By:  Jackson                                                      S.B. No. 151


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the recognition of foreign adoptions and the issuance 
of a supplementary birth certificate.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 162, Family Code, is 
amended by adding Section 162.023 to read as follows:
	Sec. 162.023.  ADOPTION ORDER FROM FOREIGN COUNTRY.  
(a)  Except as otherwise provided by law, an adoption order 
rendered to a resident of this state that is made by a foreign 
country shall be accorded full faith and credit by the courts of 
this state and enforced as if the order were rendered by a court in 
this state unless the adoption law or process of the foreign country 
violates the fundamental principles of human rights or the laws or 
public policy of this state.
	(b)  A person who adopts a child in a foreign country may 
register the order in this state.  A petition for registration of a 
foreign adoption order may be combined with a petition for a name 
change.  If the court finds that the foreign adoption order meets 
the requirements of Subsection (a), the court shall order the state 
registrar to:
		(1)  register the order under Chapter 192, Health and 
Safety Code; and
		(2)  file a certificate of birth for the child under 
Section 192.006, Health and Safety Code.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.