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Thank you for bringing this important legislation to the attention of your readers. I would like to clarify the two separate options available for birth parents, submitting a request for non-disclosure and submitting a contact preference form. Both are an option, not a requirement for birth parents. Birth parents seeking anonymity, who relinquished a child for adoption prior to the bill’s enactment, have the right to request that their name and address as recorded on the original birth certificate be withheld from the uncertified copy released to the authorized requester. To honor the request for non-disclosure, birth parents would be required to file a family history form within a 60 day period. Availability of the non-disclosure option would expire at the end of a 12 month period following approval of the regulations, not enactment of the bill. For any birth parent seeking to voice their preference regarding possible contact by their adult children, the bill would allow birth parents to file a contact preference form at any time. This form would indicate a preference for direct contact, contact through an intermediary, or no contact at this time. The bill would require a birth parent to file a family medical history form along with the contact preference form. This preference may be changed at any time. Birth parents filing a family medical history form along with their request for non-disclosure or contact preference form would be requested, not required, to provide updates to the family medical history form every 5 or 10 years, depending on their age. It is essential to note that medical history is not medical records. The intent of this legislation is to provide a process by which adoptees and their offspring can become aware of the health issues that may have affected their predecessors (i.e. high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, etc.) Senators Vitale, Allen and Weinberg are the prime-sponsors (not co-sponsors). There are six other co-sponsoring senators. Thank you again for bringing this issue to the attention of your readers! Regards, NJCARE This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it