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
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
§48-23-206. 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
§48-23-401. 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