Closing Arguments: Open Adoption Records?

hi i just watched your segment on adoptee serchin for their biological parents . i think all states should have it to where they can serch and find their parents and the same for the kids . 4 of my siblings were adopted d yrs ago and my mom hasnt been able to search for them due to she is old and in bad health she cant remember their dates of birth i am going to try to find out all info to search for her but all states should give them a chance at meeting the real parents

I sincerely hope other states follow suit! Adoptees have a right to know their medical history. This is probably one of the main reason most of them search.

Everyone should have the right to know the most basic information about their origins. The knowledge of your basic biological heritage should be the birthright of each individual. There should be up to date information about medical situations/ diseases. It is not enough to state the medical history of the mother at the time of relinquishment as she is most likely young and healthy and has little information about diseases.

I think ALL states should open the adoption records to any person who has been adopted. I am 62 yrs. old and never knew who my bio-father was. My Mother would not tell me, and went to elaborate means to keep me from following a trail. My step-father adopted me when I was a young teen ager, and my original records are sealed. I was born in CA. and the order of adoption and the sealing of my original birth certificate, is in MO. Who could it possibly hurt now? My mom and step dad are long dead, and my biological parent probably is too. In my entire life I've never felt like I belonged anyplace or to anyone. It trul-
y has made my life very difficult. I want to know who he was and where I came from, but at this point, I don't feel that will ever happen.
y

I always believed that adoptions should be confidential. Today, I changed my mind. After all, we are human beings, each one of us has a biological mother and a father. I think the child has an inherent right to know its parents. I applaud those who decided to give up their children as well as those parents who adopted children. I'm sure that each of the adoptees is glad they were born instead of being aborted, which happens a lot now (for every 33% babies that are born, the same number is aborted :( A child, if seeks such info, should have access to family health history and heritage.

Records should and MUST be opened!
I am a 57 year old adoptee born and adopted in NYS June, 1951. I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 47. From the little information given to me by the adoption agency, Louise Wise, I know that my biological grandmother died at or around age 47 shortly after undergoing "a serious surgical procedure."  Did she die of breast cancer?  Did my mother also have breast cancer at some point in her life?  I will never know because there are no updated medical records available to me.  I have a 31 year old daughter and a 25 year old son who deserve to know if there have been THREE generations of breast cancer before them.  Additionally, I currently have other serious, undiagnosed illnesses, for which access to my medical history is of paramount importance, even life-saving.

I have utilized every available means that NYS law has to offer to try and locate my biological medical information.  My physician and I petitioned the surrogate court in Brooklyn, and were denied.  I tried to hire private investigators, which would have cost me thousands of dollars to obtain information, but due to the details of my adoption, no one wants to take my case.

Why am I not able to ensure the health of my family, the way all other citizens of this country can do? Why do we have to continue living with the unknown simply because we are adopted and are governed by antiquated laws that desperately need to be changed? Opening records is not about facilitating reunions--good or bad---its about giving adult adoptees the same rights every other citizen of this country has. Medical history is generally free to Americans, except for adoptees who under the current law must have a serious physical or mental illness and then have to pay a court appointed attorney $2000. This is outrageous and unfair. The health and well-being of adopted persons is totally disreguarded.

Adoptees have been called members of "a witness protection program we didn't ask to be in." When adopted, our birth certificate bearing our original names and parents, were sealed, our identities were wiped out and we were issued new certificates. Why is it a crime punishable by law, to falsify any other kind of US or State document, but it is OK to wipe out, falsify and forever seal a person's record of birth?

Records are not sealed at relinquishment, but later, at the time of adoption. This means that they aren't sealed to preserve the anonymity of the birth family but to erase the child's past (with all that the erasure implies), as well as to protect the adoptive family from intrusion.

In addition, belief in the myth that mothers who have relinquished their children do not want to meet them has made the United States a virtual dinosaur, regarding granting adoptees their records. Germany, England, Scotland, Wales, Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and Finland allow adoptees access to their original birth certificates. So do Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Taiwan, China, Japan, Korea, and provinces of Canada. Ours is almost the only industrialized country that denies adopted adults knowledge of who they are.

