Under the law in Massachusetts, M.G.L. c. 210, an adopted person has the right to obtain any information that does not identify the biological parents.

The general rule is that an adopted person does not have an automatic right to access identifying information of their adopted parents. In order for that information to be released a judge must find there is good cause for doing so.  Simply wanting to know the name or address of one’s biological parents will not be a good enough reason for a judge to disclose their identity. Before allowing the records to be released, a judge must weigh the interests of the adopted person in obtaining the information compared to the privacy rights of the parents.