North Carolina § 48-9-105 - Action for release of identifying and other nonidentifying information.

§ 48-9-105. Action for release of identifying and other nonidentifying information.

Any information necessary for the protection of the adoptee or the public in or derived from the records, including medical information not otherwise obtainable, may be disclosed to an individual who files a written motion in the cause before the clerk of original jurisdiction. In hearing the petition, the court shall give primary consideration to the best interest of the adoptee, but shall also give due consideration to the interests of the members of the adoptee's original and adoptive family. The movant must serve a copy of the motion, with written proof of service, upon the Department and the agency that prepared the report for the court. The clerk shall give at least five days' notice to the Department and the agency of every hearing on this motion, whether the hearing is before the clerk or a judge of the district court; and the Department and the agency shall be entitled to appear and be heard in response to the motion. In determining whether cause exists for the release of the name or identity of an individual, the court shall consider: The reason the information is sought; Any procedure available for satisfying the petitioner's request without disclosing the name or identity of another individual, including having the court appoint a representative to contact the individual and request specific information; Whether the individual about whom identifying information is sought is alive; To the extent known, the preference of the adoptee, the adoptive parents, the adoptee's parents at birth, and other members of the adoptee's original and adoptive families, and the likely effect of disclosure on these individuals; The age, maturity, and expressed needs of the adoptee; The report or recommendation of any individual appointed by the court to assess the request for identifying information; and Any other factor relevant to an assessment of whether the benefit to the petitioner of releasing the information sought will be greater than the benefit to any other individual of not releasing the information. An individual who files a motion under this section may also ask the court to authorize the release by the State Registrar of a certified copy of the adoptee's original certificate of birth. History (1949, c. 300; 1985, c. 448; 1995, c. 88, s. 6; 1995, c. 457, s. 2.) Legal Periodicals. - For survey of 1977 law on domestic relations, see 56 N.C.L. Rev. 1045 (1978). For comment, "The Adoptee's Right of Access to Sealed Adoption Records in North Carolina," see 16 Wake Forest L. Rev. 563 (1980).