N.Y. Dom. Rel. Law § 114

§ 114. Order of adoption. 1. If satisfied that the best interests of\nthe adoptive child will be promoted thereby, the judge or surrogate\nshall make an order approving the adoption and directing that the\nadoptive child shall thenceforth be regarded and treated in all respects\nas the child of the adoptive parents or parent. In determining whether\nthe best interests of the adoptive child will be promoted by the\nadoption, the judge or surrogate shall give due consideration to any\nassurance by a local commissioner of social services that he or she will\nprovide necessary support and maintenance for the adoptive child\npursuant to the social services law. Such order shall contain the full\nname, date and place of birth and reference to the schedule annexed to\nthe petition containing the medical history of the child in the body\nthereof and shall direct that the child's medical history, heritage of\nthe birth parents, which shall include nationality, ethnic background\nand race; education, which shall be the number of years of school\ncompleted by the birth parents at the time of the birth and also at the\ntime of surrender of the adoptive child; general physical appearance of\nthe birth parents at the time of the birth and also at the time of\nsurrender of the adoptive child, which shall include height, weight,\ncolor of hair, eyes, skin; occupation of the birth parents at the time\nof the birth and also at the time of surrender of the adoptive child;\nhealth and medical history of the birth parents at the time of the birth\nand also at the time of surrender of the adoptive child, including all\navailable information setting forth conditions or diseases believed to\nbe hereditary, any drugs or medication taken during the pregnancy by the\nchild's mother; and any other information which may be a factor\ninfluencing the child's present or future health, including the talents,\nhobbies and special interests of the birth parents as contained in the\npetition, be furnished to the adoptive parents, the commissioner and the\nappropriate local registrar of vital statistics. If the judge or\nsurrogate is also satisfied that there is no reasonable objection to the\nchange of name proposed, the order shall direct that the name of the\nadoptive child be changed to the name stated in the agreement of\nadoption and that henceforth he or she shall be known by that name. All\nsuch orders made by a family court judge of Westchester county since\nSeptember first, nineteen hundred sixty-two, and on file in the office\nof the county clerk of such county shall be transferred to the clerk of\nthe family court of such county. Such order and all the papers in the\nproceeding shall be filed in the office of the court granting the\nadoption and the order shall be entered in books which shall be kept\nunder seal and which shall be indexed by the name of the adoptive\nparents and by the full original name of the child. Such order,\nincluding orders heretofore entered, shall be subject to inspection and\nexamination only as hereinafter provided. Notwithstanding the fact that\nadoption records shall be sealed and secret, they may be microfilmed and\nprocessed pursuant to an order of the court, provided that such order\nprovides that the confidentiality of such records be maintained. If the\nconfidentiality is violated, the person or company violating it can be\nfound guilty of contempt of court. The fact that the adoptive child was\nborn out of wedlock shall in no case appear in such order. The written\nreport of the investigation together with all other papers pertaining to\nthe adoption shall be kept by the judge or surrogate as a permanent\nrecord of his or her court and such papers must be sealed by him or her\nand withheld from inspection. No certified copy of the order of adoption\nshall issue unless authorized by court order, except that certified\ncopies may issue to the agency or agencies in the proceeding prior to\nthe sealing of the papers. Before the record is sealed, such order may\nbe granted upon written ex parte application on good cause shown and\nupon such conditions as the court may impose. After the record is\nsealed, such order may be granted only upon notice as hereinafter\nprovided for disclosure or access and inspection of records. The clerk\nupon request of a person or agency entitled thereto shall issue\ncertificates of adoption which shall contain only the new name of the\nchild and the date and place of birth of the child, the name of the\nadoptive parents and the date when and court where the adoption was\ngranted, which certificate as to the facts recited therein shall have\nthe same force and effect as a certified copy of an order of adoption.\nFor the purposes of this subdivision, the term "commissioner" shall mean\nthe state commissioner of health and, with respect to an adoptive child\nborn in the city of New York, the commissioner of health and mental\nhygiene of the city of New York.\n 2. No person, including the attorney for the adoptive parents shall\ndisclose the surname of the child directly or indirectly to the adoptive\nparents except upon order of the court. No person shall be allowed\naccess to such sealed records and order and any index thereof except\nupon an order of a judge or surrogate of the court in which the order\nwas made or of a justice of the supreme court. No order for disclosure\nor access and inspection shall be granted except on good cause shown and\non due notice to the adoptive parents and to such additional persons as\nthe court may direct. Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to\nrequire the state commissioner of health or his designee to secure a\ncourt order authorizing disclosure of information contained in adoption\nor birth records requested pursuant to the authority of section\nforty-one hundred thirty-eight-c or section forty-one hundred\nthirty-eight-d of the public health law; upon the receipt of such\nrequest for information, the court shall transmit the information\nauthorized to be released thereunder to the state commissioner of health\nor his designee.\n 3. In like manner as a court of general jurisdiction exercises such\npowers, a judge or surrogate of a court in which the order of adoption\nwas made may open, vacate or set aside such order of adoption for fraud,\nnewly discovered evidence or other sufficient cause.\n 4. Good cause for disclosure or access to and inspection of sealed\nadoption records and orders and any index thereof, hereinafter the\n"adoption records", under this section may be established on medical\ngrounds as provided herein. Certification from a physician licensed to\npractice medicine in the state of New York that relief under this\nsubdivision is required to address a serious physical or mental illness\nshall be prima facie evidence of good cause. Such certification shall\nindentify the information required to address such illness. Except where\nthere is an immediate medical need for the information sought, in which\ncase the court may grant access to the adoption records directly to the\npetitioner, the court hearing petition under the subdivision shall\nappoint a guardian ad litem or other disinterested person, who shall\nhave access to the adoption records for the purpose of obtaining the\nmedical information sought from those records or, where the records are\ninsufficient for such purpose, through contacting the biological\nparents. The guardian or other disinterested person shall offer a\nbiological parent the option of disclosing the medical information\nsought by the petitioner pursuant to this subdivision, as well as the\noption of granting consent to examine the parent's medical records. If\nthe guardian or other disinterested person appointed does not obtain the\nmedical information sought by the petitioner, such guardian or\ndisinterested person shall make a report of his or her efforts to obtain\nsuch information to the court. Where further efforts to obtain such\ninformation are appropriate, the court may in its discretion authorize\ndirect disclosure or access to and inspection of the adoption records by\nthe petitioner.\n