Closed records laws are an outrageous violation of the Constitution in that they deprive a class of people (adoptees) of a basic civil right available to every other citizen who is not a member of this class -- that is, the opportunity to go to the vital records department of the state in which they were born, pay the required fee and receive a copy of their birth certificate. It is unfathomable to me and millions of people in this country how these archaic and unfair laws have remained on the books for so long. Clearly, they were enacted at a time when society believed, first and foremost, that it needed to protect adoptive families from the intrusion of birth families and, second, to protect adoptees from the stigma of learning they were "illegitimate."

The only way to truly restore the rights of adult adoptees to their birthright and current medical histories as well as their true identity, is to pass legislation which give them the same right as every other American citizen.

Is there any truth to the many myths that have been propagated regarding open records?  No legitimate promise of anonymity was ever made at any time to any birth parent, and no written evidence of such promises exists. Both the TN and OR State Supreme Courts have ruled that birth parents were not promised perpetual confidentiality.

The abortion/adoption connection is completely mythical. In states with open records, the abortion rate is consistently LOWER than in states where records remain closed to adopted persons. Also, conversely, states with open records typically have HIGHER adoption rates than closed states.

Has there been an increase in divorce rates for women who never told their husbands? There have been no verified reports of divorces caused by adoptee reunions.

And mothers who have made it clear that they don't want to meet their child, have NOT been harassed. Adoptees do not stalk parents who do not want contact. Adoptees are not looking for new parents. They also are not insensitive. Adoptees would NOT go barging into their biological parents lives. They have dealt with feelings of rejection their entire lives, they certainly would not do anything to cause an even deeper feeling of rejection firsthand.

Research such as the Evan B. Donaldson report, has shown that no adopted person in any state with open records has caused harm to any birth parent.  I am not a criminal and should NOT be treated as one just because I want to have the same RIGHTS as every NON-adopted person. They have the right to have access to the document which shows their true birth. I should also have that right.

Plus, as Adam Pertman, director of the Adoption Institute, recently said. "IF people are fearful of an adoptee who might harass a reluctant birth mother, there ARE restraining orders. But to put a restraining order against an ENTIRE CLASS of people is unfair!!"

A recent study has been published entitled, "The Only Americans Legally Prohibited From Knowing Who Their Birth Parents Are: A Rejection of Privacy Rights as a Bar to Adult Adoptees' Access to Original Birth and Adoption Record." This study reviews the reasons that some courts have upheld the statutory bars to adult adoptee access to birth and adoption records and the legal foundations for supporting access. This 33-page article, published in the Cleveland State Law Review (Volume 55, Issue 3), explores the concept of constitutional privacy and the categories of privacy currently recognized in American law, concluding that birthparent privacy interests are an insufficient basis for blocking adoptee access. It also reviews some recent judicial and legislative approaches supporting this conclusion.

In addition, research has shown that the number of birth mothers not wanting contact is tiny. Most welcome, and long for contact. However, those who do not want contact are better served by open records. States that granted adoptees access to their original birth certificates have built in vehicles enabling birth parents to let their children know if and how they want to meet. No violations have been reported.

In states with closed records, parents who prefer no contact have no means to make their wishes known. And though it may be hard in states with closed records to find family, it is still being done, resulting in unplanned and possible devastating results.  The NYS adoption reform bill delineates a "contact preference" whereby birth mothers can clearly state whether or not they want contact. And if 'no contact' is desired, this will be upheld and they would, at the least, supply updated medical information to the adoptee.

Adoptees do not "search" just out of idle curiosity. Adoptees are in dire need of accurate, complete, and updated medical and genetic information. Lives are depending on it.  Lives versus privacy; in my mind, there is just no comparison. We as adoptees do not have a right to reunion; we DO have a right to our own records.

I feel we all have a moral obligation to look at historical judgments and correct them if they were made in violation of personal rights. The practice of sealed records in adoptions denies the adopted person their birth rights. They have the right to know who their biological parents were, the right to know what their racial and ethnic background was and the right to know about their family medical history. Depriving a human being of life-saving medical information is not only unconstitutional, but it is immoral and unconscionable. Why do I have to cry myself to sleep whenever I think of how helpless I feel by not being able to secure my own health or the health of my family the way most parents are able to do. LAWS NEED TO BE CHANGED!

