How did this HAPPEN? Few adoptees know personal effects exist or how to reclaim them

 By TRACE L HENTZ  (stunned!!!)

I had no clue that Minnesota kept mother's gifts to their child lost to adoption!

What kind of system is this? REALLY?

YOU KNEW Minnesota opened all sealed adoption records July 1.  Yes, I sent in a check but sent the wrong form (and it costs $40) so I am reapplying to get my original birth certificate (OBC).  I have waited over 65 years to hold this stinking piece of paper in my hands. It will say my mother is HELEN THRALL. I know that. But it will be nice to have physical paper proof.  Many adoptees are not given access to their own OBC.

Here is the shocker: This story hit Minnesota newspapers this week. If you were adopted out of that state like me, the state has been holding mementos from mothers to give to their child given up for adoption. 

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  Where did they store all this stuff? Thousands, maybe a million babies were adopted out of Minnesota… What about other states? OMG!

 ‘Minnesota could actually be the leader in figuring this out’ - OH REALLY!?!

WHO KNEW? The change in state law — which went into effect on July 1 — has brought renewed attention to personal effects kept in adoption files. The agency which once placed children will now support adopted people in claiming these gifts.  WHAT THE HELL?

No one, including me, knew anything about this… I knew an adoptee who said her mother sent letters to the adoption agency in Mississippi to give to her but the adoptee never knew, and only got the letters years later, after she met her biological mom. Her mom told her she sent several.

 Personal histories, items can be claimed by adult adoptees from Minnesota’s DHS files

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/07/19/adopted-adults-can-claim-items-left-for-them-in-dhs-adoption-files

Permanency Supports Grant Manager Crystal Graves explains the concept of personal effects during an informational gathering about recent adoption law changes at the Minneapolis American Indian Center on July 11.

MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO

On a warm July evening, a group of fewer than a dozen people met at the Minneapolis American Indian Center to share information about how adopted adults can claim personal items left for them at the time of their adoption by their birth parents.

Ann Haines Holy Eagle searched and found her birth family many years ago and now advocates for Native American children and families, including fellow adoptees. 

Ann Haines Holy Eagle (center), Minneapolis urban representative for the Indian Child Welfare Advisory Council, speaks with adoptee advocate Sandy White Hawk during a gathering at the Minneapolis American Indian Center on July 11.  Ben Hovland | MPR News

“If I would have had something from my mom ... just to know that my mom loved me, you know, or thought enough to send something with me to fight in this world. It would have made a huge difference,” said Haines Holy Eagle. 

For the past several decades activists have pushed for access to birth and adoption records.  Last year, the state Legislature answered those calls, making state birth records available to adoptees for the first time.  

The change in state law — which went into effect on July 1 — has brought renewed attention to personal effects kept in adoption files.  The agency which once placed children will now support adopted people in claiming these gifts.

Haines Holy Eagle and members of the Indian Child Welfare Act Advisory Council, which advises DHS, first learned about personal effects kept by agency this past spring during a routine meeting.  She says they learned about items kept in storage for decades — items of personal value, including photos, family heirlooms and small keepsakes.

Haines Holy Eagle said she and others were taken by surprise.  

“We were just kind of shook,” said Haines Holy Eagle. 

Haines Holy Eagle and members of the advisory group invited DHS representatives to present that same information to members of the community.

Piikuni adoptee Kirk Crow Shoe smudges DHS employee Crystal Graves (left) with eagles feathers and sage during a healing ceremony at the Minneapolis American Indian Center on July 11.   Ben Hovland | MPR News

At the public event in July, adult adoptees let DHS staff know they’d like to approach the process not as a private matter, but as a community.  

Haines Holy Eagle said she’s prepared to use the wisdom gained through her personal experience to lead the process of claiming personal effects.  

She says the work should center on the experiences of adopted people in connection with their birth and adoptive communities.  

“It’s time for us to be at the forefront of our healing and truth and reconciliation,” said Haines Holy Eagle. 

DHS staff member Crystal Graves began her presentation to the community by explaining that she’s handled these personal effects going back 20 years.  Throughout the evening, Graves told everyone she welcomes input from the adoption community in re-thinking how DHS can help adoptees request their belongings.

She explained to the small gathering how adopted adults can make a request to claim their belongings — what paperwork to fill out and where to send it.  

Few adoptees know personal effects exist 

Adoptees have been able to recover personal effects for years. DHS says they have followed statutory requirements that mandate confidentiality of adoption records, and they say it’s likely most adoptees don’t know they might have a personal effect in their file.  DHS says only a few adoptees recover personal effects from their adoption files every year.   

DHS provided MPR News with general information about the personal effects associated with adoption files but declined to make a staff member available for interview.

