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2023-01-31 - Died In Committee [SB2322 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2023-SB2322-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2023 Regular Session
To: Public Health and Welfare
By: Senator(s) Fillingane
Senate Bill 2322
AN ACT TO ENACT THE MISSISSIPPI SURROGACY AND IN VITRO CHILD AND PARENT ACT; TO PROVIDE FOR CERTAIN TECHNICAL DEFINITIONS RELATED TO SURROGACY AND IN VITRO PREGNANCIES; TO PROVIDE FOR CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO THE DONATION OF EGGS, SPERM OR PREEMBRYOS; TO ESTABLISH THE REQUIREMENTS FOR PREPLANNED ADOPTION AGREEMENTS AND GESTATIONAL SURROGACY CONTRACTS; TO SET CERTAIN PARENTAL RIGHTS INVOLVING CHILDREN PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF ARTIFICIAL OR IN VITRO INSEMINATION; TO PROVIDE FOR AN EXPEDITED ADOPTION OR AFFIRMATION PROCEDURE FOR PARENTAL STATUS INVOLVING GESTATIONAL SURROGACY OR PREPLANNED ADOPTIONS; TO PROVIDE CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DISPOSITION OF EGGS, SPERM OR PROEMBRYOS; TO SET CERTAIN TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS INVOLVING SURROGACY AND IN VITRO PREGNANCIES; TO AMEND SECTIONS 93-17-5 AND 93-17-6 MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT CERTAIN PROVISIONS RELATED TO ADOPTIONS SHALL NOT APPLY TO PARENTS OR CHILDREN SUBJECT TO THE ACT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 93-17-7, 93-17-8 AND 93-17-21, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR THE PURPOSE OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; TO AMEND SECTION 93-17-13, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCLUDE CASES INVOLVING PARENTS OR CHILDREN SUBJECT TO THE ACT IN CERTAIN ADOPTION PROCEDURES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Title. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Mississippi Surrogacy and In Vitro Child and Parent Act."
SECTION 2. Definitions. For purposes of this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed herein:
(a) "Assisted reproductive technology" means those procreative procedures which involve the laboratory handling of human eggs or preembryos, including, but not limited to, in vitro fertilization embryo transfer, gamete intrafallopian transfer, pronuclear stage transfer, tubal embryo transfer and zygote intrafallopian transfer.
(b) "Blood and tissue typing tests" include, but are not limited to, tests of red cell antigens, red cell isoenzymes, human leukocyte antigens and serum proteins.
(c) "Child" means the child or children conceived by means of a fertility technique that is part of a preplanned adoption agreement.
(d) "Commissioning parent(s)" means the intended mother and/or father of a child who will be conceived by means of assisted reproductive technology.
(e) "Egg" means the unfertilized female reproductive cell.
(f) "Fertility technique" means artificial embryonation, artificial insemination, whether in vivo or in vitro, egg donation or embryo adoption.
(g) "Fertilization" means the initial union of an egg and sperm.
(h) "Gestational surrogate" means a woman who contracts to become pregnant by means of assisted reproductive technology without the use of an egg from her body.
(i) "Gestational surrogacy" means a state that results from a process in which a commissioning couple's eggs or sperm, or both, are mixed in vitro and the resulting preembryo is implanted within another woman's body.
(j) "Gestational surrogacy contract" means a written agreement between the gestational surrogate and the commissioning couple.
(k) "Gamete intrafallopian transfer" means the direct transfer of eggs and sperm into the fallopian tube prior to fertilization.
(l) "Implantation" means the event that occurs when a fertilized egg adheres to the uterine wall for nourishment.
(m) "Intended father" means a male who, as evidenced by a preplanned adoption agreement, intends to assert the parental rights and responsibilities for a child conceived through a fertility technique, regardless of whether the child is biologically related to the male.
