Legislation

Hopeful News for Oklahoma Adoptees in Search

/ V.L. Brunskill / Leave a comment

Oklahoma adoptees are one step closer to open records! On March 12, 2012,  Bill B 2634 passed the Oklahoma House with a final affirmative vote of  93-0.

opensourceway/Flickr.com

According to an article at newsok.com,  if passed into law, the bill will “allow adult adoptees the right to obtain original birth certificates and let birth parents fill out a contact preference form that would tell adoptees if they’d like contact, no contact or contact through an intermediary.”

Once passed, this legislation would also give birth parents the rights, to deny contact, and  fill out “a medical and social form to fill out to give to adoptees when they obtain their original birth certificate.”

While I do not agree with the opt-out option for birth parents (since we  have no ‘opt out’ option with regard to being adopted), I do see this as a giant step in the right direction. Bravo to the The Daily Bastardette Blog, for rallying everyone to get the bill passed in the House!

To keep tabs on the progress of this bill, visit this page at the  Oklahoma State Legislature site.

Australian Mothers Recall Nightmare of Forced Adoptions

/ V.L. Brunskill / Leave a comment

As I searched for my birthmother, I always assumed that the choice to give me up was hers. I also believed that her motives, while off-kilter due to a lack of life experience, were basically good.  I was correct, and while my birthmother suffered every year on my birthday, she accepted the repercussions and responsibility that came with her decision.

Lars Plougmann/Flickr.com

Imagine though, the birthmother who is given no choice. Imagine a world where young, unmarried women are forced to give away their babies, denied pain medicine, and made to recover from giving birth in a cold veranda, while married mothers rest in a warm, safe maternity ward.

An article this month at ABC NorthCoast Australia, offers heartbreaking, first-person accounts of forced adoptions in Australia during the 1960’s.

It is unclear from the article, whether or not there is an ongoing investigation into Australian adoption practices, or if the piece is simply meant to reveal the evil practices of the past. Either way, the women’s recollection are heart-wrenching.

Note- I am looking for more upbeat adoption news. I promise. However, some stories deserve to be told again and again.

West’s NEED for Children Brings Pain to Nepal’s Families

/ V.L. Brunskill / Leave a comment

In Nepal, child trafficking is a national crisis. Children are being purchased from poor parents for as little as $15, and sold to children’s homes in Kathmandu. Parents are persuaded that their children will have a  better life in, and sell them in hopes of a bright future.

Drnantu/Flickr.com

According to an article at RT.com, there are, “around 15,000 children living in orphanages in Kathmandu.” At least 500 orphanages exist in the area, and only eleven  are regulated by the government. Conditions in the orphanages are treacherous, with care givers rationing food, and beating children.

So what makes these children so valuable a commodity, that they’re being rounded up by the thousands?

The need/demand for adoptable children in the West is causing this human tragedy. A family abroad in willing to pay $25,000 for one child. Therefore, children who already have parents are being purchased, and forced to live in slum orphanages.

To make matters worse, the Nepalese government currently “has a freeze on child adoption to Western countries due to rampant cases of abuse, fake documents and false statements.”  So the children are no longer with their biological parents, and have no hope of being adopted by the rich Western family their parents were promised.

Horrible, deplorable, despicable… all  of these words understate my outrage.  I am not faulting Western families for wanting children, but I wonder how this demand for babies is playing out in other countries.  Surely, Nepal is not the only country where crooks recognize the opportunity to make money from selling kids to the West.

Adoption must become a centralized process, with an international group overseeing it. Of course, we don’t even have a centralized system for adoption in America, (every state has its own rules &  baby brokers still exist) so standards, legislation, and protective processes for worldwide adoptions are as likely as Bigfoot knocking at my front door!

When a North American or European family dolls out $25,000 to adopt a child internationally, what is the human cost?

RI Adoptees over 25 Years Allowed Original Birth Certificates

/ V.L. Brunskill / 13 Comments

Adoptees searching in Rhode Island take note. It was announced yesterday in the Providence Journal that any adoptee over the age of 25 can now request a non-certified copy of their original birth certificate.

TheGirlsNY/Flickr.com

According to the article, the certificates will not be released until July. However, the health department is announcing the opportunity now, so that adoptees can send in forms early.  There will likely we a deluge of applications, and the sooner you mail in your request the better.

Information on the new law, which takes effect on July 1, 2012, can be found on the State of Rhode Island, Department of Health site.  The forms for requesting your original birth certificate are available here as a Word document . The cost of the request is $20.00.  From the site instructions, it sounds like you can choose between in-person pickup and mailing of the document.  Only the adoptee themselves may receive the document. No other persons will be granted access to the certificate.

Of course, a birth certificate does not guarantee that you will find your birthfamily. However, you will have the correct names to get started.  Also, if your birthparent has filed a contact preference form, you will be sent that along with your birth certificate. This could include a contact address.

Kudos to RI legislators, as this is a giant step in the right direction! We can only hope that many more states follow suit.

UPDATE: One of our readers was kind enough to give additional information. He wrote, “Another valuable piece of information for RI adoptees to note is the RIARG group, RI Adoptee Resource Group, which provides support and resources for local adoptees in a variety of ways. This groups can be found at the following link: https://sites.google.com/site/riadopteeresourcecenter/home.” Please see the reply below by rhodeislandadopteeresourcegroup.

