Adoption Reunion Registries: How State Mutual-Consent Matching Works

An adoption reunion registry is a voluntary, mutual-consent system: an adoptee, a birth parent, or sometimes a sibling independently files their information with the registry, and identifying information or contact is disclosed only once both sides of a relationship have separately registered. A registry can work even in a state that keeps the original birth certificate fully sealed, because it never requires unsealing a court record, only a two-sided opt-in.

This page covers the two main registry architectures states use, how a match actually works, realistic fees and expectations, the private national registry that exists alongside state programs, and a cautionary example of a registry that exists on paper but has never actually operated. For the legal process of requesting the original birth certificate itself, see How to Get Your Original Birth Certificate. For search strategy generally, see How to Find Birth Parents.

Information last verified on 2026-08-11. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

How a Mutual-Consent Registry Actually Works

The core mechanic is the same across every state registry: both parties to a potential match, typically the adult adoptee and a birth parent, but sometimes a biological sibling as well, file their own information with the registry independently. Nothing discloses until the registry finds that both sides have registered and consented to release. If only one side registers, the registry holds that filing and discloses nothing, sometimes for years, until (and unless) the other side files too.

This is different from, and does not require, unsealing the original birth certificate or the adoption court file. A registry can operate in a fully restricted state, which is why several restricted and compromise states run one as their main practical path to reunion, even where the certificate itself stays sealed.

Texas's Central Adoption Registry illustrates the model concretely: adoptees, birth parents, and biological siblings, all 18 or older, each register separately; a match requires both sides to have filed; once matched, the process includes a consent form specifying exactly what information may be released, a mandatory hour of post-adoption counseling, and a written biography and photo exchange before any identifying contact happens. Texas is structurally unusual in one respect: instead of one central state database, the registry is fed by individual licensed adoption agencies, each running their own registry that feeds into the statewide cross-matching system.

Two Architectures: Passive Registry vs. Active Intermediary

States build their reunion mechanism one of two ways, and a few run both.

A centralized, state-run registry is a passive matching system: the state holds filings and checks for a match whenever a new one comes in. Neither side does anything beyond filing once (though most states allow updating or withdrawing a filing at any time). South Dakota, West Virginia, Oregon, Iowa, Maine, and Pennsylvania's PAIR program all work this way. Maine's registry, created in 1979 under 22 M.R.S. 2706-A and run by the State Registrar of Vital Statistics, is among the oldest continuously operating state programs in this set; it charges a $50 registration fee and, like every mutual-consent registry, releases identifying information only once all sides have registered and given final consent.

A confidential-intermediary program is active rather than passive: a trained, often court-appointed searcher looks for the specific other party, rather than waiting for that person to file on their own, and makes a discreet inquiry about their willingness to be found. Washington's program, established under RCW 26.33.343, requires the intermediary to swear they will not disclose identifying information to the person who requested the search without a further court order, and limits their compensation to actual costs incurred in the search, not an open-ended fee. Confidential-intermediary programs exist in Arizona, Maryland, New Mexico, North Carolina, Wyoming, and several other states, sometimes as the only mechanism, sometimes alongside a registry. Wyoming's version, created under Wyoming Statutes 1-22-201 through 1-22-203, uses trained volunteer intermediaries appointed by the court where the adoption was finalized; an adult adoptee, birth parent, biological sibling, or biological grandparent can petition for one to search for a specific relative, and the appointed intermediary gains access to the sealed adoption records for that purpose.

Some states run both in parallel. Colorado maintains a court-affiliated confidential-intermediary program and a separate, state-registrar-run voluntary registry. Oklahoma runs a Mutual Consent Voluntary Registry and a separate, active Confidential Intermediary Search program, and structures them together: a person generally needs six months of prior registry enrollment before the confidential-intermediary search becomes available. Illinois's IARMIE program pairs a registry with a Department of Children and Family Services-certified confidential intermediary in a single combined system that also separates out anonymous medical-information exchange from the identity question entirely.

A Few More State Programs

Georgia, Utah, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, and Kentucky each run something worth knowing about, though none of the five fits neatly into the passive-registry or confidential-intermediary categories above without a caveat.

Georgia's GARR (Georgia Adoption Reunion Registry) has operated since July 1, 1990 and is overseen by the Division of Family and Children Services within the Department of Human Services. It helps an adult adoptee establish contact with a biological parent who has given express consent, helps adult siblings connect when at least one is an adoptee, and can release non-identifying information from a sealed adoption record without a court order. It continues to operate as a contact-and-information channel even now that Georgia separately gives adult adoptees direct access to the original birth certificate.

