Under North Carolina law, the state keeps secret the original birth certificates of adoptees. Advocates want the legislature to change that, but their effort pits them against some long-held beliefs. Read more
Above is a link to a great article on the status of adoption records in NC. I’ve been asked before about my opinions and I’m generally in favor of allowing a process to let adoptees access their records. I do know some adoptees who have found their birthparents and had very negative situations occur but those are rare. Do we protect the minority of birth parents who placed in the past and wanted a close adoption to help the majority who wish for a chance to reconnect in the future? Do we make this law retroactive or just from now on? A lot of questions need to be answered before I have a firm opinion on what to do here in N.C in terms of legislation.
I do think at the very least they can start asking birth parents with adoptions NOW if they would like to be in a database that can be available for their children to contact them when they are 18 or older. I would also like to see an option for the adoptive parents to access that information before the child is 18 so they can re-establish contact if they want or if they need medical info.
I did find it odd that Hayley’s birth certificate was re-issued with us as her parents and her former birth certificate destroyed from ALL government databases - destroyed was the specific word used. I tracked down her first birth certificate, getting the local county that issued it to fax it to me before they pulled it from their records. Could there be a way to create a different birth certificate that includes both the child’s birth parents and adoptive parents? Being listed on her birth certificate is strange, I did not give birth to her and I don’t pretend that I do.
According to the article, the bill in progress no would “would set up a way for birth mothers to request contact or say they do not want it. The bills would allow birth parents to file a form, and could indicate they want contact only through an intermediary. The bill would allow for a birth parent to provide medical history whether or not a reunion is wanted.”
That sounds excellent to me. Rep. Margaret Dickson from Fayetteville is the main sponsor of the proposal. If you are in N.C., you might want to email her from her site (margaretdickson.com) and let her know your thoughts.
April 26, 2007 at 5:43 pm
As chairwoman of the NC Coalition for Adoption Reform the organization which brought forth this legislation, thank you for this blog.
You say that you were suprised when your daughter’s birth certificate was issued with your names on it, and the former one was destroyed from all databases. Well, so is her amended one. The only place which holds a copy of that birth certificate is the Bureau of Vital Records. It will not appear in the birth certificate books at the register of deeds in the county where you live.
This is how a woman I know which we call a LDA - Late Discovery Adoptee found out she was adopted. She went to look for her birth certificate in the county she lived in. It wasn’t there. She was 53 when she found out.
Medically this can be a disastor. All of these years she and her now grown children have been putting down the adoptive parents medical history.
As far as birthmother confidentiality, if legislators truly wanted to protect the birthmother all those years ago, they would have sealed the records upon relinquishment, not finalization of adoption. If a birthmother relinquishes and the child is never adopted, that person has access to their original birth certificate.
But to let everyone who may be interested in knowing, our house bill HB445 will be heard next Tuesday May1, 2007 at 10:00am in the Legislative Building.
Thanks again for the Blog.
April 27, 2007 at 1:47 am
Roberta - do you have a press release or something on the bill that people can do to contact their local representatives? I’d love to run that.
I’m still curious to see the final wording of the plan after it comes out of committee but I do know anything has got to be better than nothing. People deserve the truth and that is the bottom line.
As for the birth certificate - we were told it would not be available in her county of birth but would be in her county of adoption - Wake County. Perhaps the social worker was confused and meant the Vital Record bureau. I still have the contact info of the staff member from the Wake County office that handled the adoption finalization, who was a delightful woman who was adopted from foster care herself. I might have to drop her a line and see if she knows how the county works here.
Thanks!
April 27, 2007 at 10:34 am
Contact me at my email address on the website and we can discuss a press release. Thanks
May 3, 2007 at 2:41 pm
We are asking for all help. Our legislation was heard this past week in the House Judiciary I committee. Oppostion included the National Council for Adoption, and the NC Family Policy Council which of course voice all of their concern for the birthmother and her confidentiality.
This week they will hold the vote on our legislation. We are compromising an increasing the age to 21. However we need a strong showing of people to be at the legislature for this bill vote. Even though they will not be able to speak they may be able to corner Representatives and talk with them regarding this. Please let us know if you can be there on Tuesday in support of this very important legislation.
Roberta
nccar@mindspring.com