(n) "Intended mother" means a female who, as evidenced by a preplanned adoption agreement, intends to assert the parental rights and responsibilities for a child conceived through a fertility technique, regardless of whether the child is biologically related to the female.
(o) "In vitro" refers to a laboratory procedure performed in an artificial environment outside a woman's body.
(p) "In vitro fertilization embryo transfer" means the transfer of an in vitro fertilized preembryo into a woman's uterus.
(q) "Party" means the intended father, the intended mother, the volunteer mother or the volunteer mother's husband, if she has a husband.
(r) "Preembryo" means the product of fertilization of an egg by a sperm until the appearance of the embryonic axis.
(s) "Preplanned adoption agreement" means a written agreement among the parties that specifies the intent of the parties as to their rights and responsibilities in the preplanned adoption agreement, consistent with the provisions of this act. Such term shall mean an agreement for the volunteer mother to bear the child, for payment by the intended father and/or intended mother of the expenses allowed by this section, for the intended father and/or intended mother to assert full parental rights and responsibilities to the child and for the volunteer mother to terminate her parental rights and responsibilities to the child in favor of the intended father and/or intended mother.
(t) "Pronuclear stage transfer" or "zygote intrafallopian transfer" means the transfer of an in vitro fertilized preembryo into the fallopian tube before cell division takes place.
(u) "Sperm" means the male reproductive cell.
(v) "Tubal embryo transfer" means the transfer of a dividing, in vitro fertilized preembryo into the fallopian tube.
(w) "Volunteer mother" means a female at least twenty-one (21) years of age who voluntarily agrees that if she should become pregnant pursuant to a preplanned adoption agreement, she will terminate her parental rights and responsibilities to the child in favor of the intended father and/or intended mother.
SECTION 3. Donation of eggs, sperm or preembryos. (1) The donor of any egg, sperm or preembryo, other than the commissioning parent(s) who has executed a preplanned adoption agreement under Section 4 of this act, shall relinquish all parental rights and obligations with respect to the donation or the resulting children. Only reasonable compensation directly related to the donation of eggs, sperm and preembryos shall be permitted.
(2) If an intended mother and/or intended father are the biological parent(s) of a child created through assisted reproductive technology, the intended mother and/or intended father shall be considered the natural parent(s) of the child.
(3) The provisions of this act shall only apply to a surrogate mother who is not the biological mother of the child.
SECTION 4. Preplanned adoption agreement. (1) Individuals may enter into a preplanned adoption agreement as specified in this section, but such agreement may not in any way affect final transfer of custody of a child or final adoption of a child without review and approval of a court of competent jurisdiction and without compliance with other applicable provisions of law.
(2) A preplanned adoption agreement must include, but need not be limited to, the following terms:
(a) That the volunteer mother agrees to become pregnant by the fertility technique specified in the agreement, to bear the child, and to terminate any parental rights and responsibilities to the child she might have through a written consent executed at the same time as the preplanned adoption agreement.
(b) That the volunteer mother agrees to submit to reasonable medical evaluation and treatment and to adhere to reasonable medical instructions about her prenatal health.
(c) That an intended father who is also the biological father acknowledges that he is aware that he will assume parental rights and responsibilities for the child as otherwise provided by law for a father if the agreement is terminated for any reason by any party before final transfer of custody is completed or if the planned adoption is not approved by a court of competent jurisdiction.
(d) That an intended mother who is also the biological mother acknowledges that she is aware that she will assume parental rights and responsibilities for the child as otherwise provided by law for a mother if the agreement is terminated for any reason by any party before final transfer of custody is completed or if the planned adoption is not approved by a court of competent jurisdiction.
(e) That the intended father and/or intended mother may agree to pay all reasonable legal, medical, psychological or psychiatric expenses of the volunteer mother related to the preplanned adoption agreement and may agree to pay the reasonable living expenses and wages lost due to the pregnancy and birth of the volunteer mother and reasonable compensation for inconvenience, discomfort and medical risk. No other compensation, whether in cash or in kind, shall be made pursuant to a preplanned adoption agreement.
