West Virginia Code
Article 23. Voluntary Adoption Registry
§48-23-102. Legislative Purpose

The purpose of this article is to:
(1) Set up a mutual consent voluntary adoption registry where birth parents and adult adoptees may register their willingness to the release of identifying information to each other;
(2) To provide for the disclosure of such identifying information to birth parents or adoptees, or both, through a social worker employed by a licensed adoption agency, provided each birth parent and the adult adoptee voluntarily registers on his or her own; and
(3) To provide for the transmission of nonidentifying health and social and genetic history to the adult adoptees, birth parents and other specified persons; and
(4) To provide for disclosure of identifying information for cause shown.

Structure West Virginia Code

West Virginia Code

Chapter 48. Domestic Relations

Article 23. Voluntary Adoption Registry

§48-23-101. Policy Regarding Persons Obtaining Identifying Information After Adoption

§48-23-102. Legislative Purpose

§48-23-201. Applicability of Definitions

§48-23-202. Adoptee Defined

§48-23-203. Adoption Defined

§48-23-204. Adult Defined

§48-23-205. Agency Defined

§48-23-206. Genetic and Social History Defined

§48-23-207. Health History Defined

§48-23-208. Mutual Consent Voluntary Adoption Registry or Registry Defined

§48-23-209. Putative Father Defined

§48-23-301. Division of Human Services to Establish and Maintain Mutual Consent Voluntary Adoption Registry

§48-23-401. Persons to Whom Use of the Mutual Consent Voluntary Adoption Registry Is Available

§48-23-402. Age Limitations on Use of the Mutual Consent Voluntary Adoption Registry

§48-23-403. Registration by a Birth Father

§48-23-404. Registration by a Birth Parent Who Used an Alias in Terminating Parental Rights

§48-23-501. Prerequisites to Disclosure of Identifying Information

§48-23-502. Counseling of Registrants

§48-23-503. Cases Where Disclosure of Identifying Information Cannot Occur

§48-23-504. Matching and Disclosure Procedures

§48-23-505. Retention of Data by the Registry

§48-23-506. Scope of Information Obtained by the Mutual Consent Voluntary Adoption Registry

§48-23-507. Fees for Operations of the Mutual Consent Voluntary Adoption Registry

§48-23-601. Compilation of Nonidentifying Information on Health History and Social and Genetic History

§48-23-701. Prohibited Conduct

§48-23-801. Nondisclosure