Adoption Laws in Texas: A Historical Timeline

Adoption Laws in Texas: A Historical Timeline


1850
First Adoption Law in Texas. Allowed one to “adopt” a legal heir by filing a written affidavit with the county clerk’s office.

1907
Allowed biological parents to file a written affidavit transferring parental authority to “adoptive” parents

1920
Allowed adoption in the case of voluntary abandonment of the child by a parent for three years. Adoption was a matter of public record and birth certificates were stamped with “illegitimate”.

1931
Edna Gladney’s work influences the legislature. Court files and records from adoption proceedings can only be reviewed by interested parties or their attorneys. Judgments, orders, and decrees of the court are public record. Parental consent of living parents required except for cases of abandonment for at least three years.

1937
The time for abandonment by parents was shortened to two years.

1951
Allowed natural parents to give licensed child placement agencies the power to place children for adoption and the power to consent to the adoption without disclosing to the natural parents the names of the adoptive parents.

1965
Restricted access to information (about the adoption not the termination) held by state agencies and licensed child placing agencies. Agencies could use or give information they felt was in the best interest of the child. Records relating to dependency hearings on children born out of wedlock are confidential and not to be disclosed except to a party to the dependency hearing or his attorney. The court could order disclosure of the court felt it would further the ends of justice.

1973
Established the Central Record File. Adoption decrees and records were sent to the State Department of Public Welfare and were confidential. The law restricted access to adoption records to everyone, even if a party to the proceedings, unless ordered by the district court in Travis County for good cause. No confidentiality for the termination file. It only applied to adoptions after the effective date.

1975-1976
Adoption records closed to all. The district clerks’ offices and the Texas Department of Human Services were required to keep adoption records confidential (not termination records). It removed the requirement to transfer all adoption records to the Central File except the decree. It gave the court that granted to adoption the right to open the records in addition to any district court in Travis County. Separate law enacted that gave the court the right to seal the termination and adoption file on the motion of the court or any party.

1983
Deleted the right of a Travis County District court to open records and left the decision solely to the court that granted the adoption.

1989
Granted adoptive parents and adult adoptees the right to access to all of the information, working papers, reports, and records relating to the social study on the child. The information was to be edited to protect the identity of the birth parent. Termination files are still accessible unless there is a specific order sealing the file.
Information in this timeline comes from the following document:
Confidentiality and Access to Texas Adoption Records: A Historical Perspective
by Diane M. Wagner