(f) That the intended father and/or intended mother agree to accept custody of and to assert full parental rights and responsibilities for the child immediately upon the child's birth, regardless of any impairment to the child.
(g) That the intended father and/or intended mother shall have the right to specify the blood and tissue typing tests to be performed if the agreement specifies that at least one (1) of them is intended to be the biological parent of the child.
(h) That the agreement may be terminated at any time by any of the parties.
(4) A preplanned adoption agreement shall not contain any provision:
(a) To reduce any amount paid to the volunteer mother if the child is stillborn or is born alive but impaired, or to provide for the payment of a supplement or bonus for any reason; and
(b) Requiring the termination of the volunteer mother's pregnancy.
(5) An attorney who represents an intended father and/or intended mother or any other attorney with whom that attorney is associated shall not represent simultaneously a female who is or proposes to be a volunteer mother in any matter relating to a preplanned adoption agreement.
(6) Doctors, psychologists, attorneys and other professionals may receive reasonable compensation for their professional services, such as providing medical services and procedures, legal advice in structuring and negotiating a preplanned adoption agreement or counseling.
SECTION 5. (1) Any child born within wedlock who has been conceived by the means of artificial or in vitro insemination is irrebuttably presumed to be the child of such husband and wife, provided that both husband and wife have consented in writing to the artificial or in vitro insemination. Such husband and wife shall have the same parental rights to the child
(2) Any child born within wedlock who has been conceived by means of donated eggs or preembryos shall be irrebuttably presumed to be the child of the recipient gestating woman and her husband, provided that both parties have consented in writing to the use of donated eggs or preembryos.
SECTION 6. Gestational surrogacy contract. (1) Prior to engaging in gestational surrogacy, a binding and enforceable gestational surrogacy contract may be made between the commissioning parent(s) and the gestational surrogate. A contract for gestational surrogacy shall not be binding and enforceable unless the gestational surrogate is twenty-one (21) years of age or older and the commissioning parent(s) is twenty-one (21) years of age or older.
(2) A gestational surrogacy contract shall include the following provisions:
(a) The commissioning parent(s) agrees that the gestational surrogate shall be the sole source of consent with respect to clinical intervention and management of the pregnancy, provided that the commission parent(s) shall be consulted with during all aspects of the pregnancy with the surrogate's treating physician;
(b) The gestational surrogate agrees to submit to reasonable medical evaluation and treatment and to adhere to reasonable medical instructions about her prenatal health;
(c) The gestational surrogate agrees to relinquish any parental rights upon the child's birth and to proceed with the judicial proceedings prescribed under existing law;
(d) The commissioning parent(s) agrees to accept custody of and to assume full parental rights and responsibilities for the child immediately upon the child's birth, regardless of any impairment of the child.
(3) As part of the contract, the commissioning parent(s) may agree to pay only reasonable living, legal, medical, psychological and psychiatric expenses of the gestational surrogate that are directly related to prenatal, intrapartal and postpartal periods.
SECTION 7. Expedited affirmation of parental status for gestational surrogacy. (1) After seventy-two (72) hours after the birth of a child delivered of a gestational surrogate or volunteer mother, as applicable, the commissioning parent(s) shall petition a court of competent jurisdiction for an expedited affirmation of parental status or adoption if the commissioning parent(s) is not the biological parent(s) of the child.
(2) After the petition is filed, the court shall fix a time and place for hearing the petition, which may be immediately after the filing of the petition. Notice of hearing shall be given as prescribed by the rules of civil procedure, and service of process shall be made as specified by law for civil actions.
(3) Upon a showing by the commissioning parent(s) or the child or the gestational surrogate that privacy rights may be endangered, the court may order the names of the parent(s) or the child or the gestational surrogate, or any combination thereof, to be deleted from the notice of hearing and from the copy of the petition attached thereto, provided the substantive rights of any person will not thereby be affected.
