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| Comments From Birth Parents |
| "The secrecy of adoption and its influence on those involved is a tragedy that no one deserves. Children are our future, whether we raise them ourselves or choose others to do so. But we owe it to these children, who grow up, to know the who, what, why, when, and how of their existence." - Glenna Henderson |
| "Let the sun shine in! Secrets cloaked in darkness only perpetuate shame and low self-esteem!" - Kaaren Collum Skocdopole |
| "I truly believe an adoptee has the right to know his origins. And after this, it's up to the two as adults to decide if they want a relationship or not. Even in cases of rape, a lot have been able to work through their hostilities and live for the future." - Peggy |
| "I am another birth mother who was told (lied to) that my child would have access to all (ALL) records when an adult. I do not think I would have ever signed the papers without this." - Margie Glenn |
| "We birthmothers were not promised confidentiality after we gave birth, just while we were pregnant." - Nancy Schaefer |
| "Nowhere in the adoption papers that I signed, as a 16 year old birth mother, did anyone promise me privacy. The bond is NEVER broken. Adoptees deserve to know their medical history and genealogy. They are people, not property! Please open the records so the circle can be healed." - Susan White |
| "Neither group (adoptee or birthparent) is a suspect class of people. Their rights should be the same as any other citizen in the country." - Carolyn Follis |
| "As a birth mother who was the victim of a rape, I know the love that we feel for our babies overcomes all. I know we have a bond that spans time and space. I know that we can't heal by pretending nothing happened. I know I was not complete until my son found me and neither was he. No more shame. Know more." - Joyce Carman Lovelace |
| "To deny adoptees the same rights as non-adoptees is discrimination based on birth status... There is no obligation to protect those birth parents or others who choose to lie any more than we would make laws to protect anyone else's past indiscretions, lies and secrets Birthmothers were never promised, nor did they request, to remain secreted from the children they bore and lovingly placed for adoption." - Mirah Riben |
| "The confidentiality of my adoption was surely not for my benefit. My birth son eagerly desired a reunion, as well as his adoptive parents... the only problem is that due to this so-called 'confidentiality' my son and I weren't reunited many years earlier. A loss for all of us involved. Education is critical." - Lisa H. Wheeler |
| "Compromises, such as contact and disclosure vetoes, infantilize adult adoptees and continue the Victorian shame and stigma that were attached to adoption, unwed mothers, and illegitimacy in the past. Open Records restore the civil rights of adoptees." - Nancy Andrews |
| "If you are old enough to defend this country, you should be able to contact your family without an intermediary. It is a human rights issue and in America, adoptees are not free." - Linda Rooney |
| "I am a birthparent and feel adoptees should have the same rights as all other citizens of this country, the right to access their own records. They are adults and are not children all their lives, as many like to think they are... Just who are we protecting anyway? It's not adoptees or the birthparents." - Gale Munden |
| "It is time to open records to the light and air of examination, to expose the lies and injustices visited on a vulnerable segment of the population. As birthparents come out of 'hiding' and begin to talk with each other (something that has been denied by secrecy and shame), we are learning just how much was misrepresented to us by the agencies seeking to have us relinquish our children... As long as records remain sealed, there can be no redress or healing of the lies in adoption. Adoptive parents should realize that they, too, were told lies. Only with open, honest communication can this 'social experiment' become a healthy, productive and healing experience... and to accomplish that, the records MUST be open. I am a reunited birthmom so open records will not facilitate search, but they will facilitate healing and knowledge of the truth." - Lury Dowda |
| "I never asked for nor received confidentiality in 1970 when I relinquished my daughter for adoption. I also was never told I had a right to a copy (of her original birth certificate) at the time of her birth, before her relinquishment and before I signed any papers. My rights were violated at that time..." - Eileen Baum |
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