Virginia removes Court order to access #OBC

VIDEO:
https://www.dcnewsnow.com/video/changes-for-virginia-adoptees-seeking-birth-certificate/11992617/

A new Virginia law eliminates the need for adult adoptees to have a court order to request a copy of their original birth certificate, according to the Virginia Department of Health. (VDH)

Adoptees were formerly required to secure a court order before accessing their original birth records, but House Bill 301 changes that.  The VDH says a copy of these records can be requested by submitting an application, proof of identity, and the required fee to the Virginia Department of Health Office of Vital Records (OVR).

A Contact Preference Form can be filed by birth parents, where they indicate whether they wish to be contacted, prefer no contact, or request contact through an intermediary.

For more information on obtaining Virginia vital record documents, visit the VDH Office of Vital Records or call the Vital Records Call Center at 804-662-6200.

We Knew This Was Coming

Roughly 200,000 children who were adopted overseas now at risk for deportation from US, lawyers say

International adoptees are terrified they will be caught up in Donald Trump’s ‘mass deportation campaign’ — and some may not even be aware they don’t have citizenship

Over the past 80 years, American parents have adopted a total of more than 500,000 children from abroad — some kidnapped from their biological parents by unscrupulous adoption agencies.

But some of those parents never got around to actually obtaining citizenship for their children, leaving tens of thousands who have spent almost their entire lives in the U.S. but have no legal status.

"Most immigrants know from the very beginning what they have to do to gain legal status, but many adoptees have never questioned whether or not they have it, until now," Minnesota-based family law attorney Mónica Dooner Lindgren told The New York Times in a recent report shedding light on the problem.

"The Department of State website says that a U.S. valid passport is sufficient to prove citizenship, but that is not preventing agents from detaining adoptees."

READ:  

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/ice-deportation-international-adoptees-citizenship-b2944206.html

FINALLY!

 

‘A Connection to Who You Are’: Georgia Lifts Decades-old Restrictions on Adoptee Birth Certificates

Georgia is now allowing adoptees over the age of 18 who were born in the state to secure copies of their original birth certificates.

A bill taking effect July 1 will allow adopted Georgians to learn more about their origins, including where they were born and the names of their biological parents. 

With the law’s passage, Georgia has become part of a growing movement to grant adoptees access to their original birth records.  Since 2019, 16 states have loosened prior restrictions, including New York, Minnesota, Connecticut, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Vermont and South Dakota.  

 

Read: https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/a-connection-to-who-you-are-georgia-lifts-decades-old-restrictions-on-adoptee-birth-certificates/261487 

MINNESOTA BIRTH RECORDS opened JULY 1

 I filed this week and paid $13 - now I wait...   Trace

More information about the new law, as well as required forms and fees, are available on the Minnesota Department of Health website at www.health.state.mn.us/people/vitalrecords/adoption.html.

You can file online as well... I wrote a check and mailed it. 

Earlier post: https://blog.americanindianadoptees.com/2024/05/reminder-minnesota-adoption-records.html 

 

Adoptees United (Access to our sealed adoption records and OBC) UPDATE

 

Our bill watchlist lists all the pending bills that impact adoption or adoptee rights work, whether state or federal. We update the list during legislative sessions, in addition to our core work of tracking priority adoptee rights legislation.

One Gone, Eleven Still Kicking

Virginia’s equal right bill seemed well on the road to House passage and then—poof—it went down, the victim of tight legislative deadlines and a last minute “re-referral” to where it started: in committee. Advocates are working to determine what happened (aides who worked closely on the bill don’t yet seem to know) and how it can be addressed next session. Plans are already underway for 2024—as are plans next year for next-door neighbor Maryland.

That means it’s one state gone with eleven states still kicking, including Texas, which saw a bill filed yesterday, quickly celebrated by the Texas Adoptee Rights Coalition.