(4) Notice of the hearing shall be given by the commissioning parent(s) to:
(a) The gestational surrogate; and
(b) Any party claiming paternity.
(5) All hearings held in proceedings under this section shall be held in closed court without admittance of any person other than essential officers of the court, the parties, witnesses and any persons who have received notice of the hearing.
(6) The commissioning parent(s) or their legal representative shall appear at the hearing on the petition. At the conclusion of the hearing, after the court has determined that a binding and enforceable gestational surrogacy contract or preplanned adoption agreement has been executed pursuant to this act, the court shall enter an order stating that the commissioning parent(s) is the legal parent(s) of the child.
(7) When at least one (1) member of the commissioning parent(s) are the genetic parent of the child, the commissioning parent(s) shall be presumed to be the natural parent(s) of the child.
(8) Within thirty (30) days after entry of the order, the clerk of the court and the Bureau of Vital Statistics shall comply with Section 93-17-21.
(9) All papers and records pertaining to the affirmation of parental status or adoption, as applicable, including the original birth certificate, are confidential and subject to Section 93-17-25.
SECTION 8. Disposition of eggs, sperm or preembryos. (1) The commissioning parent(s) and the treating physician shall enter into a written agreement that provides for the disposition of the commissioning parent(s)' eggs, sperm and preembryos in the event of a divorce, the death of a spouse or any other unforeseen circumstance.
(2) Absent a written agreement, any remaining eggs or sperm shall remain under the control of the party who provided the eggs or sperm.
(3) Absent a written agreement, decision-making authority regarding the disposition of preembryos shall reside jointly with the commissioning parent(s).
(4) Absent a written agreement, in the case of the death of one (1) member of the commissioning parents, any eggs, sperm, or preembryos shall remain under the control of the surviving member of the commissioning parents.
(5) A child conceived from the eggs or sperm of a person or persons who died before the transfer of their eggs, sperm or preembryos to a woman's body shall not be eligible for a claim against the decedent's estate unless the child has been provided for by the decedent's will.
(6) A multifetal pregnancy reduction or selective reduction procedure may be allowed if it has been determined by her treating physician that it is necessary to preserve the life of the mother.
SECTION 9. Section 93-17-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
93-17-5. (1) There shall be made parties to the proceeding by process or by the filing therein of a consent to the adoption proposed in the petition, which consent shall be duly sworn to or acknowledged and executed only by the following persons, but not before seventy-two (72) hours after the birth of the child:
(a) The parents, or parent, if only one (1) parent, though either be under the age of twenty-one (21) years;
(b) If both parents are dead, then any two (2) adult kin of the child within the third degree computed according to the civil law; if one (1) of such kin is in possession of the child, he or she shall join in the petition or be made a party to the suit; or
(c) The guardian ad litem of an abandoned child, upon petition showing that the names of the parents of the child are unknown after diligent search and inquiry by the petitioners. In addition to the above, there shall be made parties to any proceeding to adopt a child, either by process or by the filing of a consent to the adoption proposed in the petition, the following:
(i) Those persons having physical custody of the child, except persons who are acting as foster parents as a result of placement with them by the Department of Human Services of the State of Mississippi.
(ii) Any person to whom custody of the child may have been awarded by a court of competent jurisdiction of the State of Mississippi.
(iii) The agent of the county Department of Human Services of the State of Mississippi that has placed a child in foster care, either by agreement or by court order.
(2) The consent may also be executed and filed by the duly authorized officer or representative of a home to whose care the child has been delivered. The child shall join the petition by the child's next friend.
(3) If consent is not filed, process shall be had upon the parties as provided by law for process in person or by publication, if they are nonresidents of the state or are not found therein after diligent search and inquiry, the court or chancellor in vacation may fix a date in termtime or in vacation to which process may be returnable and shall have power to proceed in termtime or vacation. In any event, if the child is more than fourteen (14) years of age, a consent to the adoption, sworn to or acknowledged by the child, shall also be required or personal service of process shall be had upon the child in the same manner and in the same effect as if the child were an adult.
