Today's StarTribune carries an excellent article about laws sealing adoption records. Minnesota's legislature continues to stand firm in keeping those records closed.

Access to adoption records varies by state. Twenty-nine states offer at least some access to birth and adoption records. Two states, Kansas and Alaska, have never restricted the records. Minnesota continues to give higher priority to the privacy of birth parents than to the adoptees' right to know their origin. Access to birth and adoption records for the estimated 135,000 MN adoptees depends on when they were adopted.

1917: Records sealed from public view

1945: Records sealed from all parties except by court order

1977: New process created making it easier for adult adoptees to obtain birth certificates, with fewer obstacles for those adopted on or after 1 August 1977

1982: Law creates presumption of openness for adoption agency records for adoptions on or after 1 August 1983

1997: Adoption records become public 100 years after adoption decree.

For more details, read the article by James Eli Shiffer:  www.startribune.com/state-law-thwarts-adoptees-quest-to-know-their-roots/441039553/.