New Bills. Minnesota now has an active equal rights bill in the Senate, with a companion bill likely introduced toward the end of the week. It is probably the best opportunity to pass an equal rights bill in Minnesota in at least two decades, led primarily by the Minnesota Coalition for Adoption Reform.

AB13 in Wisconsin has been filed. It is the companion bill to SB15, which was introduced last week and assigned to a relatively friendly committee.

South Dakota has a bill that would eliminate the court process that is used today to obtain an original birth certificate , and Georgia’s SB64 is awaiting hearing in a committee that is stacked with prominent supporters.

Adoptees United is a national nonprofit organization with an unwavering commitment to equality for all adopted people. More information, including our board, position statements, and programming are on our website at adopteesunited.org.

 

What can an adoptee do? I want my #OBC

These adoptees are Native Americans and opened their adoptions. That should give you hope.

 

By Trace Hentz (blog editor)

As adoptees, we all face the same questions: How do we open our sealed files and how do we find out who our tribal nation is and when can we meet our relatives?

The first place to start: KNOW that state where the adoption took place. What is their law governing your rights to your own adoption records? LOOK

Second: Get your non-identifying (Non-ID) from the state where you were adopted. Non-identifying information includes birthparents age and (in recent years) medical history at the time of the child's birth; their physical description (height, weight, eye color); heritage (religion, national origin, race); number of other children, and whether they’re adopted. More detailed data is collected describing your birthparents, not adoptive parents. 

Do not be discouraged if you will need to get a court order and pay to get your adoption file, in many states this is the law... The states that are closed do not make it easy.

I found out in my own search that none of this is easy -- but it can be done. 

PLEASE READ: https://blog.americanindianadoptees.com/search?q=court+order+to+open+adoption+

 https://blog.americanindianadoptees.com/search?q=court+order+to+open+adoption+

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS: VISIT:  https://adopteerightslaw.com/

Adoptee Rights Law Center PLLC
Gregory D. Luce
PO Box 19561
Minneapolis Minnesota 55419
T: (612) 221-3947
E: info@adopteerightslaw.co

Luce has created an Adoptee-Driven Law Center:

Original Birth Certificates

Some states recognize adult adoptees' unrestricted right to obtain a copy of their own original birth certificates. I represent those who are denied that right.

Citizenship

Intercountry adoptees may not have received United States citizenship—or may have trouble proving it—even after being adopted in the U.S. decades ago. That's wrong. I advocate to correct it.

Personal Information

Adult adoptees are entitled to their own personal information, which may include information that is in an agency, court, or other locations. I help adoptees get what's rightfully theirs.

The OBC: Data, Information, and Maps

10	unrestricted
21	compromised
20	restricted
51	All 50 States + DC

HISTORIC: Gov. Cuomo signs bill giving adopted people in NY their original birth certificates #NAAM2019

November 14: Gov. Cuomo signs bill giving adopted people in NY their original birth certificates

My daughter (center) with her daughter, my mother
and me. My family. 

As on January 2020 individuals born and adopted in New York will be able to have a copy of their original birth certificates with the names of their biological parents, if so listed.

What a simple statement of fact.

How long it has taken to write those words. For me, nearly a half century.

Many of you already know this because it's been all over Facebook and Twitter and even the eleven o'clock news last night. Yesterday evening when I got the news from my husband--Florence called  and she told him--when I was out having tea with a friend not related to this issue. At first, sitting on the couch in our living room, I hardly reacted to his words. I had been assured the signature was coming even though the wait was driving us all nuts, and so now, I thought, Oh, thank god, Cuomo's finally signed the bill.

keep reading

Adoptees Gaining Ground in the Fight to Open Birth Records

New York could soon join eight other states that recently passed legislation to help adoptees access to their original birth certificate.

READ: Adoptees Gaining Ground in the Fight to Open Birth Records - The Chronicle of Social Change

Ontario Adoption Records | Tips to Search

CLICK LINK

Adoption records opened for adoptees and natural parents
in Ontario on June 1st, 2009.

