NEWS
Articles on 3/14/2006 Workshop
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Maine bill on adoptee birth records sparks emotional
debate
By CHLOE JOHNSON Staff Writer Sunday, March 5, 2006 Foster’s
Sunday Citizen
Who owns a birth certificate?
That was the question Maine legislators put before citizens this week in Augusta
at a public hearing on a bill that would let adult adoptees access their
original birth certificates.
The records have been sealed in Maine since the 1950s. Adoptees say that policy
denies them knowledge of their medical and personal histories. The bill, LD
1805, is similar to one enacted in New Hampshire last year. It also gives birth
parents the chance to indicate whether they prefer to be contacted by the
children they gave up for adoption. New Hampshire's state office of vital
records reports that more than 785 people have requested their birth certificate
since the law was passed in January of 2005.
Recently, twin boys in Maine met for the first time after one had been adopted
as an infant, said Maine State Rep. Jim Hamper, R-Oxford. The first time they
hugged, the slightly older brother said: "It's been a long time."
Hamper's adopted son wore a black shirt during the reunion. He passed a photo of
the reunion to members of the Joint Judiciary Committee during the hearing and
said: "The one in black doesn't have access to his birth certificate. The
one in white does." Someone handed Mary Ellen Therriault a tissue after
Hamper's son spoke. The Oxford, Maine, resident was adopted from St. Andres Home
for Unwed Mothers in Biddeford, Maine. She has been searching for her relatives
for more than 20 years.
She voiced her reaction as opponents of the bill testified. "Easy for you
to say," she said under her breath. "It's not your life."
Catherine Robishaw, of Falmouth, Maine, also was adopted from St. Andres Home.
She said adoptees should have access to their birth certificates to learn about
their medical histories.
A volunteer researcher helped her get information about her birth mother, who
had died of cancer at age 35. Robishaw got regular tests as a result and
detected the same cancer when she was 35.
"To this day, I credit the knowledge of my birth mother's cause of death as
saving my own life," she said.
Robishaw is a co-founder of Access 2006, the organization that wrote the bill
and contacted lead sponsor Maine Rep. Gerald Davis, R-Falmouth.
"Genetic information saves lives," Davis said.
One type of cancer runs in his family, he added. Maine Rep. David
Farrington, D-Gorham, said his wife was adopted, and not knowing her medical
history keeps them from feeling secure about their children's health.
"Why should Maine continue to punish children," he asked, "just
because one parent happens to be adopted?"
Others said everyone is entitled to their birth certificates.
"When you talk about your birth certificate, you mean the one certifying
your own birth," said Neil Hulbert, a lawyer from Woolwich, Maine.
He said the law discriminates against some adoptees and denies equal protection.
"Either everyone has the civil right, or it's not a civil right," said
Rep. Janet Allen, R-Barnstead, at the hearing.
She was adopted and got her birth certificate for the first time when New
Hampshire opened its records.
Allen and others who followed said the sealing of records was intended to
protect adoptive families and adoptees, not birth parents. She added that birth
records are closed when children are adopted, not relinquished, and adoptive
parents can decide to keep the child's original name.
Marc Mutty, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, said he
opposed the bill because it takes back the confidentiality promised to birth
mothers. A better way should be found to obtain medical records and arrange
mutually consented reunions, he argued.
"Unfortunately, this is an imperfect world, and some situations surrounding
an unplanned birth place a birth mother in a position where she feels her
identity must remain unknown," Mutty said.
Adam Pertman, executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute in
New York City, warned the committee not to give too much weight to compelling
stories, because they can come from both sides of any issue. The bill is not
likely to decrease the number of adoptions, he said, because most birth mothers
prefer to have some contact. Many who wanted anonymity, he added, change their
minds over time.
Paul Schibbelhute, president of the American Adoption Congress, agreed.
"New Hampshire is clearly an example of the success of passing adoptee
access legislation," he said.
Adoptees who conduct their own searches often contact birth parents without
knowing the parent's preference about being contacted, he added. The contact
preference form in Maine's bill, he said, would balance the right of adoptees to
receive their birth certificate with the right of birth parents to maintain
privacy.
Others, including the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault, expressed concern
for those who were victims of rape or incest. The group was in favor of a
preference form, but urged the inclusion of a provision for sealed records when
birth mothers don't want to be contacted.