Records should and MUST be opened!
I am a 57 year old adoptee born and adopted in NYS June, 1951. I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 47. From the little information given to me by the adoption agency, Louise Wise, I know that my biological grandmother died at or around age 47 shortly after undergoing "a serious surgical procedure."  Did she die of breast cancer?  Did my mother also have breast cancer at some point in her life?  I will never know because there are no updated medical records available to me.  I have a 31 year old daughter and a 25 year old son who deserve to know if there have been THREE generations of breast cancer before them.  Additionally, I currently have other serious, undiagnosed illnesses, for which access to my medical history is of paramount importance, even life-saving.

I have utilized every available means that NYS law has to offer to try and locate my biological medical information.  My physician and I petitioned the surrogate court in Brooklyn, and were denied.  I tried to hire private investigators, which would have cost me thousands of dollars to obtain information, but due to the details of my adoption, no one wants to take my case.

Why am I not able to ensure the health of my family, the way all other citizens of this country can do? Why do we have to continue living with the unknown simply because we are adopted and are governed by antiquated laws that desperately need to be changed? Opening records is not about facilitating reunions--good or bad---its about giving adult adoptees the same rights every other citizen of this country has. Medical history is generally free to Americans, except for adoptees who under the current law must have a serious physical or mental illness and then have to pay a court appointed attorney $2000. This is outrageous and unfair. The health and well-being of adopted persons is totally disreguarded.

Adoptees have been called members of "a witness protection program we didn't ask to be in." When adopted, our birth certificate bearing our original names and parents, were sealed, our identities were wiped out and we were issued new certificates. Why is it a crime punishable by law, to falsify any other kind of US or State document, but it is OK to wipe out, falsify and forever seal a person's record of birth?

Records are not sealed at relinquishment, but later, at the time of adoption. This means that they aren't sealed to preserve the anonymity of the birth family but to erase the child's past (with all that the erasure implies), as well as to protect the adoptive family from intrusion.

In addition, belief in the myth that mothers who have relinquished their children do not want to meet them has made the United States a virtual dinosaur, regarding granting adoptees their records. Germany, England, Scotland, Wales, Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and Finland allow adoptees access to their original birth certificates. So do Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Taiwan, China, Japan, Korea, and provinces of Canada. Ours is almost the only industrialized country that denies adopted adults knowledge of who they are.

Closed records laws are an outrageous violation of the Constitution in that they deprive a class of people (adoptees) of a basic civil right available to every other citizen who is not a member of this class -- that is, the opportunity to go to the vital records department of the state in which they were born, pay the required fee and receive a copy of their birth certificate. It is unfathomable to me and millions of people in this country how these archaic and unfair laws have remained on the books for so long. Clearly, they were enacted at a time when society believed, first and foremost, that it needed to protect adoptive families from the intrusion of birth families and, second, to protect adoptees from the stigma of learning they were "illegitimate."

The only way to truly restore the rights of adult adoptees to their birthright and current medical histories as well as their true identity, is to pass legislation which give them the same right as every other American citizen.

Is there any truth to the many myths that have been propagated regarding open records?  No legitimate promise of anonymity was ever made at any time to any birth parent, and no written evidence of such promises exists. Both the TN and OR State Supreme Courts have ruled that birth parents were not promised perpetual confidentiality.

The abortion/adoption connection is completely mythical. In states with open records, the abortion rate is consistently LOWER than in states where records remain closed to adopted persons. Also, conversely, states with open records typically have HIGHER adoption rates than closed states.

Has there been an increase in divorce rates for women who never told their husbands? There have been no verified reports of divorces caused by adoptee reunions.

And mothers who have made it clear that they don't want to meet their child, have NOT been harassed. Adoptees do not stalk parents who do not want contact. Adoptees are not looking for new parents. They also are not insensitive. Adoptees would NOT go barging into their biological parents lives. They have dealt with feelings of rejection their entire lives, they certainly would not do anything to cause an even deeper feeling of rejection firsthand.

Research such as the Evan B. Donaldson report, has shown that no adopted person in any state with open records has caused harm to any birth parent.  I am not a criminal and should NOT be treated as one just because I want to have the same RIGHTS as every NON-adopted person. They have the right to have access to the document which shows their true birth. I should also have that right.

Plus, as Adam Pertman, director of the Adoption Institute, recently said. "IF people are fearful of an adoptee who might harass a reluctant birth mother, there ARE restraining orders. But to put a restraining order against an ENTIRE CLASS of people is unfair!!"