(4) This section shall not apply to parents or children subject to the Mississippi Surrogacy and In Vitro Child and Parent Act.
SECTION 10. Section 93-17-6, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
93-17-6. (1) Any person who would be a necessary party to an adoption proceeding under this chapter and any person alleged or claiming to be the father of a child born out of wedlock who is proposed for adoption or who has been determined to be such by any administrative or judicial procedure (the "alleged father") may file a petition for determination of rights as a preliminary pleading to a petition for adoption in any court which would have jurisdiction and venue of an adoption proceeding. A petition for determination of rights may be filed at any time after the period ending thirty (30) days after the birth of the child. Should competing petitions be filed in two (2) or more courts having jurisdiction and venue, the court in which the first such petition was properly filed shall have jurisdiction over the whole proceeding until its disposition. The prospective adopting parents need not be a party to the petition. Where the child's biological mother has surrendered the child to a home for adoption, the home may represent the biological mother and her interests in this proceeding.
(2) The court shall set this petition for hearing as expeditiously as possible allowing not less than ten (10) days' notice from the service or completion of process on the parties to be served.
(3) The sole matter for determination under a petition for determination of rights is whether the alleged father is the natural father of the child based on Mississippi law governing paternity or other relevant evidence.
(4) If the court determines that the alleged father is not the natural father of the child, he shall have no right to object to an adoption under Section 93-17-7.
(5) If the court determines that the alleged father is the child's natural father and that he objects to the child's adoption, the court shall stay the adoption proceedings to allow the filing of a petition to determine whether the father's parental rights should be terminated pursuant to Section 93-15-119, or other applicable provision of the Mississippi Termination of Parental Rights Law.
(6) If a petition for the termination of parental rights is filed and, after an evidentiary hearing, the court does not terminate the father's parental rights, the court shall set the matter as a contested adoption as provided in Section 93-17-8.
(7) A petition for determination of rights may be used to determine the rights of alleged fathers whose identity is unknown or uncertain. In such cases the court shall determine what, if any, notice can be and is to be given those persons. Determinations of rights under the procedure of this section may also be made under a petition for adoption.
(8) Petitions for determination of rights shall be considered adoption cases and all subsequent proceedings such as a contested adoption under Section 93-17-8 and the adoption proceeding itself shall be portions of the same file.
(9) Service of process in the adoption of a foreign born child shall be governed by Section 93-15-107(4).
(10) This section shall not apply to parents or children subject to the Mississippi Surrogacy and In Vitro Child and Parent Act.
SECTION 11. Section 93-17-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
93-17-7. (1) No infant shall be adopted to any person if a parent whose parental rights have not been terminated under the Mississippi Termination of Parental Rights Law, after having been summoned, shall appear and object thereto before the making of a decree for adoption. A parent shall not be summoned in the adoption proceedings nor have the right to object thereto if the parental rights of the parent have been terminated by the procedure set forth in the Mississippi Termination of Parental Rights Law (Section 93-15-101 et seq.), and the termination shall be res judicata on the question of parental abandonment or unfitness in the adoption proceedings.
(2) No person, whether claiming to be the parent of the child or not, has standing to object to the adoption if:
(a) A final judgment for adoption that comports with all applicable state and federal laws has been entered by a court; and
(b) Notice to the parties of the action, whether known or unknown, has been made in compliance with Section 93-17-5.
SECTION 12. Section 93-17-8, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
93-17-8. (1) Whenever an adoption becomes a contested matter, whether after a hearing on a petition for determination of rights under Section 93-17-6 or otherwise, the court:
(a) Shall, on motion of any party or on its own motion, issue an order for immediate blood or tissue sampling in accordance with the provisions of Section 93-9-21 et seq., if paternity is at issue. The court shall order an expedited report of such testing and shall hold the hearing resolving this matter at the earliest time possible.
