Open Records for Adult Adoptees

by Tim Roberts, Adoptive Parent, Reunited Adoptee
Reprinted by permission

Those who are against open records for adult adoptees keep repeating the same old arguments without presenting any facts to back them up. The two biggest arguments are:

Open records will increase abortions.

There have never been any statistics to back up this statement. On the contrary, statistics have shown just the opposite. In states like Alaska and Kansas, which have open records, the abortion rate either stayed the same or went down.

The abortion rates in both Alaska and Kansas, states which grant adult adoptees unconditional access to their original birth certificates, were lower than the national average as a whole - 14.6 and 18.9 abortions, respectively for every 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44, compared to the national rate of 22.9

(source: Alan Guttmacher Institute http://www.agi-usa.org/pubs/journals/3026398.html)
Birthmothers were given confidentiality and this promise should be honored.

This is exactly what it was - a promise. Not a legal, binding statement written into a surrender. As far as I know, no one has produced a surrender statement that states that the birthmother is guaranteed confidentiality. Most of them stated that she would not try to contact the child, but this is a much different issue. A lot of times, the issue of confidentiality was a condition that was imposed on the birthmother by the agency, and not a negotiable item.

State laws have begun to strike down this supposed issue of 'confidentiality'.

We fail to see how the fact that individuals working for private organizations offered opinions about what they believed the law provided could somehow transform them into agents of the state for purposes of creating binding state contractual obligations. Even if such representations were made by persons who were agents of the state, agents may not bind the state to any arrangement that contravenes the statutes."

"Although adoption is an option that generally is available to women faced with the dilemma of an unwanted pregnancy, we conclude that it is not a fundamental right. Because a birth mother has no fundamental right to have her child adopted, she also can have no correlative fundamental right to have her child adopted under circumstances that guarantee that her identity will not be revealed to the child.

Jane Does 1,2,3,4,5,6,7, Appellants, v. THE STATE OF OREGON; JOHN A. KITZHABER, Governor of Oregon, and EDWARD JOHNSON, State Registrar of the Center for Health Statistics in Oregon, Respondents, and HELEN HILL, CURTIS ENDICOTT, SUSAN UPDYKE; and THE OREGON ADOPTIVE RIGHTS ASSOCIATION, IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF OREGON. Filed December 29, 1999.Are we going to hold a 15-16-17 year old girl to a promise of confidentiality?
Next Page
© 2001 Tim Roberts

Adopt in California

Comments
I am having a very difficult time trying to get any information about my birth. I have the non-identifying information and let me tell you NON-IDENTIFYING is right. I had basically nothing written on the sheet of paper. The only information that I hadn't known is I have a sibling born prior to my birth. Male or female, I don't know. Twin or older, I don't know. Father completly "unknown". I don't know the cirrcumstance to my adoption at all. I am almost 40 years old. I haven't a clue to where I am from. I have had some medical problems in the past and I think that is when I hit my all time worst. I couldn't ask my mom, aunties or grandma did they ever have to deal with the medical problems I was having at the time. I was born to a faceless woman. I was given the name "Baby Girl Rogers" born 11/12/1967 in Binghamton General Hospital at 1:15 p.m. I was a big baby at birth. Everything was handled through Broome County.

Can anyone tell me where to go to see about the bith index?
I want to petition the courts but do I have to physically go to Binghamton or can I petition the courts from my local area?

if you have any questions or comments or suggestion please feel free to e-mail me.
raeslaw39@hotmail.com
Posted by: raeslaw39 at 04/23/2007 08:57 PM
I reunited with my mom when I was 30. I'm 35 now.

One of the worst feelings of my life was when I was in the beginning stages of my search. The feeling I had of not knowing what kind of barriers I was going to have to go through in order to find my birthmom was almost unbearable.

Fortunately, for me, my birthmom made it easy for me to find her. We are best friends now.

However, if I had been told that my records were "sealed" or whatever, I might have become suicidal or worse.

Their argument, "abortion rates are lower with sealed documents" doesn't cut the mustard.

What's the suicide rate of people who are denied access to their medical history and family heritage? Especially when you take into account some adoptions don't go very well.

If this person who wrote the article were to go spend some time on an "adoptee support" message board he would clearly see tons of deeply depressed people who are clinging to very very tiny shreads of hope.

It's as if the writer of that article for "birthmother's rights" is also the same argument that adoptees don't have any rights.

It's one-sided and heartless. Only an adoption agency whose income depends on adoptions would support closed adoptions.

Jeff
Posted by: mrjeff at 01/24/2007 12:50 PM
I am 35 yrs old. I think it should be my choice if I want my records opened. Who are you to tell me I don't have the right to my own personal information? My mother (which is my bilogical mother) told me the same thing. Your always worried about protecting the mother what about the adoptee??????????? I just found out that my mother has lied to me my whole entire life. I want the truth, those records show the truth, and I will get the truth. I don't care if I have to pay a lawyer. It is my life I think I deserve to know about it. Also for medical reasons, heritage, etc. My mother has lied to me and protected herself enough. it is all about to change. This is suppose to be a free country who are they to tell me I don't deserve the right to know??????
Thank You
C.Parkhurst
Posted by: cpwildcats2 at 01/22/2007 07:18 AM
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Open Records for Adult Adoptees

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