Do you think Adoptees deserve OPEN RECORDS?

Question

Curious what everyone here thinks surrounding Adoptee Rights. Do you think Adoptees deserve unconditional access to their birth certificates and adoption records? Do you think they deserve rights equal to non adopted people? Would you vote yes for Open Records for Adopted Adults?

Answer 1

as an adult or in the event that a minor becomes sick. they need that medical background. i have recently encountered this, i am adopted and my young son has developed a medical problem. they think it may be genetic. i have found my birthmother but my father has dropped off the face of the earth.

it needs to be available to them for themselves and their children. it can be non identifying but the records need to be there when they need them. i understand the right for the birthparent to keep their privacy, but they must understand this could be detrimental to the children and their future children.

Answer 2

As an Adoptee myself, I say yes.  We should have full unconditional access to our heritage.

But for the people that gave us up, I say NO!

Answer 3

I was adopted at birth.

My belief is that all adults should have access to medical history and NON-IDENTIFYING information on both birth parents.

It is important to know medical history, and good to know weight, height , eye color, hair color, etc.

I don't think its fair to announce who the biological parents are, but I do think the adopted should be allowed as much info as possible without identifying the sperm and egg donor:)

Answer 4

Without a doubt. As an adoptee, the hardest thing for me was not having any medical background info.  to share with my daughter. It is very scary not knowing what runs in your family.  I was half lucky though. I found my birth mother at the age of 43 and discovered half a medical history.  My birth father is still lost so to speak. If you are not adopted I don't see how you could even begin to understand how we adoptees feel about this whole situation.

Answer 5

Yes we should have access.

and to mystic. what? ok no you don't know your father and you have a half brother but what does that have to do with your health. your father yes but not your brother your just trying to be sarcastic.

Yes we need our medical records. people that aren't adopted take for granted that they can find out everything that they NEED just by asking their parents or other family members. we don't have that right.

I have a son that is 8 now going on 9. I almost aborted him because i was afraid of everything that could happen. i can't deal with losing the only family member i know like most people can i guess.it scares me to death every time he gets sick with something that's not common (when i was a kid my dr said she was going to start calling my diseases tina diseases because i would get something she had never seen before and then when she thought she might know what it was i would get well. i had something that caused me to have ulsers in my stomach down my throught and in my mouth for a month and i had to live off of jello. you people don't think it might have helpped to know if my mother had something similar so maybe i wouldn't have had to suffer as long as i did?). If you aren't adopted you just know ok we have cancer in our family (you would find that out just in general conversation) grandma died of  breast cancer or uncle joe had skinn cancer. we don't know that. heart disease, diabetes, sickle cell, and the list goes on.

I have a copy of my original birth cirtificate that does me absolutely no good because my mother was born in korea she doesn't have a social security number. i don't need to know her name, her adress or the dr. that delivered me. i need to know about the things that could kill me or my son. not being adopted people could never understand how desperately we need this information. their could be a rare genetic disease that causes your skin to fall off at a certain age that could be stopped with treatment if we know ahead of time. but we know nothing ahead of time we just have to catch something and see what happens.

I just don't know to many every day families that would intentionally keep important information from you knowing it could kill you in the future by them not telling you and that is what is happening to us but instead because we have no blood family the government is doing it to us.

You know it's funny how many people on here are against abortion and then turn around and come into the adoption page and tell us we should be happy to be alive but then they at every turn wonder why we want this and why we think we deserve that. you know we didn't ask to be here but we are. the least anybody can do is give us the info to stay that way. but instead they leave us in limbo so that our gutts can stay tied in knots with what if? just because we got adopted by a family doesn't mean anything. because, once you become an adult there is a whole host of problems and things that you need to know but that nobody thinks your intitled to. it just doesn't make sense to me.

Answer 6

i think they should.has an adopter it is only right that the children know eventually.we have not hid the word adoption in this house and our 7 yr old tells ppl she came from another persons tummy then came to live with us.

Answer 7

Yes, I do think that adoptees should have open records, although I think they should remain closed until the adoptee is 21.  By then, they are generally adult enough to handle the information that they may find.  

