ADOPTION REFORM
“Mary” and
her husband were returning from an extended RV vacation in Canada. When they crossed the border
into the United States, they were directed
to produce their identity papers. In addition to her driver’s license, Mary gave the customs officer her birth certificate.
In a matter of minutes, she and her husband were separated and taken to different rooms. A female officer soon entered Mary’s
room and told her to disrobe and prepare for a body cavity search.
Shocked and disoriented at hearing these
words, Mary felt herself gasp for breath as she asked the officer what she had done wrong and why this was happening to her.
The officer replied that the search could be done “the easy way” or “the hard way.” In a zombie-like
daze, Mary disrobed and submitted to the search.
“Sharon
was a forty-five years old professional woman whose life could be captured in just one word; successful. She was financially secure, had a coveted position at her firm, and a personal life that satisfied
her emotional needs. Yet. On a hot summer day she found herself skulking inside a high-rise garage. A man in a black care
stopped beside her and instructed her to give him the envelope containing five hundred dollars. As she left the drop site,
Sharon couldn’t help feeling she was an actor in an
international spy movie. She also knew she was now a criminal.
“Jack” was finishing his freshman
year in college and had been accepted by the National Council of Churches to do missionary work in Africa
for the summer. He arrived, filled with anticipation for his upcoming adventure, in New York City
for a week of orientation and to obtain visas for Ghana, Nigeria, and Togoland. He had sent the required documents
to the embassies months earlier, and was shocked when the ambassador of Togoland told him they would not issue a visa.
What do Mary, Sharon, and Jack have in common? They were
all adopted in states that have closed adoption records. When their adoptions were finalized, their origianl birth certificate
was sealed by the state and a surrogate, false, document called an"amended birth certificate" was created.
Mary didn't know her birth certificate was different from
that of anyone else. Becasue the customs officers had never seen an amended birth certificate, they assumed her birth certificate,
and by extension her dirver's license, were false documents. Customs officers were expecting a pair of international drug
smugglers to attempt a border crossing and Mary and her husband became unwitting suspects becasue of her amended birth certificate.
Jack was able to participate in his summer missionary project.
However, when the other students went to Togoland, he was forced to stay in Ghana.
The government of Togoland considered his amended birth certificate a “false” and “fraudulent” document.
The ambassador had made his nation’s position clear: “You are the child/person your biological parent’s
created and your biological mother gave birth to. You are not the child/person of the people cited on this document as your
parents. Therefore, this is a false document. You do not have a birth certificate. You cannot prove who you are. Therefore,
you do not exist.”
These are examples of just a few of the ways the system of
permanently closed adoption records, known as the system of secrets and lies by adoptee rights activists, seriously hurts
the lives of adopted adults. Far from providing the protection touted by opponents of open records, the closed records system
is a system of disenfranchisement, depersonalization, and dehumanization.
Several years ago the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
in New York released the most comprehensive statistics yet compiled on how many adoptees
there are in America. The Donaldson
survey showed that nearly six of every ten Americans have had a “personal experience” with adoption. That means
they, a family member, or close friend were adopted, adopted a child, or placed a child for adoption.”
In November 2007 the Donaldson Institute released
a White Paper titled, “For the Records: Restoring A Right to Adult Adoptees.” This publication, released for National
Adoption Awareness month, represents the most comprehensive examination to date of one of the most controversial, emotional
issues in the modern adoption world: whether adopted people, once they become adults, should have access to their original
birth information. This report suggests that all states change their laws so that the answer is "yes."
This policy
paper is the result of the broadest, most extensive examination to date of the various issues related to state laws governing
adult adopted persons' access to their original birth certificates and/or adoption records. The information and recommendations
in this paper are drawn from a review and analysis of past and current state laws; legislative history in states across the
country; decades of experience on relevant issues; and the body of research relating to sealed and open records on the affected
parties.
Among the
findings in the report, "For the Records: Restoring a Right to Adult Adoptees," are:
- Prohibiting
adopted people from getting their personal information raises significant civil rights concerns and potentially serious, negative
consequences for their physical and mental health.
- In
states that now allow access, there has been no evidence that the legal changes have caused problematic behavior by adopted
persons or damage to birthmother's lives.
- Another
assertion by critics of changing these laws - that abortion rates will rise and adoption rates will fall - is not supported
by the evidence; in fact, it appears just the opposite occurs.
Based on
its research and an analysis of its findings, the Institute's recommendations include:
- Every
state should amend its laws to restore unrestricted access for adult adopted persons to their original birth certificates
- which, historically, had been their right nationwide.
- Within
three years of enactment, revisit state laws that create a "sandwich" situation in which some adult adopted persons get access
to their documents while others do not.
- Conduct
research to expand the understanding of the experiences of adopted persons, birthparents and adoptive parents in relation
to the issue of access to records.
The statistics documenting the number of adoptees who have
had their lives disrupted, their civil and human rights taken away, and their dignity trampled by the system of closed adoption
records are as much of a well hidden secret as the number of women who are raped.
However there is one organization, Bastard Nation: The Adoptee
Rights Organization, that gives voice – in the words of adoptees, birth parents and adoptive parents – in protest
against this pernicious system of secrets and lies. Bastard Nation works to restore to all adoptees the records of their
birth and has been successful in reopening closed records in Oregon, Alabama,
New Hampshire, and Maine.
To find out more about the fight for open adoption records
and why going to court, mutual consent registries, retroactivity, confidential intermediaries, disclosure vetoes, contact
vetoes, and mandatory counseling prior to unification are not only demeaning to adopted adults but also directly oppositional
to open records, check out the Bastard Nation website at: www.bastards.org.