Records Prior to Adoption Act 1921

See Guardianship and Adoption Records – Ontario Archives
http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/access/documents/research_guide_223_guardianship_and_adoption.pdf

Once you have obtained the names of your natural parents or the child you lost to adoption, some useful tools for your search include:

• Searching for names using Google or Facebook
• Looking in online phone directories including www.canada411.ca and www.pipl.ca
• Your original birth record indicates where your natural mother and father were born. You can use the phone directory for that city to contact them or other family members to find out where they might currently be living.
• Henderson Directories (“City Directories”) for the city you were born in, or in which your natural parent was born, and for occupations.  They can also provide relevant older information on names, addresses, and occupations dating back to 1905. Many cities across Canada had these directories in addition to phone-books. Check local libraries and online sources (e.g., University of Alberta) for copies.
• Check adoption notices in the newspaper after date of completion of adoption.  Also check birth notices that do not mention the time of birth or doctors involved, these are sometimes disguised adoption notices.
• Check birthday wishes in the paper
• Peruse highschool and yearbooks for appropriate years
• Check Obituaries

Many use Facebook and other social media to locate relatives also... Trace

Latest Development in Florida #OBC Access

We are writing to update you on legislative developments in Florida, specifically around HB357/SB576, which we have all joined in opposing.

Earlier this week, Rep. Barry Russell, a Democrat from Broward County, filed a clean OBC access bill with a genuine contact preference form (HB821). We are obviously supportive of clean bills. We are, however, cautiously moving forward with support of HB821 at this time. It appears certain that the new bill was filed at the request or direction of Representative Richard Stark, the sponsor of the bill that we currently oppose. With the recent history of two widely different New York OBC access bills being simultaneously introduced and sponsored by the same legislator---with disastrous results for adoptees---we are concerned that the new bill in Florida is not genuine and is instead being used solely to obtain a hearing on Representative Stark’s bill. Representative Stark has represented that at least one committee assigned to his bill will not approve it without adding redaction provisions.

For this reason, we have expressed guarded support for the new bill. At the same time, we are working with Florida constituents to determine whether the current sponsor of the clean bill is committed to the bill and to adoptee rights generally. We will specifically ask him if he is willing to work with supporters in assuring passage of HB821 without discriminatory amendments.

The new bill, which does not have a required senate sponsor, can be found here. We will let you know more details once we talk with Representative Russell.

As always, thanks for your support!

Gregory Luce • Marley Greiner • Susan Friel-Williams + all 26 organizations in unity

Adoptee Rights Law Center
Adoptee Rights Campaign
Adoption Rights Alliance (Ireland)/The Philomena Project
ALARM Network
American Adoption Congress
Banished Babies of Ireland
Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization
Concerned United Birthparents
The Donaldson Adoption Institute
National Center on Adoption and Permanency
The National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
Saving Our Sisters
Trace L. Hentz, author, Lost Children of the Indian Adoption Projects series
Access Rhode Island
California Open
Canada Open
Equal Access Oklahoma
Equality4Adoptees (Texas)
Florida Adoption Initiative for Reform
Indiana Open
Michigan Open
Minnesota Coalition for Adoption Reform
Missouri Open
Nevada Open
New York State Adoptee Equality
Post-Adoption Center for Education and Resources (PACER)

From:

Gregory D. Luce

Adoptee Rights Law Center PLLC

adopteerightslaw.com

Twitter: @adopteelaw

The Evolution of Birth Certificates #OBC

It's November Adoption Awareness Month. Some call it Be-Wareness Month.

Adoptees are expressing the same concerns about descendants being able to connect the dots when researching their ancestry. Because two birth certificates exist in adoption, there’s no guarantee that the factual one would be released & therefore “searchable” by descendants. This has led many adoptees in the U.S. legally change their names to reflect biological relationships.
Here is a 2015 post about the Evolution of Birth Certificates.