Texas Statutes
Subchapter E. Voluntary Adoption Registries
Section 162.409. Application

Sec. 162.409. APPLICATION. (a) An application must contain:
(1) the name, address, and telephone number of the applicant;
(2) any other name or alias by which the applicant has been known;
(3) the age, date of birth, and place of birth of the applicant;
(4) the original name of the adoptee, if known;
(5) the adoptive name of the adoptee, if known;
(6) a statement that the applicant is willing to allow the applicant's identity to be disclosed to a registrant who is eligible to learn the applicant's identity;
(7) the name, address, and telephone number of the agency or other entity, organization, or person placing the adoptee for adoption, if known, or, if not known, a statement that the applicant does not know that information;
(8) an authorization to the administrator and the administrator's designees to inspect all vital statistics records, court records, and agency records, including confidential records, relating to the birth, adoption, marriage, and divorce of the applicant or to the birth and death of any child or sibling by birth or adoption of the applicant;
(9) the specific address to which the applicant wishes notice of a successful match to be mailed;
(10) a statement that the applicant either does or does not consent to disclosure of identifying information about the applicant after the applicant's death;
(11) a statement that the registration is to be effective for 99 years or for a stated shorter period selected by the applicant; and
(12) a statement that the adoptee applicant either does or does not desire to be informed that registry records indicate that the applicant has a biological sibling who has registered under this subchapter.
(b) The application may contain the applicant's social security number if the applicant, after being advised of the right not to supply the number, voluntarily furnishes it.
(c) The application of a birth parent must include:
(1) the original name and date of birth or approximate date of birth of each adoptee with respect to whom the parent is registering;
(2) the names of all other birth children, including maiden names, aliases, dates and places of birth, and names of the birth parents;
(3) each name known or thought by the applicant to have been used by the adoptee's other birth parent;
(4) the last known address of the adoptee's other birth parent; and
(5) other available information through which the other birth parent may be identified.
(d) The application of a biological sibling must include:
(1) a statement explaining the applicant's basis for believing that the applicant has one or more biological siblings;
(2) the names, including maiden and married names, and aliases of all the applicant's siblings by birth and adoption and their dates and places of birth, if known;
(3) the names of the applicant's legal parents;
(4) the names of the applicant's birth parents, if known; and
(5) any other information known to the applicant through which the existence and identity of the applicant's biological siblings can be confirmed.
(e) An application may also contain additional information through which the applicant's identity and eligibility to register may be ascertained.
(f) The administrator shall assist the applicant in filling out the application if the applicant is unable to complete the application without assistance, but the administrator may not furnish the applicant with any substantive information necessary to complete the application.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 20, Sec. 1, eff. April 20, 1995. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 968, Sec. 5, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.