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The bill allows any adoptee over the age of 18 to obtain a certified copy of their original birth certificate. Adoptees have not been able to get their records since the 1930s.
Many of those put up for adoption said they never knew their official date of birth, where they came from or even their name at birth.
Supporters said the bill is about equal rights, not about uncovering birth parents' names, which often can be found without a birth certificate through a DNA search.
The Senate passed the bill in a 53-6 vote. The bill is now up for a vote in the Assembly. Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New Castle has said he supports the bill.
Assemblyman David Weprin, D-Queens, the bill's original sponsor, said, "The right of adoptees to access crucial information about their own lives is a human and civil right. It is time for New York, like many other states, to guarantee adoptees access to their original birth certificate so that they can gain knowledge of their family history and medical background."
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