Services Available

An adoption social worker will work with an adoptee or a birth family searching to provide non-identifying information as allowed in North Carolina General Statues. In addition, referrals may be made to national registries and search organizations. Counseling is also available to help searching family members.

Confidentiality and What is Allowed by Law

1. All records created or filed in connection with an adoption, except the Decree of Adoption and the entry in the special proceedings index in the clerk’s office, and on file with or in the possession of the court, an agency, the State, a county, an attorney, or other provider of professional services, are confidential and may not be disclosed or used except as provided in Chapter 48.
    
2. During a proceeding for adoption, records shall not be open to inspection by any person except upon an order of the court finding that disclosure is necessary to protect the interest of the adoptee.
    
3. Following a Decree of Adoption, all records and all indices of records on file with the court, an agency, or this State shall be retained permanently and sealed. Sealed records shall not be open to inspection by any person except as otherwise provided in Chapter 48.
    
4. Release of Non-Identifying Information
    
   1. An adoptive parent, an adoptee who is an adult at the time of the request, or a minor adoptee who is a parent or an expectant parent may request a copy of any document prepared pursuant to G.S. 48-3-205 and a copy of any additional non-identifying health-related information about the adoptee's biological family that has been submitted to a court, agency, or the Division. A minor seeking treatment pursuant to G.S. 90-21.1 may request that a copy of this information be sent to the treating physician.
       
   2. If a request under this section is made to the agency that placed the adoptee or prepared the report to the court, the agency shall furnish the individual making the request or the treating physician named by a minor making the request with a copy of any relevant report or information that is included in the sealed records of the agency. If a request under this section is made to the court that issued the decree of adoption, the court shall refer the individual to the Division, or, if known to the court, the agency that placed the adoptee or prepared the report to the court. The Division may refer the individual to the agency that prepared the report to the court. If the agency no longer exists, the Division may furnish the information to an agency convenient to the requesting party.
       
   3. Any report or information released under this section shall be edited by the sender to exclude the name, address, or other information that could reasonably be expected to lead directly to the identity of an adoptee at birth or an adoptee's parent at the adoptee's birth or other member of the adoptee's biological family and shall contain an express reference to the confidentiality provisions of this Chapter.
       
   4. An individual who is denied access to a report or information requested under this section may petition the clerk of original jurisdiction for review of the reasonableness of the denial.
       
   5. If the court or the agency receives information from an adoptee's former parent or from an adoptee's former relative about a health or genetic condition that may affect the health of the adoptee or the adoptee's child, an appropriate employee shall make a reasonable effort to contact and forward the information to an adoptee who is 18 or more years of age, or an adoptive parent of an adoptee who is under 18 years of age.
       
   6. Nothing in this section shall prohibit an agency from disclosing non-identifying information about the adoptee's present circumstances, in the nature of information required under G.S. 48-3-205, to a former parent, an adult sibling, or the guardian of a minor sibling on request.
       
   7. The Department shall prescribe a reasonable procedure for verifying the identity, age, or their relevant characteristics of an individual who requests or provides a report or information under this section and the Department, the court, or agency may charge a reasonable fee for locating and making copies of a report or information.
   
   
5. Release of Identifying Information
   No information from any adoption records shall be released that could reasonably be expected to lead to or identify an adoptee, adoptive parent, birth parent, birth sibling or birth grandparent except upon order of the court pursuant to G.S. 48-9-105 and 106. The agency that prepared the report for the court must be given a copy of any motion to release information pursuant to G.S. 48-9-105 and such agency must be given at least 5 days notice of any hearing on this motion.
   
   Effective November 1, 2001, the placing parent and the adoptive parents may sign a consent form allowing the agency to release identifying information to both parties and allowing them to release that information to each other. This consent must be filed with the petition for adoption. Use DSS Form 5218 (Consent to Release of Identifying Information) for this purpose. After the adoption is finalized, the adoption record is sealed and no identifying information can be disclosed except pursuant to G.S. 48-9-105.
    
6. Authorized Disclosures
   An employee of a court, agency, or any other person is not prohibited from:
    
   1. Inspecting permanent, confidential, or sealed records, other than records maintained by the State Registrar, for the purpose of discharging any obligation under this Chapter.
       
   2. Disclosing the name of the court where a proceeding for adoption occurred, or the name of an agency that placed an adoptee, to an individual described in G.S. 48-9-104 who can verify his or her identity; or
       
   3. Disclosing or using information contained in permanent and sealed records, other than records maintained by the State Registrar, for statistical or other research purposes as long as the disclosure will not result in identification of a person who is the subject of the information and subject to any further conditions the Department may reasonably impose.

This information has been adapted from the North Carolina Division of Social Services Policy Manual on Family Services Manual, Volume 1 - Children’s Services, Chapter 6 – Adoption Services

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