The agency estimates approximately 7,500 adoption files contain personal effects — less than 10 percent of all the adoption files kept by the agency.  

The handwritten words “For-Get-Me-Not” appear in an Easter greeting card addressed to “Bobby” displayed on a table in the Minnesota Department of Human Services building in St. Paul. Photographed on July 5.  Ben Hovland | MPR News

Haines Holy Eagle says she believes it’s possible that DHS has held onto these personal effects because they prioritized the wishes of adoptive parents over those of adoptees.

“You want it to be respectful of the adoptive parents, you didn’t want to disrespect them because you want them to feel like this is my new start. This is my new family,” said Haines Holy Eagle.

DHS estimates about ninety percent of the personal effects associated with adoption files are photos and the remaining ten percent are family documents. 

DHS did allow MPR News to document a small number of personal effects in files over 100 years old. A black and white photo shows a baby in a pram. Another black and white photo shows a group of three siblings standing in front of a farm building. One of the personal items is a handcrafted Easter card. Inside is a hand pasted image of forget-me-not flowers, the signature page signed by the child’s birth parent.

Another item is a family document, an ornate baptismal certificate in the adoption file dating from just before 1920.

DHS points out the agency no longer places children up for adoption, following changes to adoption law in the 1980s.  Still, as a state agency, DHS receives adoption files from placing agencies that have closed.  DHS says its staff are still cataloging thousands of files, some of which contain still more personal effects.

DHS says it’s likely that current adoption placing agencies have adoption files, and those may contain more gifts.  

Seventy-three-year-old Lakota adoptee Pearl Brave Heart fills out post adoption search forms during the adoptee law informational gathering on July 11.  Ben Hovland | MPR News  PHOTO: Lakota adoptee Pearl Brave Heart, 73, shares the story of her adoption into a family of German descent as DHS employee Crystal Graves listens during a gathering at the Minneapolis American Indian Center on July 11. Ben Hovland | MPR News

‘Minnesota could actually be the leader in figuring this out’ 

One adoptee advocate says Minnesota could be the first in the country to help people recover their belongings. 

Attorney Gregory Luce is the executive director of the Adoptee Rights Law Center and sometimes helps adoptees obtain court orders to open their adoption files.   

“It’s taken 80 years to talk about personal effects,” said Luce. “[Adoptees] have become inured to this idea that you’re entitled to nothing.” 

Luce, who is also an adoptee, applauds the state for its renewed effort at helping adoptees claim their belongings.  

“It’s huge, because it didn’t take a court order to make them do this.  And so, Minnesota could actually be the leader in figuring this out.” 

The beginning of the work to recover these personal effects was marked with a ceremony held during the July meeting at the Minneapolis American Indian Center. An elder performed a healing ceremony first for DHS staff member Crystal Graves and then invited members of the adoption community to join. 

DHS says it will reconvene workgroups with members of the adoption community this fall.

Individuals interested in initiating a search can fill out the post adoption search form at the Foster Adopt Minnesota website.

STORY: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2023/08/04/minnesota-adoption-birth-records-policy-change

 

VIDEO https://youtu.be/88f4UVVcui4?si=l_dhZqX6-IOooaGz

 

• With Minnesota law change in effect adoptees can access original birth records
• Law change will unseal original birth recordsfor people born in Minnesota and later adopted
• People who were adopted, birth parents react to change in Minnesota birth records policy
• Adoptee reflects on Minnesota's new adoption policy, opening decades of family secrets

 

 

Caption: Fritz Scholder, “Dying Indian” (1968), acrylic on canvas, 27 x 40 inches (all images courtesy the Estate of Fritz Scholder and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York)  GO READ: https://hyperallergic.com/935167/fritz-scholder-art-of-non-belonging/

 

 

National Adoption Awareness Month #NAAM2022 #adoptiontraffickingmonth

 

Here's where we are in the US today. Vermont will become the 13th unrestricted state on July 1, 2023. https://t.co/60IH4RW4pF

— Adoptee Rights Law (@adopteelaw) November 4, 2022

 

MORE MAPS: here 

 

Poof! Starting today, all Massachusetts-born adopted people have a right to obtain their own preadoption birth records, no donut holes, no muss. Here's how it works and how to apply. https://t.co/bRpSTfta6I

— Adoptee Rights Law (@adopteelaw) November 3, 2022

Australia: "While we have recently marked the tenth anniversary of the NSW Apology for Forced Adoption Practices, adoptees are still calling for easier steps to have our fathers recognised, to help us connect with our culture, identity and families." https://t.co/ugOxliixSc

— Adoptee Rights Law (@adopteelaw) November 3, 2022

I think we need to rethink adoption. I’m boycotting National Adoption Month. It’s #adoptiontraffickingmonth pic.twitter.com/YZ1SoRKlNx

