Adoptees Get Birth Certificates

A handful of adults adopted as children lined up Monday to take advantage of a new state law to get copies of their birth certificates.

Jack Ferns, 53, of Loudon had hoped his birth father’s name would be on the certificate, but it wasn’t.

“I was hoping it was, but I was a realist too,” he said after getting his certificate. Ferns said he knew his birth mother’s name, and she died two years after he was adopted. It was his birth father’s name he sought.

“I just want to know,” he said.

The law took effect on New Year’s Day, giving Ferns and other adult adoptees access to their original birth certificates if they were born in New Hampshire. Monday was the first day they could obtain the certificates after filling out a request form and paying a $12 research fee.

Under the law, birth parents can indicate whether they wish to be contacted.

New Hampshire becomes the fifth state to allow adult adoptees unfettered access, joining Oregon, Alabama, Alaska and Kansas. Delaware and Tennessee allow restricted access.