Whether to keep adoption records closed or open them to adult adoptees is an issue that ignites strong emotional responses and opinions from both sides of the debate. If you are a member of the adoption triad—adoptees, birth parents and adoptive parents—the status of adoption records in your state may affect your life.
History
Adoption records being sealed, even from those directly involved in the adoption, is a relatively modern occurrence. According to Professor Elizabeth J. Samuels in her paper “The Strange History of Adult Adoptee Access to Original Birth Records,” prior to 1940 adoption records in the U.S. were available to interested parties including the adoptee upon age of maturity. It was not until World War II that officials began to push for complete secrecy in order to protect adopted children from the stigma of illegitimate birth. Only the states of Kansas and Alaska never sealed adoption records.
Features
Adoption records contain an adoptee’s original birth certificate. Depending upon the state, it may also include whatever information is available regarding his natal parents and the circumstances of his birth—including the termination of their parental rights. The record may contain copies of the paperwork his adoptive parents filed at the time of the adoption including the final adoption decree signed by the judge overseeing the procedure. If the adoption took place after 1960 in a state other than the state of his birth, the adoptee’s record should include a copy of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children paperwork.
Geography
Although political reformers and adoption activists have sought to change the laws since social worker and adoptee Jean Paton first published her book, “The Adopted Break Silence” in 1954, as of 2010 adult adoptees only have unrestricted access to their birth records in the states of Oregon, Alabama, New Hampshire, Maine, Alaska and Kansas. However, by the summer of 2010, legislation to open adoption records was pending in New Jersey, Illinois and California.
Controversy
Like most social-reform issues, the adoption records debate has staunch advocates on both sides of the coin. Those who support the status quo of sealed adoption records argue that opening adoption records would violate the right to privacy of birthparents or adoptive parents. Proponents of open records counter that closed records violate an adoptee’s right to know her own identity and personal history.
Expert Insight
In 2007, the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute published a report concerning the issue of adoption records written by Madelyn Freundlich, the former general counsel for the Child Welfare League of America and past associate director of program and planning for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Two of the main findings of the report state that adoptees are the only people in the U.S. that are, as a class, denied the right to view their own birth certificates, and “denying adult adopted persons access to information related to their births and adoptions has potentially serious, negative consequences with regard to their physical and mental health.”
References
- American Public Human Services Association: History of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children
- Child Welfare Information Gateway: Collection of Family Information
- Adoption Quarterly: The Strange History of Adult Adoptee Access to Original Birth Records
- Bastard Quarterly: A Short Personal History of Adoption Reform
- Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute: Restoring a Legal Right for Adult Adoptees
