Adoption Decree

An adoption decree is synonymous for an adoption certificate. It is the final document in the adoption process that declares an adoption finalized. This form will ensure that all former parents' rights are terminated and the adoptive parents receive those legal rights of the adoptee. The adoption decree will include information such as the date and place the adoption was finalized, the adoptee's name as the adoptive parents would like it to be and the adoptee's date of birth. In essence, the adoption decree is a make-shift, or temporary, birth certificate.

Once this form is signed by a judge at the final adoption hearing, it can be used to get the child a new birth certificate made. The original birth certificate that identifies an adoptee's birth parents as his or her custodial parents will be filed with the rest of the adoption documents with all of the state's other sealed adoption records. This birth certificate can be retrieved, partially or in full, after the child is 18 and has "good cause" to consult the information on it.

An adoptee's birth certificate is one of the most important documents he or she will ever have and is what legally binds an adoptee and his or her adoptive parents. Birth certificates are important identifying documents that someone will need while applying for insurance, jobs and school.