A recent study has been published entitled, "The Only Americans Legally Prohibited From Knowing Who Their Birth Parents Are: A Rejection of Privacy Rights as a Bar to Adult Adoptees' Access to Original Birth and Adoption Record." This study reviews the reasons that some courts have upheld the statutory bars to adult adoptee access to birth and adoption records and the legal foundations for supporting access. This 33-page article, published in the Cleveland State Law Review (Volume 55, Issue 3), explores the concept of constitutional privacy and the categories of privacy currently recognized in American law, concluding that birthparent privacy interests are an insufficient basis for blocking adoptee access. It also reviews some recent judicial and legislative approaches supporting this conclusion.

In addition, research has shown that the number of birth mothers not wanting contact is tiny. Most welcome, and long for contact. However, those who do not want contact are better served by open records. States that granted adoptees access to their original birth certificates have built in vehicles enabling birth parents to let their children know if and how they want to meet. No violations have been reported.

In states with closed records, parents who prefer no contact have no means to make their wishes known. And though it may be hard in states with closed records to find family, it is still being done, resulting in unplanned and possible devastating results.  The NYS adoption reform bill delineates a "contact preference" whereby birth mothers can clearly state whether or not they want contact. And if 'no contact' is desired, this will be upheld and they would, at the least, supply updated medical information to the adoptee.

Adoptees do not "search" just out of idle curiosity. Adoptees are in dire need of accurate, complete, and updated medical and genetic information. Lives are depending on it.  Lives versus privacy; in my mind, there is just no comparison. We as adoptees do not have a right to reunion; we DO have a right to our own records.

I feel we all have a moral obligation to look at historical judgments and correct them if they were made in violation of personal rights. The practice of sealed records in adoptions denies the adopted person their birth rights. They have the right to know who their biological parents were, the right to know what their racial and ethnic background was and the right to know about their family medical history. Depriving a human being of life-saving medical information is not only unconstitutional, but it is immoral and unconscionable. Why do I have to cry myself to sleep whenever I think of how helpless I feel by not being able to secure my own health or the health of my family the way most parents are able to do. LAWS NEED TO BE CHANGED!

It was obvious that the birth mother did not want to be contacted over the phone and was not emotionally able to comprehend it. Should Cynthia have cared more than her "instant gratification" and disregarded the advice to write and not call, she may have had a chance at a relationship. She had to apologize several times because she realized that it was a mistake to call.
If all adoptions were open, then what would be the point? Or what would the point of foster care be? Would they just automatically be adopted out because all information is public?

I found my son who I gave up for adoption and we have been in touch with each other. We get together once in awhile. My family met him also

I think it should be based on the logical parent dection if they wont contact of there son or daughter.

Yes, it's time to open records and allow the children of adoption to know their history, genetical and medical. We've been hidden under a cloak of shame by those who came before us; allow us to stand in the light and say I know who my parents are, biological and adoptive. Whether we seek contact or not with our biological parents at least give us the god-given right to know what every other non-adopted child is given, the names of their biological mother and father.

I was born in 1954 and to this day I have longed to know my mother's face. Did my father have squinty eyes? Why do I love music?
A registry should be set up where birth parents can check to see if their child has inquired about them. Can you imagine those email conversations? What a glorious day for thousands that would be!

I am the mother of 2 adopted children. I have a lot of information about the birthparents, including medical information. I think that this information is usually or always given now. I do think that the doors should be kept open, but both parties should be in agreement. It is not fair to force a private birthmother to now do something that she was promised that she would never have to do. Please let's respect everyone's feelings: the birthparents and the adoptive children. My son never thinks about it, but my daughter would like to meet her birthmother but her birthmother does not want to meet her at this time (I am in contact with the birthgrandmother.) My daughter understands and respects those wishes. She also knows that once that door is opened it cannot be closed and one person will always want more or less than the other person, which means that they will forever be a little or a lot uncomfortable.

I alsio think that they been into separate way's for to long and alsio where was the parent when he or she graudated or got married or went to his or her play's

Having been involved on both ends, I feel that records should not be sealed. Each of us have the right to say no if approached. But, life has many challenges and having closure to issues can be very freeing, even tho painful for a season. There are places in the heart that remain, even if they are never exposed. Outcomes are not always ideal, but neither are some beginnings. Each individual must remain true to their own heart, and not be left with the "if only" thoughts.