Russia to Suspend Adoptions to US: System Needs Monitoring

/ V.L. Brunskill / Leave a comment

The adoption system in America is a wonderful idea, especially when it successfully places orphaned/needy children (no matter their origin) with caring, loving, forever parents. However, the system requires monitoring, and an adequate screening process for adoptive families.  Wanting a child, and having a big enough bankroll ( $8,000-$40,000) should not guarantee you a child.

Archer 10/flickr.com

Many believe that prospective adoptive parents are carefully screened, and subsequently monitored to assure the health and well-being of the adoptee. Not so,  as evidenced in the recent announcement by Russia to temporarily suspend adoptions to the USA. Note that the ban specifically targets America!

It’s wonderful that someone is finally taking note of the lackadaisical placement of children in American homes through adoption, and the astounding  rate of adoptee abuse.   Bravo, Russia for taking notice of what Americans ignore!

The article “Russia Considers Suspending Adoptions to US” at ABCnews.com reports that Russia wants an “accord to better measure the welfare of adopted Russian children in America.” This comes after a Tennessee woman put her Russian born adopted 7-year-old on a plane back to Russia, due to his violent behavior, and last November’s  death of Nathanial Craver,  a 7-year old Russian  adoptee killed by his adoptive parents.

Russia is asking for regular visits to the homes of adopted children in the United States, and psychological testing of adoptive parents.  Shouldn’t this be the standard for adoptions of ALL children, from ALL nations?

You can read more on these cases here:

The New York Times: Russia Attacks Sentence of Adoptee’s Parents

LI Families: A 2006 case of adoptee Russian adoptee killed in US

About.com:  Review of several cases of Russian adoptees killed by US parents

Washington House Passes Open Records Bill with One Big ‘IF”

/ V.L. Brunskill / Leave a comment
underclassrising.net/Flickr

underclassrising.net/Flickr

The good news in this Oregon Live article, is that a bill that would allow adult adoptees to obtain their original birth certificates, was passed by the Washington State House, and is off to the Senate for approval.

The bad news, is that the bill contains a clause that would deny adoptees their birth certificates, ‘IF’ the birth parent has filed an affidavit stating that they do not want to be contacted.

Why should a birthparent be allowed to ‘opt out’, thus denying an adoptee pertinent birth records?  This is the age old questions for adult adoptees, why are the birthparent’s rights more important than the innate right to know your identity, and lineage?

I don’t recall signing away that right, what about you?

 

 

Sealed Birth Certificates: Violation of Civil Rights?

/ V.L. Brunskill / Leave a comment

One year ago, Adam Pertman, author of the  book, “Adoption Nation: How the Adoption Revolution is Transforming Our Families – and America,” wrote a ‘Huffington Post‘ article comparing the withholding of adoptee’s original birth certificates, to women’s suffrage, and the fight for African American equal rights.

Click to purchase at Amazon.com

Pertman wrote, “it’s about providing legal and moral equality for a segment of our population that is not generally perceived as deprived of any rights: the approximately 7 million Americans who were adopted into their families. And the right denied to most of them is so basic that it almost sounds like a joke: access to their own original birth certificates.”

I agree, wholeheartedly. As an adoptee who found both birthparents, and openly shared this with both adoptive parents, I am still denied my original birth certificate.  Who are they protecting?  In New York, where my adoption took place, records for all traditional adoptions are sealed. This is the case in most American states.

Adoptees should have the same right to information as everyone in America. We did not sign any papers, approving the withholding of information, and should not be held accountable for the actions of adoptive and birth parents, especially once we reach adulthood.  While so many, fight hard for American Civil Rights, our minority is expected to accept the indignity of a stolen identity with a shrug and a smile.

Pertman, a non-adoptee, concluded in the Huffington Post article,  “We should care, and we should feel outraged, for the same reason so many men supported suffrage for women and so many white Americans joined the civil rights struggle — because we should find it offensive when any minority group in society is deprived of equal rights.”

Bravo, Mr. Pertman, Bravo! You can learn more about the man and his Pulitzer-nominated work at the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute site. Pertman is Executive Director.

Reaction to Virginia’s “Conscience Clause”

/ V.L. Brunskill / Leave a comment

In a recent post, I expressed my outrage over the recent adoption clause passed by the Virginia Senate.  A child welfare group also opposes the “conscience clause” and voiced its opinion in this Virginia-Pilot article.

Will Weaver/Flickr.com

The group is opposed to the clause, because it, “sanctions discrimination by groups that get public money to place children on behalf of the state.”

Now that the issue has been brought to the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, we can only hope that it gets a proper squashing!

‘Conscience (anti-gay) Clause’ for Adoption passes Virginia Senate

/ V.L. Brunskill / 1 Comment

Ok, calling this ruling a ‘conscience clause’ is ridiculous.  This adoption clause is a thinly disguised rule to stop adoption by gay couples, and further stigmatize gay children.

Photo by lupzdu / flickr.com

Catholic Charities would rather leave a child in foster care for life, rather than place them in a loving home? Is that Christian?

The concience clause should require all agencies to do better background checks, and home studies. Too many children are placed into abusive homes.

Wake up legislators. I would rather have a loving gay family,  than an abusive one.