Giving adult adoptees access to birth certificates, medical records

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5 responses to “Giving adult adoptees access to birth certificates, medical records”

1. EveT

   February 28, 2014

   It’s long past time to allow adult adoptees the right to know their genetic history. Being given up for adoption, the child has no say in the matter. When that child becomes an adult, he or she has the right to know. The “shame” of having a child “out of wedlock” is a relic of past generations. Time to make it legally a thing of the past.

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2. irishgirl

   February 28, 2014

   There is no more “shame” – the new generation even has reality shows and makes celebrities out of the trash that they came from.

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3. John Frank sr

   February 28, 2014

   I am an adult adoptee who found my birth mother on my own many years later. For both of us, it was a good experience, but there was a period when she was terrified to let anyone, especially her other adult children, know she had a given up a child born out of wedlock. Each case is different and there are excellent reasons for the sealed records law now in effect. Rather than change that law, the agencies that handle adoptions should be required to get as much medical history as possible from the birth mother at the time of adoption and make that information available to the adopting parents. Sealed records can now be opened by the court, for good reason, but not for simple curiosity. Many birth mothers later marry, start families, and carry the secret for years, counting on present law to protect them from having some stranger show up at the front door years later and pose a threat to a happy marriage, forcing the choice of rejecting the stranger for a 2nd time, or admitting long term deception to husband and other family. There are voluntary registries now where adult adoptees and biological mothers can indicate an interest in meeting.

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4. Suzanne

   February 28, 2014

   I am a sibling of a sister who gave up her child for adoption at infancy many years ago. To my knowledge, the privacy of that act has been retained. I miss knowing who that person is. I actually have never read anything about the impact of such a decision to the relations of the birth mother or to the child who is placed up for adoption. I know that privacy in the matter is inviolate to the participants and for my sibling’s sake and, perhaps, the child’s sake, it needs to remain that way. Even though it is painful, I do not believe this is a matter for legislation and that the voluntary agencies that exist as mentioned by John Frank, Sr., above should remain in place. This would not be out of public shame or private difficulty but out of respect for the very private and painful decision that no doubt led to the adoption in the first place. While health information is valid, there are plenty of diagnostics in the medical field, especially now, that could provide more information than the birth mother. Adopted children, while it was not their choice, could use these healthcare tools and probably come up with more significant and accurate data than a birth mother could provide. Most considerations of relative health conditions that I have seen have come up on the initial health intake form asking if relations have had cancer, heart disease or diabetes. These conditions and their propensities for them can be assessed by medical doctors while leaving the privacy of adoption respected. I certainly don’t believe in the efficacy of a governmental agency taking over this very delicate, private and personal matter.

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5. John Frank sr

   February 28, 2014

   here is a link to the CT registry I mentioned
   http://www.adopteeconnect.com

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