 Get More Information on and the Upcoming Adoptee Rights Demonstration 2012 in Chicago, Illinois Adoptee Rights Protest 2011: San Antonio,TXAdoptee Rights Protest 2010: Louisville, KYAdoptee Rights Protest 2009: Philidelphia, PA | Why Should We Care About the Fight to Open Adoption Records?Just a quick factual update on Adoptee Rights to their Original Birth Certificates for all.In the US, 42 states continue the practice of sealing adopted children's original birthcertificates (the OBC) upon finalization of the adoption. This is one of the many areas of adoption legislation where the states have power over making the laws. Alaska and Kansas never sealed theirs at all, but the other 48 did, some as early as the 1930's and some not until the 70's. Some sealed records laws, such as NY, can trace their roots back to the corrupt practices of Georgia Tann and other unscrupulous lobby groups who must have been hiding something. Right now unless the adoptee's OBC is in Alaska, Kansas, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, Tennessee, Alabama and Delaware or, unless the adoptee's birthparents had the knowledge that they could apply for the OBC before the adoption records were sealed, then that adoptee might never see the record of their birth. Now, we all know that a birth certificate is a very important legal form of identity needed at various times throughout one's life for many reasons such as getting a driver's license or a passport or getting married and the states, in their supreme wisdom, do issue adopted children another birth certificate for them to use. This is called the amended birth certificate of the ABC. On it, depending on what your states artistic license, the adoptive parents are frequently listed as giving birth to the child in the city of which they live, but which the child was not born in. It works for getting into school and getting married. It might or might not work if the government ever goes for that whole ID law since they frequently look different than the standard OBC, but as a parent it will serve you well. Adoptees are often denied: • Passports • Health Insurance approval for genetic testing • The Civil Rights to access their OBC Adoptees are the only group of US citizens denied access to their OBC( besides those in the witness protection program). It truly is a form of discrimination as the adoptee has no way of choosing the circumstances of their birth, relinquishment and adoption, but the circumstances of their birth is held against them long into adulthood. The arguments for allowing adult adoptees to have access to their OBC are thus:
The arguments against allowing adult adoptees access to their OBC are:
Mothers who relinquished could not have been promised anything of the sort by the state governments because there was no confidentiality to give. Let us remember that the OBC is a matter of public records until the adoption is finalized. That can take months and until that time, the birth certificate clearing stating who gave birth to whom is sitting at a country clerk's office. Look who can get access for instance just in Georgia. What do you think would happen if the child never was adopted? The record would continue to be open forever. Now mind you the birthparents have no rights after signing the relinquishment papers, so they can't force the child to be adopted nor seal the record. No confidentiality. Period. Plus if there ever was one shred of paper claiming a birthmother anomininity, then the NCFA would have it plated in gold like the Holy Grail. They have not because it does not exist. Many mothers have gotten their records from agencies to check and no written promise has ever been found. In Kansas and Alaska where the OBC was never sealed, abortion rates were lower than neighboring states. In states that opened up the OBC's, the abortion rates sub-sequentially dropped. On the same note, the same states have higher adoption rates when there is open records and no secrecy. In fact, the some of the openness in adoption can be traced back to a study done by the NCFA and the Family Research Council called The Missing Piece where they studied the feelings of mothers who relinquished (while blindfolded) and learned that women would be more open to adoption as a choice for an unplanned pregnancy if they could know where their child is and how they are fairing. The findings of that study were turned into the federally funded Infant Adoption Awareness Training Program. Kind of odd that the same information they use to create more adoptions is also use to keep records sealed. In other countries and in the US where we can see historically the rates of the contact vetoes issued by birthparents, across the board less than 1 to 4 % of relinquishing mothers employ the contact veto. The simple fact is that it is less than 2% of all relinquishing mothers desire to never set eyes on their children again. The contact veto allows a birthmother to say that she refuses contact. In fact, in New Zealand, after 20 years of open records, they decided to forgo the veto clause since the numbers were so low. The great majority of mothers desire to know what happened to their babies and, in fact, had never forgotten them at all. Adoptees don't always want full on relationships with their birthparents, but even if they do and even if their birthparents don't, we have other laws in this country that are set to keep unwanted people in our lives. Stalking, harassment and privacy laws come to mind. The discussion can go on and on, but this is the ONE area where universally adoptees, adoptive parents and birthparents, all agree: Adult Adoptees over the age of 18 should have the unilateral right to access their original Birth Certificates because it is their truth, their history and their lives.What they do with that information, as adults, is their business as adults to make adult decisions based on what they personally need.Bastard Nation, CARE, The Evan B Donaldson Adoption Institute, the American Adoption Congress, Concerned United Birthparents and Adoptee Rights, plus many more groups, support adoptee access to the OBC as well. . To support adoptees access to the document of their legal birth you can:
It is the government sentencing of legal discrimination against adopted peopleAnd every one of us who have a smallest role in this adoption picture should be screaming for justice.I, as a parent of an adopted person, can and I do. This is why my vacation time at work gets used every year when I go to the Adoptee Rights Protest . |
Adoptee Rights State GroupsGet involved on a state level; Lobbying in New YorkFree Adoption Records: Open the Secrets in New York - part 2 Free Adoption Records: Open the Secrets in New York - part 3 Peter Carucci Director of NYS Adoption Registry Getting my Albany facts together! Where I become a Lobbyist The Halls of Legislators... Lobby day II: the return to the halls The Open Records Conclave in NYC Meeting for Open Records Adoptee Activism for Equal AccessDarryl McDaniels & Zara Phillips Adoptee Rights Video Adoptee Rights Ideas for Change Return Adult Adoptees the Right to their Original Birth Certificates Marijuana Makes Adoptive Parents Look Bad: Yes I mean YOU! Adoption and Open Records FactsProtecting the Privacy of Birthmothers Open Records in Adoption Poll: 100% Favor Change in Laws Adoptee Rights Legislations & Open Records Other States and Political Adoption ArticlesThe FIght for Adoption Records Illinois Open Acess to Birth Certificate fight.. MA Open Records Survey Birth Certificate Access? Roy Blunt is Unaware Adoptee Rights: Suing the State that Denies One Access to the OBC Perhaps Jeep Could Sponsor Adoptee Rights? | |
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