IN THE MATTER OF THE ADOPTION OF A CHILD BY W.H.A. AND M.B.S. (FA-13-1976-00, MONMOUTH COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (RECORD IMPOUNDED) ( 2018 )

RECORD IMPOUNDED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE
APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court."
Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the
parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3.
SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
APPELLATE DIVISION
DOCKET NO. A-0164-16T3
IN THE MATTER OF THE ADOPTION
OF A CHILD BY W.H.A. AND M.B.S.
Submitted May 24, 2018 – Decided June 6, 2018
Before Judges Simonelli and Rothstadt.
On appeal from Superior Court of New Jersey,
Chancery Division, Family Part, Monmouth
County, Docket No. FA-13-1976-00.
W.A., appellant pro se.
Birdsall & Laughlin, LLC, attorneys for
respondent Monmouth County Surrogate (David A.
Laughlin, of counsel and on the brief; Robert
M. Ford, on the brief).
PER CURIAM
Appellant W.A. appeals from the June 13, 2016 Chancery
Division order, which denied his request to the Monmouth County
Surrogate to unseal the record of his alleged adoption by W.H.A.
and M.B.S. We affirm.
Appellant was born in Atlantic City on July 16, 1956, and
claimed that K.H. and A.H. were his birth parents based on a July
18, 1956 newspaper article stating that twin boys were born to
these individuals in Atlantic City on that date. Appellant
allegedly found the article in 1966 or 1967 in the bedroom closet
of his alleged adoptive parents, W.H.A. and M.B.S.
Appellant filed a motion with the Chancery Division, Monmouth
County pursuant to Rule 5:10-13(a) to unseal the record his
adoption by W.H.A. and M.B.S.1 In a June 13, 2016 order and written
opinion, the court denied the motion, finding "there is no record
to unseal. A search of the database reveal[ed] that there are no
records associated with [a]ppellant's case." This appeal
followed.
As a threshold matter, we note that appellant's notice of
appeal states he is only appealing from the June 13, 2016 order.
"[I]t is only the judgments or orders or parts thereof designated
in the notice of appeal which are subject to the appeal process
and review." Pressler & Verniero, Current N.J. Court Rules, cmt.
6.1 on R. 2:5-1(f)(1) (2018); see also 1266 Apt. Corp. v. New
Horizon Deli, Inc., 368 N.J. Super. 456, 459 (App. Div. 2004).
Thus, arguments appellant raised for the first time on a motion
for reconsideration, which he reiterates here, are not properly
1
Appellant had previously filed a motion in the Chancery
Division, Atlantic County, to unseal the record of his adoption
by W.H.A. and M.B.S. The court ultimately held the record of such
adoption could not be located after a diligent and proper search
by the Atlantic County Surrogate's Office, and the record of such
adoption did not exist in Atlantic County.
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before us. We limit our review to the issues related to the June
13, 2016 order.
Following an adoption, the State Registrar places the
adoptee's original birth certificate and all related documents
"under seal." N.J.S.A. 26:8-40.1(c). The seal "shall not be
broken except by order of a court of competent jurisdiction[.]"
N.J.S.A. 26:8-40.1(c)(1). Because parties, such as adult
adoptees, may have an interest in disclosure of their original
birth certificates, which countervails the birth parents' right
to privacy, courts may break the seal "upon good cause shown[.]"
Mills v. Atlantic City Dep't of Vital Statistics, 148 N.J. Super.
302, 312 (Ch. Div. 1977); see also In re Adoption of Mellinger,
288 N.J. Super. 191, 196 (App. Div. 1996). Under N.J.S.A. 9:3-31
(repealed by L. 1977, c. 367, § 20), courts retained "the power
to weigh and balance the competing privacy rights and make a
determination based on the facts and circumstances of each
individual case." Mills, 148 N.J. Super. at 312; accord N.J.S.A.
9:3-52(a) (all documents under seal must remain so "unless the
court, upon good cause shown," otherwise orders the documents be
unsealed). Accordingly, the court "must weigh the adoptees' needs
against the natural parents' rights." Mills, 148 N.J. Super. at
319.
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The party seeking to unseal adoption records must be a
"member[] of a class in which there is an overwhelming State
interest [and] must demonstrate good cause[.]" Id. at 313. When
an adult adoptee requests access to his own birth records, "the
burden of proof . . . shift[s] to the State to demonstrate that
good cause is not present." Id. at 318. "Requests for medical,
hereditary or ethnic background information should be granted,
absent some showing of compelling reasons not to reveal the
information." Ibid.In Mills, the court established a detailed procedure to be
followed when an individual requests unsealing of adoption
records. When an adoptee makes a request to the court, the request
must "be referred to an intermediary agency for investigation[.]"
Id. at 320. Specifically, the requests are assigned to the agency
that made the adoptive placement, or another agency selected by
the court if the original agency no longer exists. Id. at 320-
21. The agency handling the inquiry acts "as an arm of the court
and will have full freedom in its response to the request,
including use of the official court record." Id. at 321. "[T]he
agency should work to meet the explicit request of the adoptee if
feasible[,]" and if the agency or the biological parent "refuses
to consent to the divulgence of identifying data, the adoptee
shall have the right to appeal" to the Chancery Division. Ibid.4 A-0164-16T3
If the natural parent consents, "disclosure should be automatic."
Ibid. "[W]here the agency's investigation fails to locate the
natural parents[,] the adoptee may appeal to the [Chancery
Division] for the information necessary to carry on the search."
Ibid.Here, the Monmouth County Surrogate's Office conducted an
investigation and reported it found no record of an adoption of a
child by W.H.A. and M.B.S. If the County Surrogate determines
that an adoption did not occur in the county in which the request
was received, his or her only responsibility is to inform the
requesting party "that there is no record of the adoption in that
county and that no further action will be taken on the request."
R. 5:10-13(c). There is no authority requiring the Surrogate to
make any inquiry to the State of New Jersey or take any other
action beyond a search of the records maintained in the County
Surrogate's Office.
Affirmed.
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