Having been involved on both ends, I feel that records should not be sealed. Each of us have the right to say no if approached. But, life has many challenges and having closure to issues can be very freeing, even tho painful for a season. There are places in the heart that remain, even if they are never exposed. Outcomes are not always ideal, but neither are some beginnings. Each individual must remain true to their own heart, and not be left with the "if only" thoughts.

As an adoptee from 1960 when birth records were closed, I feel very strongly that these records should be open to adoptee children once they are 18. We all deserve to know where we came from and our medical history. It is very difficult to go to the doctor year after year and report "no history" on all medical issues. And, as an adoptee, as we have children, we should know what medical issues we may pass on to our children. I was lucky enough to find my birth mother's family through a search. Unfortunately, my birth mother was deceased and as far as we know she never revealed to anyone who the biological father was. I would give anything to find the man who fathered me, but it looks as though that information was buried along with my birth mother. I urge all states to open up their records for adoptees. We have the right to know our history.

I was adopted at birth into a multi-cultural family with parents the same age as my biological grandparents. I began my search at age 18. I am now 21 and my anniversary of meeting my biological mother in person is coming up this September 8th. It was easy for me to connect with my biological family because my bio-grandparents's doctor is related to my adoptive family. When I called my uncle and got their number, I called and spoke with my bio-grand parents and I obtained their address however they would not give me information of my mother. In fact, they never told her I was trying to contact her. A year later, my adoptive mother and I hired an investigator, I gave her the address I had obtained, and it took her a few days to trace down my biological mother who, ironically, lives in a military town an hour north of where I have family in North Carolina. I vacationed for 10 years at a beach town in south eastern North Carolina. I had met some US Marines who were stationed at Camp Lejeune which is where my mother and my four younger half siblings live. After writing her a letter, she got up the courage to call me and we spoke for 8 hours where, in an instant, my siblings found out they had an older sister. I now live 30 minutes from them and attend school in the same town. We all have a great relationship!

So, for me, it was easy to connect with her. However, I believe it is much too hard for some people to find their biological family. I think information should be required from the biological mother AT THE LEAST so when the child is of age, they can go to the court house or wherever and find maybe a note from the mother to the child with her information OR a note saying that "this is your medical information, but my family does not know about you and I want to keep it that way. I Love you but we have all moved on" or something of that nature. I just wish it was easier for my adoptive friends to have their medical information at their disposal. I think it should be required to give medical information to the adoptive family because, that at the least, is the most important. It is selfish and unfair to have a terrible medical condition and not give any kind of upper hand. As an adopted child, we deserve to know our medical/family history... we deserve to know if we have siblings... and if our parents drank or did some kind of drug(s) during time the baby was conceived or during the pregnancy. We simply deserve to know! More importantly, our future children deserve to know!

I could speak a lot more on the adoption topic, but it wouldn't be exactly on this subject. I did my senior project on adoption so I've done a lot of research and what not. Thank you for doing a story like this. It really hit home for me....

I have a few friends who were adopted as infants, & I've seen the positive & negative affects of being "given up." I feel that the adopted individual didn't have any say-so in their situation, as the parent(s) did. I STRONGLY support adoption & oppose abortion if one of the two choices are the "only" options the mother has. One thing, though, how the child turns out doesn't necessarily affect the parent, yet the medical history and genetics of the biological parents greatly impact the adoptee and other generations who follow. Not to mention, I believe we as human beings deserve the right to know where we came from and why we look the way we do. What one "gives away" may not matter to them, and that's their call. But it's normal for one to want to know where he/she came from. It's a question we ask as very young children. And when we are old enough to know and rationalize, we should have the access to the truth of that inquiry.

In reading some of he posts I noticed that many of the people posting have referred to the biological parents as the "real" parents. The "real" parents are the ones that raised the children! The "biological parents" gave them the opportunity to be "real" parents. I am the mother of 2 children who were adopted and I pray I get to meet their biological parents someday so that I may thank them for giving me the greatest gift I've ever been given! To my children's birthparents: Thank you! You've always been portrayed in a very positive way. I would welcome your meeting these very special children.