Alabama Adoption Records: Getting Your Original Birth Certificate and What Stays Sealed

Alabama is one of a small number of states where an adult adoptee can get their original, pre-adoption birth certificate simply by asking for it. Under Code of Alabama § 22-9A-12, anyone born in Alabama who was adopted, and who is now at least 19 years old, may request a copy of that sealed original record from the state, without going to court first.

That single fact, no court order, drives most of what an Alabama adoptee needs to know: the age threshold that applies, the form and fee involved, what happens to the underlying adoption court file, and why Alabama does not run a separate reunion registry the way some other states do.

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

Can an Adult Adoptee Get an Original Birth Certificate in Alabama?

Yes. Alabama removed its court-order requirement for adult adoptees under Act 2000-794, and current law states that any person 19 years of age or older who was born in the State of Alabama, and who is the subject of a final decree of adoption, may, upon written request, receive a copy of that birth certificate and any evidence of the adoption (Ala. Code § 22-9A-12).

The 19-year threshold is worth flagging on its own. Most states that allow direct adoptee access use 18. Alabama's statute sets the bar one year higher, so an 18-year-old Alabama-born adoptee who has already reached legal adulthood elsewhere still has to wait until their 19th birthday to request the record.

Subsection (d) of the same statute gives a birth parent the option to file a contact preference form, which is kept in a sealed envelope alongside the adoptee's file. That form communicates whether the birth parent is open to contact and how. It is optional, and Alabama's statute does not give it any power to block, delay, or condition release of the original birth certificate itself. Alabama's compromise, such as it is, is informational rather than a gate.

How to Request Your Original Birth Certificate

The request runs through the Alabama Center for Health Statistics, part of the Alabama Department of Public Health, using Form HS95 (Request for a Pre-Adoption or Other Birth Certificate from an Alabama Sealed File). There is no online ordering option for this record. The completed form or letter needs an original signature and goes by mail.

The processing fee is $25, non-refundable, payable to the Center for Health Statistics, with an additional $15 available for expedited handling. As of August 2026, mail requests go to Center for Health Statistics, Attn: Adoptions, P.O. Box 5625, Montgomery, AL 36103-5625. Questions can go to (334) 206-5426.

The Sealed Adoption Court File

Separate from the birth certificate itself, Alabama seals the underlying adoption case file. Code of Alabama § 26-10E-30 provides that after final judgment of adoption, all papers, pleadings, and other documents pertaining to the adoption shall be sealed, kept as a permanent record of the court, and withheld from inspection.

A companion provision, § 26-10E-3(f), applies a good-cause-shown standard to unsealing that broader court file, distinct from the direct-request path that governs the birth certificate under § 22-9A-12. In practice, most adult adoptees never need to unseal the court file at all, since the birth certificate itself, along with any evidence of the adoption released with it, is available on request once they turn 19.

Non-Identifying Information

Alabama's process does not appear to run a separate, standalone channel for non-identifying background information apart from the HS95 sealed-file request itself, which also releases related court documents from the sealed file alongside the birth certificate. Anyone with questions about what a specific request will and will not include should contact the Center for Health Statistics directly at the number above before submitting the form.

No State Reunion Registry

Alabama does not maintain a mutual-consent adoption reunion registry or a confidential-intermediary search program of the kind found in some other states. Alabama does have a Putative Father Registry (Code of Alabama § 26-10C-1), but that registry exists to give unmarried biological fathers a way to preserve their parental rights before an adoption is finalized. It has nothing to do with post-adoption reunion searches and cannot be used to locate a birth parent or relative.

The absence of a registry is consistent with Alabama's unrestricted access model. Because an adult adoptee can already get the identifying information on the birth certificate directly, a separate matching system serves less purpose than it does in states where the certificate stays sealed.

Related Alabama Records

An Alabama adoption search sometimes touches other public-records questions. See Alabama death records for locating a deceased birth parent's record, Alabama court records for how sealed adoption files fit into the state's broader court-records rules, and Alabama marriage and divorce records for tracing a name change. For the difference between an original birth certificate and a standard, non-adoption birth certificate, see are birth certificates public records.

For the national picture, including how the four access models work and what to expect from the process, see how to get your original birth certificate. For search strategy once you have identifying information in hand, see how to find birth parents. For how reunion registries work in states that run one, see adoption reunion registries.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about Alabama adoption-records law. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Fees, forms, and office contact information change; verify current details with the Alabama Center for Health Statistics or a licensed Alabama attorney before relying on anything here for a specific situation. Locating a birth relative, once identifying information is available, is not guaranteed to succeed or to lead to contact.

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Last updated: 2026-08-11. Fees and forms reflect their published status as of August 2026.