The Open Records Debate, Page 2

Currently 0/5 Stars.
1
2
3
4
5

You may use the stars on the left to rate and leave feedback for the current article. No registration is required. Waiting for 5 votes

Background

Why Records Were Sealed

Until the early part of the 20th century, adoption documents were treated as public records. The practice of "sealing" these records away from the public eye and issuing amended birth certificates began during the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. Prevailing attitudes held that all parties named in the documents (adoptees, birth parents, adoptive parents) needed to be protected from the social stigma associated with illegitimacy, infertility, poverty, mental illness, addiction, and any of the myriad reasons that might have been associated with the reasons children were placed for adoption and the reasons children were adopted. "Sealing" these records was seen as an effective and necessary (at the time) means of "keeping the silence," and most states enacted laws to do this.

Click here Pregnant? Click Here

Changing Attitudes

In the broadest social arena, the second half of the 20th century saw an emphasis on equal rights of groups and individuals, a growing awareness of the importance of identity, and a widespread rejection of the "code of silence" observed by previous generations. Everyone began talking... about everything. The adoption community was not immune to these changes and the raised voices of this once-silent group have brought this issue (and others) to the fore. The Internet has served to bring similar-minded people together from geographically distant places, and the Web became the birthplace of the open records reform movement. It is here, on the Web, that adoption conservatives and liberals have come to continue the debate.

The Scope of the Debate

How many are interested in this issue? The number of adoptees in the U.S. alone is estimated to be around 6 million. Add birth parents and adoptive parents for each one, the other members of adoptive and birth families, adoption professionals, counselors, judges, attorneys, and corresponding groups in other countries, and it’s impossible to count the millions who are potentially interested in this debate.

Previous Page Next Page

Comments

I was adopted in central Indiana in 1988, 2 days after my birth. It was a closed adoption. Around the age of 10 when I learned to use the Internet, one of the first things I did was e-mailed the adoption agency my parents worked with. At that age, as deeply as I loved my adoptive parents, I absolutely needed to know who my birth mother was. It was not at all that I wanted to live with her or even meet her. All I wanted was to know her name and see a picture. I yearned to see why my eyes were brown and why my hair was so fine. Not knowing where you come from is one of the worst feeling in the world. There is a void in my life that will never be filled.

Should I meet my mother, and she shuns me, that's okay! However, it is my RIGHT! NOT A PRIVELEGE! NO ONE should get to make that decision for me! I am certain that the men and women who make these laws know exactly what their heritage is. They cannot even BEGIN to comprehend the pain we all feel! What about our birth parents? Do they not have a right to know the flesh of their flesh?! We have the right to know each other! Parent and child. This is the most sacred connection other than that of the Almighty Father. WHY on Earth should ANYONE get to make that decision other than us?! If the law was made to protect adoptees from the pain of rejection, that is completely absurd. We should be able to choose whether or not we meet our BLOOD family! I cannot stress enough that this decision is not for ANYONE to make other than us!

I do agree that if the birthparent chooses to be anonymous to his/her child, the adoptee should not be able to contact that parent. However, I do believe that the adoptee should AT LEAST be able to see a picture and be offered some information about their ancestry and a DETAILED, updated medical history. The laws must change. Adoptees do not deserve this anguish laid upon their shoulders because of someone elses decision. It is not our fault. We all deserve better.

Posted by: Hillary473 at 04/24/2008 01:19 AM

View all comments (1)

Add Your Comments!

We want to know what you think. Your comments are important to us and the other readers. You are what makes this site special.