Sealed Records: The Last Stigma, Page 3

It Isn't About Search, But...

While the issue is not about search, or any other activity an adult adoptee may engage in after receiving his/her OBC, the law in some states, like Tennessee, has linked open records and search together with provisions for vetoes.

In the case of a "contact veto," when signed by a birthparent, it becomes a crime for the adult adoptee to initiate contact. It imposes civil and/or criminal penalties, similar to a restraining order.

American citizens who are not birthparents obtain a restraining order by providing some proof that the person to be restrained intends to do them harm. In the case of a contact veto, a birthparent has to provide no such proof.

While it's understandable that there are birthparents who, for a variety of reasons, may not want direct contact with a birthchild, there are alternatives that are respectful of all parties' rights and sensibilities that extend "innocence until proven guilty" to adult adoptees:

The Contact Preference Form, in place in Oregon and Alabama, gives birthparents the opportunity to express their wishes concerning contact. Options are:

• Desire for unrestricted contact.
• Desire for contact through an intermediary.
• Desire for no contact, which is accompanied by an updated medical history.

If an adoptee persisted with unwanted contact, it would certainly be emotionally painful for a birthparent to apply for a restraining order, but that's the way the legal system works for the rest of us, and it seems inappropriate for the legal system to exert this kind of exceptional control over interpersonal relationships.

The Last Bastion

Sealed records are the last remaining piece of the wall built around adoption based on stigma. Adoption author Marcy Axness writes, in Painful Lessons, Loving Bonds:

If we didn't find (adoption) so contemptible, so laced with shame, why would our laws be so vehemently constructed to protect everyone from the shame returning to their doorsteps?

Isn't it time to move on?

To Learn Your State Regulations

Check our information on Access to Information for all states.

Recommended Reading

• Adoption, Identity & Kinship: The Debate over Sealed Birth Records by Katarina Wegar
• Family Matters: Secrecy & Disclosure in the History of Adoption by E. Wayne Carp
• The Case for Open Records by Kate Burke, from the American Adoption Congress
• Proposed Uniform Adoption Act of 1994 sections related to sealed records and provisions for the release of information.

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