The Ohio Senate has rejected efforts to change Ohio law to release identifying information of birthparents and adopted persons without their explicit consent. Open records activists have been heavily lobbying the Ohio legislature for the past two years and many times believed that they had accomplished their goals. However, the House of Representatives provided protections for birthparents and the Senate restored privacy rights of adopted adults.

It is expected that the House of Representatives will accept all of the Senate amendments to the comprehensive adoption bill and that the Governor will sign the bill when it reaches his desk. Therefore, the public policy of Ohio will continue to be that it is up to each individual involved in adoption to decide for him/herself whether or not he/she wants to release identifying information.

The Senate also added a putative fathers' registry to the bill, which NCFA had encouraged. NCFA had also advocated for changes to make it easier for foster children to find adoptive families and to ensure that children were not discriminated against because of race or ethnicity. NCFA has not seen the final version of the bill yet and therefore, does not know whether suggested amendments were made.

The legislation is the culmination of a multi-year process of the Governor's Adoption Commission which was sometimes sidetracked by special interest groups

© National Council for Adoption