Sealed Adoption Records

Question: Should Sealed Adoption Records Be Opened by Anyone? I was hunted down by my birthmom because my SEALED adoption records were opened. It was my understanding that once she relinquished her rights, she couldn't find me. lo and behold, she did. since that time, i've learned about "search angels" who somehow are able to hunt people down. I often wonder how they do that -- do they have and SHOULD they have access to personal databases? do you think identity theft could be a problem? yes, i use the term HUNTED DOWN because i certainly did not want to be found. i was happy with my life and, although my parents were deceased, glad to have been raised by them. I was not the kind of adoptee that had a hole in my life or a need to know and i felt it was an intrusion that the very woman who relinquished all rights to me could come back and find me. it would've been one thing if i was on a mutual registry but it's totally different when you're going about your life and *bam* it happens. I got on some websites and have learned that people do not take NO for an answer. they contact you again because you must be in shock or don't you think you owe it to her? she just wants to know how you're doing...etc restraining orders aren't the answer either when you cross jurisdictional lines .. .and if there's no threat of bodily harm, can you still get one? why should a person have to when they didn't invite them into their life?

Answer: The sealing of adoption records is a good policy (in Texas all records are sealed)...However, having worked in the courthouse, I can tell you that there are necessary reasons to UNSEAL adoption records. Most commonly I encountered people needing their adoption records unsealed for medical history reasons (their doctor needed to know if heart problems etc ran in the family). These are legitimate reasons. Typically however, it was the adopted child unsealing the records to find their biological parents. Although uncommon, by analogy, I can foresee the situation where a biological parent finds their child to tell them about health issues they recently discovered that might run in the genes. Most judges would unseal the records in this situation. If you didn't want to be found, I am sorry that they found you; but honestly, there are legitimate reasons that records are unsealed (that is why they are merely sealed and not burned and destroyed...sealed implies that they might later be unsealed by judicial order). While there is the risk that people will unseal records for abusive purposes, generally this is not the case. So while it is unfortunate maybe that youw biological parents unsealed the records, sometimes it is necessary. The system cannot be perfect and people will get through it that more than likely should not, but we allow this to happen so that those who need to unseal records can [And just as an aside, not anyone can go and unseal records. Different jurisdictions have different rules, but generally it is limited to the biological parents, adoptive parents, adopted child, and adoptive siblings...and they must show cause.]

Question: what are some benefits of having sealed adoption records? best gets ten t-y its for a term paper...

Answer: Selfish adoptive parents get to sleep better at night knowing their adoptling cannot search for their first parents until they are over 18, and even then, it will be difficult. And YES, there are some selfish ap's out there. Research has shown an overwhelming majority of first parents do NOT want anonymity. It's for the ap's. In rare cases, if there was severe neglect and or abuse, the records are sealed, but it is unusual in cases of newborn adoptions.

Question: Question Regarding Sealed Adoption Records...? My great grandfather was adopted in the state of Pensylvania. He passed away a couple of years ago, and we do not know who his birth parents are. It has always bothered me that I don't know that side of my heritage. I'm not really sure about the laws regarding adoption records, but I'm almost positive that they're sealed. However, are they sealed forever? The adoption took place about 80 years ago. Is there any way I could find out the records, even if it took legal action? Any help is appriciated. Thanks so much!

Answer: Here is a link to each states current adoption records laws - http://adopteerights.net/nulliusfilius/?… Click on the applicable state - and perhaps you could start with the contact details there to find if these same laws applied for your great grandfather. Sorry - I haven't any other ideas. Good luck.

Question: How do I petition the opening of a sealed adoption record without having to hire a lawyer? I am needing to get permission from a court to open my sealed adoption record and a lawyer charges me 1,000 plus court costs.

Answer: Well, that would be the $1,000 question. The reason he charges that much is because of the expertise he has about these cases. Petitions can be very complex and you will not get a complete answer here.

Question: Hand up who knows why adoption records are sealed? This is a test. Birthmother privacy is the WRONG answer The genuine reasons please preferably citing sources, thanks Edit: LITTLEJAINA - cite your sources please. I find no evidence of what you say happening in the 8 States in the USA with open records (2 which never sealed them at all, ever) I'm interested to know with what evidence you can back your statements

Answer: It is to cover the tracks and the money an adoption agency gets. You just have to read The Baby Thief to understand that one.

Question: Are adoption records sealed from Judges also? My sister is now pregnant. The baby's father is threatening to get custody of the baby and plans to use the fact that my sister gave a baby up for adoption years ago to win his case. Can he do this? If he does go to court, can the judge open an adoption record or is it closed forever?