Bobbi Beavers, an Access 2006 co-founder from South Berwick, put her son up for
adoption about 40 years ago after she had been sexually assaulted.
"A stranger robbed me of my dignity and my virginity," she said.
Still, she added, she had a responsibility to her child to provide information
about his past. She called making that contact a healing process for her, and
she has been advocating adoptee rights for ten years.
Beavers said opponents had noted that adoptees might not respect a birth
parent's request not to be contacted, but responded by saying: "Why do we
want to criminalize adoptees before the fact?"
One birth mother warned that eliminating confidentiality would prevent others
from choosing adoption over abortion. She said she still had chosen an open
adoption and maintains contact with her child.
"We make this decision out of love," she said. "We want the best
life for our children."
An adoptive mother who spoke after her said her daughter was interested in her
birth mother at an early age, but it did not threaten their relationship.
She said the adopted child planned to go door-to-door to find her birth mother.
She quoted the girl as saying: "I will recognize the sound of someone's
voice."
The Judiciary Committee is
scheduled to discuss the bill during a work session in the Maine State House on
March 7 at 2 p.m. The committee could vote on whether it ought to pass or
recommend further study. If the committee approves the bill, it will proceed to
a vote in the full House.
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Lewiston/Auburn Sun Journal - David Farmer <dfarmer@sunjournal.com>
Published
: Saturday-January 28, 2006
Don't allow law to hide the truth
Many pieces go into making us who we are as people.
There's the environment in which we live, the people who share their lives with us, the choices we make and the biology of whom we come from. All of that input - and much more - is part of the stew of our personalities.
For adoptees, Maine allows part of the broth to be strained away, censored. Current law does not allow an adult, who was adopted, access to an original birth certificate which names the biological parents.
A bill, L.D. 1805, pending in the Legislature would give adult adoptees the same access to their original birth certificate as any other person in the state. The proposal is carefully crafted to protect the privacy rights of birth parents, while meeting the desire of adoptees to know more about their origins.
Well-intentioned people sometimes construct elaborate lies to protect their families, and especially their children. But denying the truth is a hurtful road to take, wrought with emotional pitfalls that can be difficult to overcome.
Opponents of the bill are concerned that people would be less willing to place children up for adoption if their identity could one day be exposed. The decision to offer a child for adoption must be heart-wrenching, but no more so than the alternative of abortion.
In the handful of other states that have passed similar laws, there has been no appreciable decline in the number of adoptions or increase in the number of abortions that can be attributed to the change.
The bill allows birth parents to attach a directive to the birth certificate that defines the terms of any future contact with the child. The parents maintain exclusive power over the relationship.
Time was when adoption carried a certain social stigma. Adopted children often had the truth hidden from them, their past censored. The intentions were good and the argument noble: It doesn't matter who your birth parents are as long as you grow up in a loving and supportive home.
The truth does matter.
It's tough to imagine another scenario where people would be denied access to their own history or where society would allow the creation of misleading or fake "official" documents meant to obscure facts.
L.D. 1805 strikes a careful balance between the rights of an adult adoptee and the rights of the birth parents. It does not impose some Oprah-esque reunion, or demand a changed relationship between adoptive parents and child.
The truth yearns to be spoken. Will lawmakers continue to censor it?
Bill would give adult adoptees access to birth certificates
By CARA RUBINSKY Associated Press Writer February 26, 2006, 7:56 PM EST Newsday.com
HAMDEN, Conn. -- Jerry Kristafer
will never forget sitting across from the New Jersey social service
worker who held the key to his past.
She produced a manila folder containing the identity of his birth parents. And then she told him he had no right to see it.
Now Kristafer, a talk show host and program director for WELI-AM radio
in Hamden, is speaking out in favor of legislation that would give
adopted adults born in Connecticut access to their birth certificates.
Currently, adopted adults can only access their original birth
certificates if they have a court order. Otherwise, they can get only
amended records, which do not list their birth parents.
"You grow up, you want to find your roots and you can't," said
Kristafer, who has a good relationship with the parents who adopted
him. "I was not at peace with myself. The void was bigger than myself."
A similar law took effect in New Hampshire last year, and Maine is
considering one. Oregon, Alabama, Alaska and Kansas give adoptees over
18 access to their birth certificates. Delaware and Tennessee also
allow access, but with some restrictions. In Vermont, original birth
certificates are available to people over 18 if adoptions were
completed by July 1986.
