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Adoption record unsealed to determined birth mother's religion \
An adoption file was unsealed by the New York courts to determine whether the petitioner
was Jewish, as reported by a December 14th, 2012 news article. Under Jewish law, a child
birthed by a Jewish mother would result in that child automatically being viewed of the
Jewish faith. Petitioner sought the aid for the New York courts to conclude whether or
not her birth mother was such faith. \ The court noted that under Domestic Relations
Law Sec. 114 the records were sealed to protect all characteristics that would provide the
identity identity of both parents. Under New York law, only in rare events will information
of a sealed adoption document be revealed and normally only for medical reasons. Upon
further inspection of the New York Law the court found that on the basis of good cause
some information may be revealed. Under the Public Health Law Sec. 4138-c(3)(e) some non-identifying
information may be obtained, one being the birth mother's religion. Based on the New
York law the court ruled to allow the petitioner the right to know that her birth mother's
religion; it was Protestant, not Jewish. Thank you.}