Answer: First of all, they will not look down on your sister for giving a child up for adoption. Obviously at the time she was unable to care for it, so wanted the child to have a happy and healthy life. Second of all, good luck to the ex if he is going to use that as a fighting tool. Unless he can prove your sister is an unfit mother, they will proabably grant joint custody to both parents. And thirdly yes a judge can look at the adoption records, but it dont matter because that is a totally didferent case right there. I would be surprised if the ex can even use that as leverage at all. Just because she gave one child up for adoption doesnt make her a bad person......she just gave that child the chance to have a happy and healthy life. is that so wrong? No i think not. Tell your sister to just stay on the sraight and narrow and the ex can do nothing to her.

Question: What is wrong with sealed records until a certain age? Why do so many people protest the sealing of adoption records until the child is old enough to make his/her own decisions? Gershom and others are very devoted to this cause, and I can appreciate that. Am I missing some vital piece of information that will make me understand why they feel confusing a child during his/her formative years is a good thing. I have every intention of providing my adopted child with any information that I have available, but only once I feel that it won't emotionally harm him/her. There is no reason for him/her to know the country/city of birth, the birth mother's name, or anything else. I will provide any medical information that has been provided to us through the adoption agency, when appropriate. Having the original birth certificate serves absolutely no purpose. This child will be raised as if he/she were born to us biologically, and that is all that is important. To clarify, nowhere did I suggest or recommend keeping any medical information that I have from my child or his/her doctor. I appreciate everyone's input. Some of them seem to have crossed a line with insults, but there are some great comments here. I am not asking anyone to agree with me. Gershom, I appreciate your input. Please don't report me for giving you and your position respect. If everyone agreed with me, or with you, there would be no need for this site. Babygirl, Your situation is an example of the real problem. We have been putting together a box of information for our child since the day we were chosen by the birth mom. That box will probably be given on the twelfth or thirteenth birthday. We have a letter writing relationship with the birth mom. She has rights as well, and we will not provide any information that she doesn't want provided. Once the child is 18, we will provide her address, and then they can correspond. Does everyone agree that the birth mom has the right to her privacy? If she doesn't want information provided about her personal life (medical is a no brainer), doesn't she have that right?

Answer: You DO NOT have biological children. Your child has a biological family. These are FACTS. Your child (much more savvy than you are, or will be, I assure you) KNOWS this. By hoarding this information, you are creating a VERY unhealthy situation psychologically for your child. It's referred to as 'spitting off' by adoptee & author Betty Jean Lifton. You can listen to her talk about it on theadoptionshow.com. Without acknowledging your child's life before your presence in it, you are creating a schism in your relationship with him/her. She will not ever really trust that you truly care about and respect her as a person. She will 'split' her personality into two, not like Sybil or anything, but she will learn, very soon, that there are 'safe' and 'unsafe' things for you to know. She will learn to only 'show' you what she wants you to 'see'. You will only be the 'keeper' of this information for a short time of her life. The tide is changing, and the closed system will die, just like most domestic adoptions. What do you hope to gain by lying (and withholding IS lying) about her birthplace for heaven's sake? If you lie more, she will be more YOURS? What you hope to achieve will backfire. She will pull more & more away from you, and know that your love is conditional, and your maturity is limited. THIS is why adult adoptees are here, LC. Becuase we want APs to know that adoption is very complex. You cannot will it to be anything other than what it is. I wish you and other APs/PAPs knew this BEFORE adopting. It's alot for anyone to process. You can either LEARN to respect and honor your little adoptee, or live in the 'as if' fantasy, that she is just like a biological child. She isn't, and she never will be. Why not ride along and see what blooms, instead of trying to CONTROL so much. Or underground she will go, and NEVER be yours at all, biologically OR emotionally.

Question: Do you think stories of opening formerly sealed adoption records will? make more potential birth mothers consider abortion? I have to wonder. The majority of folks on here think it is an adoptees right to know where they came from whether or not this was against the birth parents wishes. That's fine, everyone is entitled to an opinion, but I have to wonder if the worry over thinking their offspring may find them one day pushes some women towards opting for abortion. Shouldn't mothers who are just trying to do the right thing by getting their child raised in a better home (and not choosing abortion because they know it is not the child's fault) be at least given consideration to keep the records sealed?

Answer: Perhaps but it could also persuade a young mother to keep and raise her child. I wonder how many "birth mother's" initially want closed adoption but change there minds later and would want contact. Probably a lot. Closing doors forever is never a good idea

Question: For people who believe that adoption records should reamin sealed? If you were building a house, wouldn't you want to make sure that the foundation was secure? That is was up-to-code, and that the house that was to be built upon your foundation was strong enough to support your home? Then why do some people tend to minimize the importance of a past and a personal history to a human's sense of self? Wouldn't it stand to reason that any human being would be more emotionally healthy knowing where they came from to understand where they were going? The last word of my question should say, "remain".