The bill also would allow birth parents to submit forms indicating
whether they wish to be contacted. They could also fill out health
history forms.
The Connecticut chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union opposes
the bill, saying parents who have given their children up for adoption
since records were sealed in 1974 did so assuming their identities
would remain confidential.
"By going back on their promise and making that information available,
I think that it will create some significant problems for a system that
has really prided itself on confidentiality," said Roger Vann,
executive director of the Connecticut ACLU.
Vann said he has struggled with the issue on a personal level because
he is also adopted. But he said privacy concerns are paramount.
"We think that birth parents should always have the option to choose
whether their information should be released," Vann said. "At the
beginning of the process, when a child is being put up for adoption,
you ask the birth parents whether they want their information to be
sealed or unsealed."
Sen. Edward Meyer, D-Guilford and co-chairman of the Select Committee
on Children, which raised the bill, said his committee heard compelling
testimony from both birth parents and adopted children.
"We had adopted children who don't know who they are," Meyer said. "We
heard from people saying that there would not be contentment in their
lives until they found out their identity."
Among them was Kristafer, who more than 20 years ago spent countless
hours playing detective to track down his birth parents. When he found
them, he learned he is half Hungarian and half Irish. He has his
mother's hands and his father's build. His ancestors lived in an Irish
castle.
"These are all basic things we have the right to know," he said. "To be
told you don't have a right to that, that's just not right."
Kristafer had seven years to get to know his birth father, who died 15
years ago. He's still in regular contact with his mother, who was
thrilled to see him when he showed up at her door. He also tracked down
siblings. A few weren't interested in having a relationship. But he has
no regrets.
"Did I find the perfect family? No," Kristafer said. "But that's not
what you're searching for. We're not seeking another family or to make
up for lost time. We're just seeking the truth."
Adoption ID Barrier Challenged in Maine
NEW HAMPSHIRE RESIDENTS TO BE HONORED AS “ANGELS IN ADOPTION”
ACCESS 2006 FORTH MEETING
ACCESS 2006 forth meeting
was a picnic. Joan and Sandy Beal graciously opened their beautiful home for
ACCESS 2006
on July 30th.
The day was
perfect with lots of good food, clear skies, warm temps and great friends.
Progress continues to move forward with an exchange of good news about the
proposed bill. Support ACCESS 2006 by
joining and you too will
share in all the good news!
ACCESS 2006 HAS THIRD MEETING
ACCESS 2006 - OBC for ME
Falmouth Memorial Library, 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM
June 11, 2005
Meeting Agenda
We welcomed 21 Supporters & 3 Channel 8 news people.
Everyone introduced themselves and the news team filmed for 45 minutes.
You can find out what's going on if you join ACCESS 2006 now. We look forward to
meeting you. JOIN HERE
ACCESS 2006 AT THE OLD PORT FESTIVAL
Voice of the People - Adoptees Deserve Right to Know - 5 Letters Published
Should State Open Adoption Files?
column: Nancy Grape
Portland Newspapers
ACCESS 2006 Has Their Second Meeting
Falmouth, ME, Saturday, April 30, 2005, Access 2006 can proudly say they have grown in numbers. There were 22 in attendance at this meeting. Introductions were made and strategies are forming. Overall membership continues to increase as this grassroots effort begins to get noticed. The next meeting will be June 11, Sat. 10:30AM-12:30pm at the Falmouth Memorial Library.
Adoptees seek access to keys to their pasts
APRIL 19 PORTLAND PRESS HERALD STORY
Organization Formed to Allow Adult Adoptees in Maine Access to their
Original Birth Certificates
Falmouth, ME, Saturday, March 26 2005, a group of 15 adoptees, birth parents, adoptive parents and adoptee spouses met to kick off a campaign to change Maine’s adoption law. This grassroots effort called ACCESS 2006 is dedicated to passing legislation allowing adult adoptees born in Maine access to their original birth certificates. In the state of Maine an adoptees original birth certificate is sealed after the Final Adoption Decree has been made. Adoptees are prevented by law from obtaining a copy of their original birth certificate, which has been sealed by court order. Members of ACCESS 2006 believe that Maine adoptees have been denied the human right that all other residents of Maine have and that is to go to the vital records office and get a copy of their original birth certificate. It is their history, it is their origin and they have the human right to that information.