Work with us for change in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia.

Capitol Coalition for Adoptee Rights

Equality for all adult adoptees from the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland

Equality for All Adopted People

We are a coalition of organizations and allies in the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland, working to secure equal rights for all adult adopted people who were born or adopted in the region.

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What We’re About

We are a powerful regional coalition working to change discriminatory laws in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. Those laws deny adult adoptees a right to request and obtain their own vital records.

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D.C.

Adult adoptees in the District of Columbia do not have have an unrestricted right to request and obtain their own original birth certificates, except by court order. District of Columbia courts control all aspects of releasing an OBC or any identifying information, whether from court records or from vital records.

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Maryland

Maryland denies adult adoptees an unrestricted right to request and obtain their own original birth certificates. Adult adoptees whose adoptions were finalized on or after January 1, 2000, may request their original birth certificates, subject to a birthparent’s veto over release. All other adoptees are required to obtain a court order.

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Virginia

Adult adoptees from Virginia do not have an unrestricted right to request and obtain their own original birth certificates (OBC). Release of an OBC requires either a) a state agency’s decision—upon good cause shown—to release identifying information from the adoption records; or b) a court order upon good cause shown.

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We Did All That We Could

The email that went out to all supporters of the Capitol Coalition for Adoptee Rights on March 30, 2021.

Maryland Adoptee Rights in the News

Maryland Adoptee Rights advocate Peggy Klappenberger penned a great opinion piece that has been published in the Capital Gazette, the daily newspaper in Annapolis. From the piece: SB331 and HB999 will achieve what’s needed — restored access to all Maryland-born adult adoptees, regardless of when their adoptions were finalized. Adoptees should not be constrained by […]

One Down, More Work to Go

Our collective work to enact an unrestricted equal rights law in Maryland remains on track after senators this week heard testimony on SB0331. It went very well.