The Open Records Debate

The Issue - Summary

One of the hottest issues in adoption today, not only in the U.S., but around the world as well, is whether or not adoptees should have unrestricted access to their original adoption records when they reach the age of majority as defined by law in their state or country. In the U.S. and Canada, adoption law differs from state to state and province to province, and each jurisdiction treats this question differently.

In the U.S., currently 45 states do not allow adult adopted persons to receive or even look at a copy of their original birth certificate (OBC) (or any other uncensored original record), just by simple application, the way non-adopted persons can, although many who aren’t connected to adoption often assume that they can.

In all states in the U.S., when adult adoptees go through the same process as non-adopted persons* to request a copy of their birth certificate, they receive an amended birth certificate which shows their adoptive parents’ names only. This document contains no information about anything pre-adoption: biological parents’ names, their own birth name if one was given, etc.

(* In "open records states," there is a separate procedure for requesting a copy of the OBC.)

What You Need to Know

The Positions

For purposes of this article, "open records" refers to records access by adult adoptees only (not birth parents and/or adoptive parents).

The three major positions (and there are smaller groups within each major area) are:

In favor of unrestricted access by adult adoptees, i.e., apply and receive.
Against unrestricted access.
In favor of access by adult adoptees but willing to compromise and accept restrictions if it will help get laws changed.

Adoptees and Their Records

An adoptee’s "records" include:

the adoption decree
information about birth parents and their families gathered during pre-placement interviews
the OBC

Open Records States

As of this writing, there are five states an adult adoptee whose adoption was finalized in that state with a copy of his/her OBC (and perhaps other information) on request, without restriction:

Alabama
Alaska
Kansas
New Hampshire
Oregon

Several other states offer restricted access. Restrictions include vetoes, required parental permission even for adults, mandatory intermediaries, and open records for adoptees born only in certain years. Proposals to change the laws being considered in several states.

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

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