Why Aren't Searchers Arrested Then?

Question

People are saying that first mothers have a guaranteed absolute right to annonymity. If that were so, how come a searcher can search and find relatives and/or go to the Court and petition to have the record opened?

Confused

Answer 1

Nothing is guaranteed any more and getting records open is now possible with some effort

Answer 2

What 'people are saying' is incorrect.  First mothers have no right to anonymity. Never did.

Searchers aren't arrested, even if they are searching for a minor child because it's perfectly legal to search.

Answer 3

This is EXACTLY what I was wondering, Heather.  Thank you for asking it.  Those people who, for whatever reason, mistakenly attribute a right of anonymity (not privacy, mind you, but a right to remain anonymous) to first mothers should support our arrests for violating this imaginary right.  Probably, they would like this to be a right so as to continue the systematic discrimination against adoptees that treats us as separate and unequal.

Answer 4

I would think only the most depraved of natural mothers would actually consider pressing stalking charges against her own offspring.  I don't fall into that category.  I don't want to replace the woman who raised her as a mom, but I certainly have no prob about her searching for me, especially since she may want to know about her father, and I can provide that information.  Friends, sure.....but mother/daughter.....no that can never be.  I didn't raise her and I do feel that would be disrespectful to the people that did raise her.  But I have no right to privacy or anonymity.  She has a right to know from whom she came.  End of discussion.

Answer 5

I am a birth mother and would love for my son to contact me. I have no say in the matter as I gave up my rights when I signed the papers. I gave my son up to give him a better life than I could ever have given him. I think about him all the time. He is 18 now.

Answer 6

There is no guaranteed right to anonymity.  We have a free association society.  Unless a person has a restraining order against him/her, then s/he is LEGALLY free to make contact with anyone s/he chooses.

Answer 7

There is nothing in the sealed records laws against searching or finding.  All that is promised is that the records are sealed and can only be opened by court order for "good cause".  In some states it is against the law for an attorney to reveal the name in a sealed record.  I don't know of any laws that would prevent an adoptive parent from telling what they know or conducting a search.

Unless a searcher is illegally getting access to a sealed record - there are no laws to prevent searching, finding and making contact.

What is really interesting is when all of the possible parties involved (adoptive parents, birth parents and adoptee) would like to have the records opened - they still need a court order for "good cause".  As one reunited adoptee said - You can show up at Vital Records with your birthmom on one arm and your adoptive mom on the other - and you STILL can't get your original birth certificate.

Answer 8

I don't believe that the majority of birth mothers would want that guaranteed right, and I've never heard of one who pressed charges. They are forced into it.

Answer 9

If people are saying that first mothers have an absolute right to annonymity, upon surrender, they're wrong!!

The states have given mothers more privacy than they were ever promised by enacting contact vetos, and state registries which guarantee them more privacy than any written law does in our entire country. None of which were promised at surrender.

If they're saying that laws guarantee annonymity, they're wrong. Its as simple as that, they don't know the laws and they haven't done their homework.

Answer 10

I've wondered about that too.  I have heard for decades that people sometimes get access to their records by less-than-legal means, usually involving money.  I've always wondered why no one has ever been prosecuted.  

My bsibling's birth certificate lists me as "previous birth to mother...now dead."  Our bparents knowingly provided that false information.  Shouldn't they be prosecuted?  Shouldn't my bsibling's birth certificate be corrected?

These are the questions that make me want to beat my head against a wall....the law is the law--except for us adoptees.

Answer 11

I think this is one of those opinion questions, where all your going to get is just that...opinions.

So for what it's worth... here's mine....

I don't think the birthmother should have those rights, if they do indeed have them. As the adoptee, I should have more rights to be able to look her up with ease. I'm sick & tired of the secrecy in adoption. I am the only one in the whole adoption process that wasn't given any choice in being adopted. I was stripped of my true heritage, I wasn't allowed to know my family medical history, I was taken away from everything that any other citizen is given by birthright.

Answer 12

First mothers have no legal right to anonymity, but sealed records are legally sealed.  So searching, in many states, IS risking arrest, no matter who does the searching.  

As for petitioning the court, your chances depend on the judge and (again) your state of birth.  There have been cases where life-saving transplants were considered "not a good enough reason" to open the records.  That's not just confusing, it's mind-boggling.