Some states have intermediaries to set up contact between natural parent and adoptee.   That is a good alternative, but alas, costs the state money so likely wouldn't get support of politicians.

Finally, and I just have to add this, that a birthparent that develops a medical problem is unable to get this information to the child or even to the a-parents. This is very troubling, especially when you've been told by the agency that the information would be forwarded on. Do we have to keep building on lies?

Answer 8

How do I request the opening of a sealed adoption record?

In order to open the sealed file, send us a certified copy of a court order granting the opening of the sealed adoption file. The court order must come from the same court that granted the adoption. The order must identify the correct sealed file by including the registrant's name as it appears on the current birth certificate, the registrant's date of birth, and the registrant's place of birth. The fee for a sealed file opening is $10.

to answer a comment at the bottom.  An adopted child's birth certificate lists their adoptive parents names as their parents.  I'm a single adoptive mother of 2.   I am listed as their mother, and the father is listed as "unknown".

I have both of my children's complete CPS files, therefore, they will not have to go through any hoops or courts to get the answers they want.  When they ask, I'll make the information available to them.

Answer 9

I think once a person turns , 18 they should be able to have all the info. They ahve a right to know who they are and where they came from .. I have two older brothers that just found my mother after all these years , it is great to be a complete family .

Answer 10

Thats a hard one. I went back and forth on this before answering, and this is what I came up with. I think adoption redords should be available to the adoptee at the age of 21. By this time, the adoptee will have a level head and make an informed decision to look at them or not. (18 is still a little young and nieve) I think the records should be available only to the adoptee, or with express written permission from them. As far as including the birth parents identity, I say yes to that as well to an extent. I would not expect the records to be updated with all the current info on whereabouts, but just the name and other info available at the time of adoption. So, yes I would vote yes for open adoption records for adopted adults. What a wonderful question, it really has me thinking.

Answer 11

Adoptees should have the same rights as 'real' kids.

We should have a right to know who our real parents are.

We should have the right to know where we came from.

We should have the rights when we turn into adults at 18.

Why should we be treated like children for the rest of our lives?

Closed records has NOTHING to do about protecting first parents - it is in place so adoptive parents can keep the dream alive that their little adoptees are really their own.

In reality - we are here to care for our children - real or adopted - and once they become adults - they should be free to love and live as they please.

Those that are not adopted take so very much for granted.

I, as an adoptee, want to know who I look like, who I act like - things that genetics made of me.

Adoptive parents that block open records - do it only for selfish means.

OPEN RECORDS FOR ALL ADOPTEES - NOW.

Answer 12

I am an adoptee, and one of my senior projects as a college student was introducing legislation to the state of Delaware that was loosley based on New Zealand's adoption laws: Birth mothers place a veto on their records that is good for and renewable every ten years.It seems like a great way to protect the mother's rights and still give hope to the adoptee.

Unfortunately, I was born in Texas, the WORST state for the adoptee. I discovered two summers ago that my mother perished in a fire back in '90. All those years spent on the internet searching for her were in vain. I hold the adoption home from where I came responsible for my not knowing. Upon the death of any part of the adoption triad, I think someone somewhere has some kind of right to know who they are and where they came from.

Answer 13

Of course we should have access to our birth certificates!! The biggest point is that the ability to search should be in the hands of the adoptee and not in the hands of the adoption agency.

The biggest reason for this is that adoption agency fail to follow through, or charge fees for searches that would take a very small amount of time if an adoptee had access to their bioparents name.

If a bioparent doesn't want to have contact with their child, they are free to ignore their child, or tell their child they don't wish to have any contact. Just like all human beings.

It's just silly.

Answer 14

I think that adult adoptees should have unrestricted access to their records including their birth certificates and adoption files.

Answer 15

no because some people who give up their kids don't want to be found and if they have access to the birth certificate they can use it to look up the bio parent.  I do think they should have a complete family history of diseases and stuff but not with knowing who the bio parent is.

Answer 16

I  vote YES. Every other person in the U.S. has a right to their birth certificate and hospital records. Why should I be denied that right just because I'm adopted. I was in state care for months and I'm not allowed to have a copy of the records they have regarding MY LIFE.

