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Open
Records Debate: Why Adoption Records CLOSED
Listening to politicians, "b---mother privacy" is the
reason universally given for keeping North American adoption records.
Natural parents are thus portrayed as the obstacle to open records,
or the lobby who demanded that records be closed, to "get
on with their lives" and prevent being found by their lost
children. Nothing could be further from the truth.
"The
general public assumption seems to be that, from the beginning,
adoption records were closed in large part to protect the birth
mother's identity. But that isn't the case at all" - Professor
Elizabeth J. Samuels, Baltimore School of Law.
The
Lobby for Closed Records:
"Secrecy
in adoption probably has its roots in a desire to
protect the child from interference from the biological parents
and to hide the often illegitimate circumstances of the child's
origins." - Ministry
of Communications and Social Services Report by the Committee
on Record Disclosure to Adoptees (1976)
"Legal
adoption in America only came into being starting in the second
half of the 19th century, and at first all adoption records
were open to the public. When they began to be closed, it was
only to the general public, and the intent was to protect adoptees
from public scrutiny of the circumstances of their birth. Later,
as states began to close records to the parties themselves,
they did so not to provide lifelong anonymity for birth mothers,
but the other way around -- to protect adoptive families from
possible interference or harassment by birth parents."
-
"How Adoption in America Grew Secret - Birth Records Weren't
Closed for the Reasons You Might Think", Washington
Post article by Professor Elizabeth J. Samuels, Baltimore
School of Law.
"Keen
disappointment and sometimes heartbreak exists when the adopting
parents learn that even after a legal adoption an official birth
certificate cannot be issued without reference to the original
name....We have suggested a provision be made for the issuing
of a form corroborating the registration
and omitting the original name." - The 33rd
Report of the Superintendent of Neglected and Dependent Children
for 1926
Adopters
and Reunions:
“Most
social workers actually assured the adoptive family that the
birth mother would never reappear.” Adoption Reunions
– Michelle McColm (1993)
“Adoptive
parents often feel betrayed by the prospect of government sanctioned
reunion registries. …The moment the infant was placed in
their arms, he or she belonged to them alone: hence the rationale
behind altering the birth certificate and retaining the original
in a sealed file.” Once Removed: Voices From Inside
the Adoption Triangle – Redmond, Sleightholm (1982)
“I
still can’t get over the fact that my daughter found her
birth mother. We were told that we would never see her or have
contact with her.” Adoption Wisdom – Marlou
Russell, Ph.D. (1996)
"No
good is ever accomplished, and much heartbreak and disillusion
for everyone [is] caused by leaving open any avenue by which
a natural parent can reappear, uninvited and unwanted .
. .""How to Adopt A Child" - Ernest and Frances
Cady (1956)
Why Are Some Adopters Insecure?
This
insecurity is simple in its root: people who adopt have taken another
mother's child as their own. And they know instinctively that if
something can be taken, maybe - just maybe - it can be "taken
back."
As
well: even if they believe that the mother "gave her baby away,"
a nagging fear might still persist that indeed she is not a cold,
heartless monster who could give away a precious baby. And If they
do believe that she "made a decision" (and few women actually
had two options to decide between, hence no decision!), there is
the fear that she might "change her mind."
“It
is always risky for the adopting parents to deal directly with
the parents or through an inexperienced third person.
It leaves the way open for the parent to change their
minds and to try to get their child back. Even when the law
stands in the way of this, the unpleasantness can ruin the happiness
of the adopting family and the security of the child. The good
agency stands like an impenetrable wall between the two sets
of parents, keeps them from ever knowing each other, keeps them
from ever making trouble for each other, and thereby protects
the child.” Baby and Child Care – Dr. Benjamin
Spock. (1959)
Who's Keeping Records Closed?
"
Hearing the arguments of the sealed records supporters, one
would assume that legions of birthparents would have rallied
to try and uphold their promised and desired confidentiality.
Or perhaps legions of adult adoptees would organize to send
a message of their happiness with their silenced status.
Well, that didn't happen. Instead,
it was the Edna Gladney Home, an agency in Fort Worth Texas,
who went to its supporters, comprised mainly of adoptive parents,
to raise money for a lobbying organization to defeat the open
records provisions of the Model State Adoption Act.
" The result was the National Committee for Adoption. The
NCFA and at its helm, William Pierce, convinced Senators such
as John Tower and Jeremiah Denton to argue that open records
threatened adoption, and when Reagan took over the White
House, the original Model State Adoption Act had been supplanted
by an anemic version that did away with the open records provisions,
as well as many other reforms. The shortened act formed the
basis of the Uniform Adoption Act currently making the rounds
in several state legislatures.
Are you a mother who lost her child to adoption?
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