Do you remember stories of fires or floods destroying adoption-related records in public places?

Question

Hi,

Do you think it's a coincidence that disasters seemed to hit courthouses, agencies, hospitals, etc. places with adoption-related infomation at a higher rate of frequency than other places?

Do you think some of the disaster stories could have been attempts to prevent others from attempting to search for information?

If you have been told your records were destroyed, are you aware records usually exist in more than one location?

Thanks for all thoughts on this.

Answer 1

My adoption agency really did have  a big fire in the 1979!  My adad gleefully told me that a lot of records were destroyed.  I was seven at the time.

Oh! That man likes to tease.

Luckily , my files were not damaged.

Answer 2

Stuff happens, that's all. No coincidence.

Answer 3

People have been told some interesting things by workers in hospitals, courthouses and the like as soon as the worker finds out the person is adopted.  One of the funnier ones I've heard is when a worker was looking up a caller's records. At one point during her search for the information, the worker asked the caller if she was adopted and the caller said, "Yes."  At that point the worker told the caller that the records from the year she was born had been lost inside the walls when construction was being done on the building.

It's no secret that there are a variety of excuses have been used to deter adoptees from requesting information.

Answer 4

No one is out there trying to steal legally obtainable records from adoptees.  If records are lost (in the days before such things were regularly kept on computer, and when the microfich were stored in the same location as the hard copy) it wouldnt' have ONLY been adoption records lost - and the "disaster" should be recorded in some way.  You can probably research back and find a news story about it if these were public records that were destroyed.  It's no secret that alot of times legal records were the victim of fire or flood.  There is a good reason for this, they are PAPER!  Anytime you get a large amount of paper together, it's a fire hazzard.  I didn't get a degree in information storage, but I have plenty of practical experience with it.  Even if there isn't fire or flood, after only a few years, terrible things can happen to paper.  Luckily we have computer systems these days.  

Anyway, if you're REALLY being lied to, ask for more information and research to see if what they're telling you is correct.  However, remember, there are certain records that ARE legally unaccessable.  You can be angry about that, you can write your congressman, but don't act like someone is doing you a personal injustice.  The law is the law, and people must follow the law.  If you don't like the law, then use legal means to change it.  That's the great thing about living in a democracy, you have a voice.

Answer 5

Well, in my situation, my adoption was black market (Helen Tanos Hope). When Ms. Hope passed away, her records were found in a dumpster and the others were destroyed including mine(allegedly). I am in the process  of trying to get them now. I dont know if there are copies of them elsewhere. If there are, I wouldnt know where to look.  I had dealt with Ms. Hope when she was alive and that was no picnic. That wa why I waited till she passed away. I didnt think she'd go to such measures to hide her business transactions. Im sure she is not the only one. Her people just got caught. And I thank God for that. Atleast a few adoptees will get there records.

Answer 6

They had tornados in Indiana.

Answer 7

Oh yes, I am sure they were all a conspiracy to keep adoptees from finding out their information.

Answer 8

Truly isn't it odd that all of our records seem to either be burnt up, lost in a flood, or in the "archives" of another building located in an entirely different place than the agency itself? I can tell you from taking Records Information Management classes, that records of this type are never discarded, more often than these days they are scanned and placed in a computer system. In older casest they should be on microfich and there should also be hard copies kept. The agency I used still has not found my records, sadly when they moved their office, they were either lost or stored incorrectly and can not  be found. How coneveniet! I call once a week, every week to demand what is mine legally, by Illinois law itself and have yet to receive a single document including the form is signed to surrender my child. Next step, an attorney!  Maybe then I will get my records...Or mayber there really was a fire or flood or they got lost in transit.. Yeah right and if ya'll believe that I have a bridge in Brooklyn I would like to sell you!

My daughter finally got her non-id when she sent a request via registered and certified mail. She quoted Illinois state law in regards to Non-ID information and gave them a thirty day deadline. She did get some of her information, but was told the rest  of it was in my file, which of course was lost in transit, or a fire, or a flood.. WTF?