And before someone pipes up and says adoptees do get a birth certificate - I'm talking about my original REAL birth certificate that was issued when I was born - not an amended one issued a year later that says my adoptive parents gave birth to me.

Answer 17

yes I THINK ADOPTEES SHOULD HAVE ACESS TO RECORDS. IT IS NATURAL IN MANY CASES TO CHECK ON ILLNESS TO SEE IF THERE IS AN INHERITED TENDENCY FOR A PARTICULAR DIEEASE THAT MIGHT SAVE  AN ADOPTEES ' LIFE.

Answer 18

my answer is yes we deserve and rights to access,im adopted also....

Answer 19

If an adopted child wants to know more info, they should have the right to have access to it.  I have two adopted children, their answer is only to find out medical histories.

Answer 20

The medical history bit cracks me up.  

#1 how many kids don't know who their dad is, do we demand every man in submit a DNA sample so their kids can track them down? So the kid can access dad's medical history?

#2 I know who my mother and father are, that doesn't give me the right to access their medical histories -or their families medical history.  What they wish to share with me they do, but it isn't like I can demand them.  I think parents should be encouraged to provide that info, but as I said it isn't a law.  And yes it would be nice if it were able to be updated from time to time.  

#3 My mom put a boy up for adoption, if she hadn't told me would I somehow have the right to know?  Should I have the legal right to access those records afterall he is my half brother?  Should I have access to his medical info?

I imagine that adopted children can get copies of their birth certificates as they need them for ID, as for what is listed under mother and father.  WHO CARES?  Would it make any difference if my father's name wasn't on the birth certificate?  Would that make him any more or less of a father?  No, he is who he is.  And if he had walked out, or both parents had left knowing their names wouldn't make a whole lot of difference.

Answer 21

I nearly died of a genetic disease because the doctors didn't know what to look for. I still have permanent damage.

I am legally prohibited from practicing my religious heritage, because I am legally prohibited from knowing what it is.

Growing up, I didn't know what I looked like. There was no one in my life who mirrored me. I honestly could not pick myself out in a photo, unless I remembered where I stood or what I wore.

As a young adult, I didn't dare think about having children without any medical/genetic information on myself, which means I felt that I didn't have the right to get married.

Anyone who has never been prohibited from knowing their own identity like this has no idea what it means to be denied basic human rights for life.

Answer 22

Do you mean medical records, history of their birth, i.e. location, age of birth parents, etc?  I do think adopted children, at age 18, should have all this information available if they want to get it. I adopted a child in this country and I remember his birth mother saying that she woujld register in her state so he could find her someday if he choses. He is old enough now and I would have no problem with it.  He knows who mama is....me, the one who has raised him and loved him unconditionaly for nearly 2 decades.  But the birth mother is his clue to his genetic history and shes gave me the greatest gift on earth.  He is not very curious but I am glad that, when he is married and wants kids of his own, he wil have access to medical records if he needs them.

Answer 23

yes absolutely i was adopted at birth, i have two children and i am an epileptic. i have no idea if it was hereditary not to mention by which side. i have no clue as to what my children need to watch out for (i.e. cancer kidney disease etc.) so yes totally should have access to everything. it is not just the adoptee that is effected by not knowing, but the whole family.

Answer 24

The downside of open records is that pregnant moms-to-be who don't like the idea of the pregnancy ever coming back to "haunt" them may opt for abortion instead.  If they're undecided on their choices, I would not like to tip the balance in that direction.

Answer 25

I have put up my 2 daughters for adoption back in 95 and then again in 96 [long storyit was for their own good]anyway if something were to happen to me [their father is dead] then yes i would want their records open to them so they could find out about me and where they came from and why i put them up for adoption and all that so i would vote yes it is important issue to all that are involved don't you think?

Answer 26

I believe everyone has the right to know where they came from.

Answer 27

Ok not an adoptee, I'm a natural mom.

Yes, of course adoptees should have unlimited access to their records. It's a civil rights violation that their records are withheld.

And for the person who's spouting myths about us natural moms, MOST of us do actually want to be reunited with our lost sons and daughters.