Answer: Also using the house analogy - I'm a person who knocked on the door of the current owners of my grandparent's house in Pittsburgh. They were kind enough to give me a tour of the entire house and the back yard where her flower gardens had been. What a gift. Actually, I didn't knock on the door - I drove by and they were outside so I thought I'd introduce myself and tell them of how much this house had meant to me. They did not question why this was important to me. Some people just have a sense of compassion and understand that life isn't just about them. Of course it makes sense that most human beings have the intellectual and natural curiosity to want to know where they come from. There is no reason for the records to remain closed in my opinion.

Question: Do You Condone Sealed Birth and Adoption Records for Adoptees? If so, in what other areas of life do you defend discrimination against a select group of society? ETA: interesting RB - Isn't what you suggest still discrimination? whilst other people enjoy freedom of association in the 'Land of Liberty' selected Adopted people are opressed and denied the rights others are granted, under some presumption of harm KWIM Great point Sly. Our mothers deserve better :( ETA RB see Shelly & Amy's answers. Get it now?

Answer: No, I don't support sealed records. I actually don't think birth certificates should be amended at all, honestly. A birth certificate is a record of birth, and it doesn't make sense to me to alter that after the fact. I think children should have a birth certificate and a separate certificate of adoption. If either party (parent or child) is truly a danger to the other, a no-contact order or restraining order is possible. I don't think those rare circumstances justify restricting access for everybody.

Question: If parents die and the child is put up for adoption are the records sealed by default? Doing a research paper but can't seem to find this info. Thanks if anyone knows. Right Flying Monkey but if the parents wouldn't be alive to give consent (regarding the Identifying Information)then would the child be able to find out who the parents were or would it be a legal battle?

Answer: All adoptions, regardless of why, include sealing the original birth certificate and replacing it with naming the adoptive parents as the mother and father (except where the adoption is by a same sex couple or a single parent). An adoption after the natural parents have died is not an exception, the original birth certificate is still sealed and an amended one is issued.

Question: Should adoption records be sealed? should adoption records be sealed to the children and biological parents?

Answer: I think it depends on the terms of the adoption. The adoption I have with my birth son's family is very open. But at it's best, adoption is very hard and some birth mothers handle it very differently then others. While I can see both sides of it, I understand the need of closure and privacy for the birth parents. They/she made the hardest decision of her life for the betterment of her child and her child's life - and sometimes she doesn't want to revisit that part of her life. So if it is a closed adoption, then yes, the records should be sealed and only unsealed with the permission of all sides involved - no matter who wants them unsealed! I can't imagine not knowing my son and him not knowing about me.

Question: Sealed records - where to get them BEFORE the adoption is final? Gershom has explained to me that records are sealed (forever) in the state that I live in. We are adopting in November - who do I need to contact to get these records - medical history - original birth certificate and anything else that I am forgetting? I have already contacted the county attorney - but was wondering if I could get some heads up from you guys incase this is the wrong path and also am I forgetting any records that he may like to have when he is older?

Answer: check your inbox :) I just sent you some information, I hope it helps.

Question: Adoption records sealed for life? I am trying to get my records unsealed i spoke to a Solicitor in belfast ireland he told me i cannot get them unsealed and they will never be unsealed. why i needed my records unseal is because i want to trace my family and you prove who i am. all i have is my birth record and my passport. my birth record is blank with just my name what can i do? nothing i guess cheers 9 minutes ago

Answer: If you can convince a judge that it's vitally important for you to see those records, then they can be unsealed. Otherwise, just move on with your life. You can still live a very productive life without knowing this information.

Question: Are Sealed Adoption Records an abomination to a free society? In a free and democratic society, basic, human, God-given, constitutional rights, promised to all Americans, are denied to all ADOPTED ADULTS who do not have access to their own original birth certificate, or court and agency records concerning themselves And mothers who surrendered babies are forever left to wonder what became of their child! Is this the kind of 'freedom' you value? Please, take abomination within it's context - to a FREE SOCIETY ETA Sure, Kiss my Asswipe, I'm sure people said the same to women who wanted to vote too LOL

Answer: Yes. a·bom·i·na·tion –noun 1. anything abominable; anything greatly disliked or abhorred. 2. intense aversion or loathing; detestation: 3. a vile, shameful, or detestable action, condition, habit, etc

Question: Are all adoption records sealed in the U.S.A? What states have open records and what states don't? I was born in IL, and I tried to get my OBC, but I was told I had to get my b-mom's permisson. And if she was dead(and she is), i would have to go to court and get permission. I was wondering if all records were sealed. Thanks!