(b) Shall appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the child. Such guardian ad litem shall be an attorney, however his duties are as guardian ad litem and not as attorney for the child. The reasonable costs of the guardian ad litem shall be taxed as costs of court. Neither the child nor anyone purporting to act on his behalf may waive the appointment of a guardian ad litem.
(c) Shall determine first whether or not the objecting parent is entitled to so object under the criteria of Section 93-17-7 and then shall determine the custody of the child in accord with the best interests of the child and the rights of the parties as established by the hearings and judgments.
(d) Shall schedule all hearings concerning the contested adoption as expeditiously as possible for prompt conclusion of the matter.
(2) In determining the custody of the child after a finding that the adoption will not be granted, the fact of the surrender of the child for adoption by a parent shall not be taken as any evidence of that parent's abandonment or desertion of the child or of that parent's unfitness as a parent.
(3) In contested adoptions arising through petitions for determination of rights where the prospective adopting parents were not parties to that proceeding, they need not be made parties to the contested adoption until there has been a ruling that the objecting parent is not entitled to enter a valid objection to the adoption. At that point the prospective adopting parents shall be made parties by joinder which shall show their suitability to be adopting parents as would a petition for adoption. The identity and suitability of the prospective adopting parents shall be made known to the court and the guardian ad litem, but shall not be made known to other parties to the proceeding unless the court determines that the interests of justice or the best interests of the child require it.
(4) No birth parent or alleged parent shall be permitted to contradict statements given in a proceeding for the adoption of their child in any other proceeding concerning that child or his ancestry.
(5) Appointment of a guardian ad litem is not required in any proceeding under this chapter except as provided in subsection (1)(b) above and except for the guardian ad litem needed for an abandoned child. It shall not be necessary for a guardian ad litem to be appointed where the chancery judge presiding in the adoption proceeding deems it unnecessary and no adoption agency is involved in the proceeding. No final decree of adoption heretofore granted shall be set aside or modified because a guardian ad litem was not appointed unless as the result of a direct appeal not now barred.
(6) The provisions of Chapter 15 of this Title 93, Mississippi Code of 1972, are not applicable to proceedings under this chapter except as specifically provided by reference herein.
(7) The court may order a child's birth father, identified as such in the proceedings, to reimburse the Department of Human Services, the foster parents, the adopting parents, the home, any other agency or person who has assumed liability for such child, all or part of the costs of the medical expenses incurred for the mother and the child in connection with the birth of the child, as well as reasonable support for the child after his birth.
SECTION 13. Section 93-17-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
93-17-13. (1) A final decree of adoption shall not be entered before the expiration of six (6) months from the entry of the interlocutory decree except (a) when a child is a stepchild of a petitioner or is related by blood to the petitioner within the third degree according to the rules of the civil law or in any case, including in cases subject to the Mississippi Surrogacy and In Vitro Child and Parent Act, in which the chancellor in the exercise of his discretion shall determine from all the proceedings and evidence in said cause that the six-month waiting period is not necessary or required for the benefit of the court, the petitioners or the child to be adopted, and shall so adjudicate in the decree entered in said cause, in either of which cases the final decree may be entered immediately without any delay and without an interlocutory decree, (b) when the child has resided in the home of any petitioner prior to the granting of the interlocutory decree, in which case the court may, in its discretion, shorten the waiting period by the length of time the child has thus resided, or (c) when an adoption in a foreign country is registered under Article 9 of this chapter, the Mississippi Registration of Foreign Adoptions Act.
