By: Van Arsdale, et al. H.B. No. 1999
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the preparation of medical history reports by parents
who relinquish children for adoption.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 161, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 161.1031 to read as follows:
Sec. 161.1031. MEDICAL HISTORY REPORT. (a) A parent who
signs an affidavit of voluntary relinquishment of parental rights
under Section 161.103 regarding a biological child must also
prepare a medical history report that addresses the medical history
of the parent and the parent's ancestors.
(b) The Department of Family and Protective Services, in
cooperation with the Department of State Health Services, shall
adopt a form that a parent may use to comply with this section. The
form must be designed to permit a parent to identify any medical
condition of the parent or the parent's ancestors that could
indicate a predisposition for the child to develop the condition.
(c) The medical history report shall be used in preparing
the health, social, educational, and genetic history report
required by Section 162.005 and shall be made available to persons
granted access under Section 162.006 in the manner provided by that
section.
SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 161, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 161.2021 to read as follows:
Sec. 161.2021. MEDICAL HISTORY REPORT. (a) In a
termination suit, the court shall order each parent before the
court to provide information regarding the medical history of the
parent and the parent's ancestors.
(b) A parent may comply with the court's order under this
section by completing the medical history report form adopted by
the Department of Family and Protective Services under Section
161.1031.
(c) If the Department of Family and Protective Services is a
party to the termination suit, the information provided under this
section must be maintained in the department records relating to
the child and made available to persons with whom the child is
placed.
SECTION 3. Section 161.1031, Family Code, as added by this
Act, applies only to a person who signs an affidavit of voluntary
relinquishment of parental rights under Section 161.103, Family
Code, on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 4. Section 161.2021, Family Code, as added by this
Act, applies only to a suit affecting the parent-child relationship
pending in a trial court on the effective date of this Act or filed
on or after that date. A suit affecting the parent-child
relationship in which a final order is rendered before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date the order was rendered.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.