Answer: It is a little complicated: 8 states have open records: Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Kansas, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon and Tennessee. Delaware has a disclosure veto, so that first parents can fill out a form resealing the records. Maine opens records in 2009. Tennessee has a disclosure veto for cases of rape or incest. In several other states, there are blocks of years for which the records are unsealed. (If, for example, you were born before 1965 in Ohio, you can access your records. Otherwise, not.) "As of September 2007, legislation had been introduced in Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas intended to provide adult adopted persons with access to their original birth certificates and/or other information in their adoption records." There are changes in the works. Not all of these are "clean" bills - a "clean" bill is one that does not include a disclosure veto. (Indeed, I know Minnesota isn't "clean." Ohio is "clean" with respect to a disclosure veto, but sets aside funding to encourage more relinquishment.) But the there is an air of change about all of this. As you can see, though, Illinois isn't on this list anywhere. I'm sorry about your situation.

Question: should adoption records be kept sealed? does anyone have information on adoption records being sealed thanks

Answer: No. Every human deserves access to their own factual record of birth and the truth of their origins and ancestry, equal to that of non-adopted people Any argument against this is simple defense of discrimination

Question: Are adoption records sealed in the UK?

Answer: An adopted person can ask about their natural birth parents at the age of 18,normally social services would have handled the adoption so they would be the people to approach. If it was a private adoption through an agency rules may be different. The adoptive parents would know how things were arranged.This information only applies to UK adoptions.

Question: Sealed Records Question for adopters & adoption agencies? At what age do you believe adoptees should have access to their own birth records? Many adoptees in 44 USA states (myself included) have explained at length how it is a violation of their rights that adult adoptees are still being denied all of their original birth certificates and records containing their original identities. How do adoptive parents and for-profit adoption agencies continue to justify this practice today? Overall, very good answers so far! I extended the deadline on this question to give plenty of time for answers, particularly from agency reps or adopters. As I suspected, their silence on this issue is quite telling. There is clearly no just rationalization for the sealing of adult adoptees’ records and they know that. In fact, the adoption industry and adoptive parents are clearly the only ones who could benefit from the continuation of this practice and none of them will go on record as stating why they believe it is fair or what perceived benefit there is to adult adoptees. By the way, KP, you do not have to be an adoptee to work to change laws. YOU could also do something to help change them. There are state legislators in your state as well. Snowillow: Rights to records & Searching are 2 separate issues. Adoptees may or may not want to search.Regardless, their birth info is still their birthright that nobody should take away from another human.In the past, young mothers weren't given the option of open adoption.Yes, it may be well-intended to shield others from possible disappointment.The fact is we all, in one way or another, experience disappointment sometime in our lives. You are also basing your premise on the assumption that this will turn out to be disappointing for the adoptee.Only he/she can make the decision for him/herself when/if they're ready to search.To suggest that it's better for him/her to not find out at all because you believe they won't be able to deal with the truth, is patronizing.Nobody has a greater right to an adoptee's history than the adoptee him/herself.It should be up to to them what to share w/others,not vice-versa.What may seem disappointing to outsiders may actually bring needed closure.

Answer: HA! people have been "speaking up" for YEARS!! And we're answered with amendedments to the bills, and blackouts, CI's, Contact Vetos. Why are records sealed? because the govt. has inve$ted alot into adoption. They are profitting too much each year to take a chance on those profits disappearing. If records were opened nation wide, how many adoptees would discover just how FALSIFIED their information REALLY was. How many would discover that their mothers were coerced out of their children? That they wanted them? They would discover just how WRONG the adoption industry REALLY is. Besides THAT, state legislatures are caught up on the idea that first parents who have surrendered chidren were at one point promised secrecy which is just a load of poo! Many weren't, some were, and even though the handful were, another unlawful promise of secrecy is NEVER a LEGIT ( pun intended to all of us illegits ) reason to violate another human beings HUMAN RIGHT. This is one of the reasons the United States ( in my opinion ) hasn't enacted the United Nations Child Rights Treaty. It clearly states that : Article 7 1. The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and. as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents. 2. States Parties shall ensure the implementation of these rights in accordance with their national law and their obligations under the relevant international instruments in this field, in particular where the child would otherwise be stateless. for a complete account of the UN convention on rights of the children vist here http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/pdf/crc…

Question: Why should adoption records be kept sealed?

Answer: Because the rights and privacy of the parents should be respected.