Utah runs a comparable program at adoptionregistry.utah.gov, under Utah Code 78B-6-141, 78B-6-144, and 78B-6-144.5. Adult adoptees, birth parents, and biological siblings can register; because the registry matches directly against sealed original-birth-certificate data rather than relying on self-reported details, the state describes a match as fully reliable, and it releases contact information only once both sides consent. Like Georgia's, Utah's registry supplements rather than gates the certificate itself, since Utah already gives an adult adoptee direct, default access to the OBC.

New Jersey runs a free registry through its Department of Children and Families, the CP&P Adoption Registry, with a scope limit worth flagging: it serves adoptees whose adoptions were processed by the state child-welfare agency or its predecessors, not adoptions arranged independently through a private attorney or agency, which make up a substantial share of New Jersey adoptions and fall outside this program.

The District of Columbia runs a narrower program than a general adoption registry. CFSA's Voluntary Foster Care Registry connects people who were separated specifically within DC's foster-care system, meaning current or former foster youth and their birth parents or siblings, not adoptees generally. An adoptee whose DC adoption did not go through the foster-care system will not find a match through this particular program.

Kentucky does not brand a separate registry at all; its consent mechanism does the same job. Under KRS 199.570 and 199.572, an adult adoptee (21 or older), the birth parents, and birth siblings must each independently consent before the state's Adoption Services Branch will share identifying information or arrange contact, so the consent process functions as Kentucky's registry rather than existing as a stand-alone program.

What It Costs and How Long It Takes

Fees and timelines vary by state, and by which of the two architectures applies. On the low end, several states charge nothing to register, including Nevada's Adoption Reunion Registry, open to adult adoptees, birth parents, and relatives within the third degree of consanguinity who are 18 or older, which is free and confirms a filing within 30 days, with non-identifying information requests answered within 60 days. On the higher end, an active confidential-intermediary search runs meaningfully more than a passive registry filing because it involves real staff time actually locating someone: Oklahoma's Confidential Intermediary Search costs $400 for the first search and $200 for each additional one, on top of a separate, lower registry filing fee.

A passive registry only produces a result once both sides have filed, which can take years, or may never happen if the other party never learns the registry exists or chooses not to use it. An active confidential-intermediary search moves faster in principle, since a real person is doing the looking, but is not instant either; Washington's statute gives an intermediary up to a year before reporting back to the court on whether the search succeeded.

The International Soundex Reunion Registry (ISRR)

Outside any state government program, the International Soundex Reunion Registry (ISRR) is a private, nonprofit, mutual-consent registry, founded in 1975, that operates independently of any state or other registry, organization, or website, according to its own description. It works on the same core principle as a state registry: an adoptee, birth parent, or other relative files, and a match discloses only when both sides have independently registered. Its database is kept completely offline, a security posture ISRR itself highlights.

ISRR functions as a nationwide, state-agnostic supplement to a state's own registry, useful particularly for a search that crosses state lines or where the two parties are unlikely to have registered with the same state program. It is not affiliated with, and does not substitute for, a state's official registry or the OBC-request process covered elsewhere in this cluster.

When a Registry Exists on Paper But Doesn't Actually Work

Not every statutory registry is a functioning program, and Massachusetts is the clearest example in this set. Its Adoption Contact Information Registry was authorized by the legislature, but the enacting law made it explicitly "subject to appropriation," meaning it only operates if lawmakers separately fund it. No funds have ever been appropriated. The registry exists in the statute books but has never actually processed a filing or a match.

This matters practically: because Massachusetts has separately opened direct, unrestricted access to the original birth certificate for every adult adoptee regardless of birth year, the unfunded registry's absence mainly affects identifying contact and reunion efforts that would otherwise route through it, not the certificate itself, which is available directly. Anyone searching in Massachusetts should not budget time or expectations around this registry; it is not a working option today. A similar caution applies to Rhode Island's still-on-the-books 1993 registry, which has been superseded in practice by direct OBC access since 2012, though it has not been formally repealed. Before relying on any state's registry, confirm directly with that state's agency that the program is actually active and processing filings, not merely authorized by statute.

Realistic Expectations

A registry is a real, useful, free-or-low-cost tool, and it is also entirely dependent on the other party's participation. Most registries cannot search for someone who has not filed; a passive registry simply waits. A confidential-intermediary program searches actively, but it is not owed a result either: the person found may decline contact, and a program that operates on a consent-first model, like Washington's, is built specifically to honor that choice rather than override it.

Using a registry alongside other tools, an OBC request where available, non-identifying information, and consumer DNA testing, gives a more complete picture than relying on any single path. See How to Find Birth Parents for how these pieces fit together into a full search plan.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about how state and private adoption reunion registries work. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Program details, fees, and whether a specific registry is currently active change over time; confirm current information directly with the relevant state agency or registry before relying on anything here.

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Last updated: 2026-08-11. Program details and fees reflect their published status as of August 2026.