CODE OF VIRGINIA

FILING OF PETITION FOR AGENCY ADOPTION (§ 63.2-1227)

A petition for the adoption of a child placed in the physical custody of the
petitioners by a child-placing agency shall be filed in the name by which the
child will be known after adoption, provided the name is followed by the
registration number of the child’s original birth certificate and the
state or country in which the registration occurred unless it is verified by the
registrar of vital statistics of the state or country of birth that such
information is not available. In the case of a child born in another country, an
affidavit by a representative of the child-placing agency that a birth
certificate number is not available may be substituted for verification by a
registrar of vital statistics for that country. The report of investigation
required by § 63.2-1208 and, when applicable, the report required by §
63.2-1212 shall be identified with the child’s name as it appears on the
birth certificate, the birth registration number and the name by which the child
is to be known after the final order of adoption is entered. The petition for
adoption shall not state the birth name of the child or identify the birth
parents unless it is specifically stated in the agency’s consent that the
parties have exchanged identifying information.A single petition for adoption
under the provisions of this section shall be sufficient for the concurrent
adoption by the same petitioners of two or more children who have the same birth
parent or parents, and nothing in this section shall be construed as having
heretofore required a separate petition for each of such children.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 63-348; 1952, c. 550; 1954, c. 489; 1956, c. 300; 1964,
c. 459; 1968, c. 578, § 63.1-221; 1970, c. 672; 1973, c. 406; 1975, c. 461;
1978, c. 730; 1983, c. 614; 1988, c. 882; 1989, c. 647; 1991, cc. 76, 602; 1995,
cc. 772, 826; 2000, c. 830, § 63.1-219.34; 2002, c. 747; 2006, cc. 825, 848.