(2) The final decree shall adjudicate, in addition to such other provisions as may be found by the court to be proper for the protection of the interests of the child; and its effect, unless otherwise specifically provided, shall be that (a) the child shall inherit from and through the adopting parents and shall likewise inherit from the other children of the adopting parents to the same extent and under the same conditions as provided for the inheritance between brothers and sisters of the full blood by the laws of descent and distribution of the State of Mississippi, and that the adopting parents and their other children shall inherit from the child, just as if such child had been born to the adopting parents in lawful wedlock; (b) the child and the adopting parents and adoptive kindred are vested with all of the rights, powers, duties and obligations, respectively, as if such child had been born to the adopting parents in lawful wedlock, including all rights existing by virtue of Section 11-7-13, Mississippi Code of 1972; provided, however, that inheritance by or from the adopted child shall be governed by paragraph (a) above; (c) that the name of the child shall be changed if desired; and (d) that the natural parents and natural kindred of the child shall not inherit by or through the child except as to a natural parent who is the spouse of the adopting parent, and all parental rights of the natural parent, or parents, shall be terminated, except as to a natural parent who is the spouse of the adopting parent. Nothing in this chapter shall restrict the right of any person to dispose of property under a last will and testament.
(3) A final decree of adoption shall not be entered until a court-ordered home study is satisfactorily completed, if required in Section 93-17-11.
SECTION 14. Section 93-17-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
93-17-21. (1) A certified copy of the final decree shall be furnished to the Bureau of Vital Statistics, together with a certificate signed by the clerk giving the true or original name and the place and date of birth of the child. The said bureau shall prepare a revised birth certificate which shall contain the original date of birth, with the place of birth being shown as the residence of the adoptive parents at the time the child was born, but with the names of the adopting parents and the new name of the child. In all other particulars, the certificate shall show the true facts of birth. The fact that a revised birth certificate is issued shall be indicated only by code numbers or some letter inconspicuously placed on the face of the certificate. The word "revised" shall not appear thereon. However, in the event an unmarried adult shall be the adopting parent, then such birth certificate may show thereon, upon order of the chancellor as set forth in the decree of adoption, that same is a revised birth certificate, giving the court where said decree was issued and the date of such decree. The original birth certificate shall be removed and placed, with reference made to the decree of adoption, in a safely locked drawer or vault, and the same shall not be public records and shall not be divulged except upon the order of the court rendering the said final decree or pursuant to Sections 93-17-201 through 93-17-223, and for all purposes the revised certificate shall be and become the birth certificate of the child. However, the Bureau of Vital Statistics of the State of Mississippi shall be required to prepare and register revised certificates only for births which occurred in the State of Mississippi as shown either by the court decree or by the original birth record on file in the bureau; but if the birth occurred in some other state, then the Director of the Bureau of Vital Statistics of the State of Mississippi shall be required to furnish to the attorney or other person representing the adopted child the name and address of the proper official in the state where the child was born, to whom the adoption decree and other information may be referred for appropriate action, and shall furnish to such attorney the certified copy of the decree and the certificate furnished by the clerk.
(2) Provided, however, notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, either an original or a revised birth certificate may be issued, as hereinafter provided, by the Bureau of Vital Statistics to any child who was born outside the United States or its possessions and adopted, either heretofore or hereafter, by an order of a court in this state. Upon presentation of a certified copy of the final decree of adoption containing the required information, the Director of the Bureau of Vital Statistics shall be authorized and directed to receive said certified copy of the decree of adoption and prepare therefrom, and record, a birth certificate which shall disclose the following information: The name of the child (being the adopted name), race, sex, date of birth, place of birth (being the actual town, district and county of said child's birth, except where the child is born in a penal or mental institution where the name of the county shall be sufficient), names, race, ages, places of birth and occupation of parents (being the adoptive parents) including the maiden name of the adoptive mother. Such certificate shall comport in appearance and indicia with the foregoing requirements for a "revised" certificate issued to a child born in this state. The Director of the Bureau of Vital Statistics shall be authorized and directed to issue certified copies thereof, the same as if the birth certificate were that of a child who had never been adopted.
SECTION 15. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2023.
