Monday is the first day Minnesota adoptees over 18 can request their original birth record—even those from closed adoptions that happened decades ago.

The law was championed by adoptees citing the right to know their own history. Also affected are the birth parents who must rapidly come to terms with the idea of being contacted by a child they believed they would never see again.

Alexis Oberdorfer is the vice president of services at the Minnesota Children’s Home & LSS. She joined MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer to share the details of the law change and how it will affect both adoptees and birth parents.