— Moses Farrow (@MosesFarrow) November 1, 2022

No More Stolen Sisters. ⚪🟡🔴⚫ #MMIW #MMIWG #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth pic.twitter.com/7uzmhdBm7J

— Ember Spotted Elk (@SpottedElk7) November 4, 2022

ADOPTEES: Petitioning a Court for Birth Records

We're excited to announce an upcoming online event that features adoptees who have successfully obtained court orders in their states to release their own records, including birth records and, in some cases, adoption agency records. Join us on Sunday, March 21 as I talk with Rudy Owens and Courtney Humbaugh about their experiences in seeking court orders to release their own records in Michigan and Georgia. We'll discuss the ins and outs of the legal process, whether or how to work with an attorney, and what it looks like when an adopted person seeks a court order to get his or her own birth and adoption records.

I'll also chime in on my own experience in the District of Columbia as well as what the process looks like as an attorney in Minnesota and other states. - Attorney Gregory D. Luce

The event is Sunday, March 21, 2021, at 1pm Pacific/4pm Eastern. Details and registration are here

 LINK 

Adoptee looking for birthmother wants access to OBC in Minnesota

Minnesota woman looking for birth mother wants access to birth c - KMSP-TV

By Trace Hentz



I was born in Minnesota and handled by Catholic Charities.

This story was me at age 22.

I bypassed the archaic laws and found a kind judge in Wisconsin who let me read my sealed adoption file. I could not keep copies of anything, of course. So I looked at the papers with young eyes, not even knowing what I was reading. I kept those notes and memorized them. Those two pieces of paper went with me when I moved. I still have them. (The pencil notes have faded now.)

I found my mother first, but it took YEARS to find her and ask her who was my dad.

So I have to ask Minnesota why would you not release my original birth certificate to me now? Why would you refuse me when I have met my birthfather who has since passed? And my birthmom Helen has passed too!

What gives Minnesota the right to refuse adoptees our own documents of identity?

Minnesota was one of the traffickers of babies, using the Indian Adoption Projects, as I wrote in the books Two Worlds and Called Home. They have plenty to hide, which is probably why they have not unsealed their adoption files.

Minnesota's adoptee access bill

-99.5% of MN-born adult adoptees would be able to receive their original birth certificates by request from Minnesota Department of Health Vital Records.

-The remaining .5% of adoptees who have an affidavit of non-disclosure attached to their birth certificate would have an appeal process through the court.

-Birthparents will continue to have the option of filing a non-disclosure. (Only 1 non-disclosure was filed during 2010-2014.)

-Birthparents will be able to state their preference for contact (“Yes, I would like contact”, “No, I do not want contact”, or “Yes I want contact, but through an intermediary.” This contact preference option has been added to many states that have recently passed access legislation and helps
the adoptee know if reconnection is desired and includes a birthparent’s contact information.)

For more information on the bill go to http://mnadoptreform.org/

Current Minnesota statutes: Access to original birth record informatio

Missouri? Are they next to open our adoption files?

Steven Hamblin says while he wouldn’t trade his life for anything, he wants to know more about where he came from.

JACKSON, MO (KFVS) -  Giving a child up for adoption can be a difficult decision for some birth parents.

It can also be difficult for some children when they grow up and want to reconnect with their biological families. However, that could change under one Missouri proposal.

Right now it's very difficult for adults in Missouri who were adopted as children to get their own original birth certificate.

"I look at faces. I used to look at yearbooks from SEMO,” Steven Hamblin said.

Hamblin was adopted at birth.

"My non-identifying information states that my father was a college student with an engineering degree,” Hamblin said.

He said while he wouldn't trade his life for anything, he wants to know more about where he came from.

"I want to search and find my birth family. I want to know what my identity is as far as German, Irish, whatever I might be,” Hamblin said.

He said access to his birth certificate, which includes his birth parents' names, isn't only about peace-of-mind but could lead him to more.

"It doesn't open up for my family medical history but it's a step towards being able to open your adoption records,” Hamblin said.

A bill going through the state legislature would make it easier to get that information.

Through an application process, House Bill 647, would put Hamblin's original certificate in his hands for good, but some say that has its downsides.

"This would even open up records for adoptions 30 to 40 years old when women at that time were told nobody will ever know about this,” Evelyn Beussink, the assistant director at Lutheran Family and Children's Services, said.

It's a move Beussink and agency director Leisa Blisset say could cause privacy issues.

"Could be crisis pregnancy maybe from rape so they don't want that information to get out,” Blisset said. They say they want to respect all parties involved in adoptions and know how emotional this issue can be.

"It could cause a lot of difficulties both the privacy concerns and the concerns about the trauma,” Beussink said.

As for Hamblin, he said it's not an issue of privacy but of rights.

"It'll be a sense of relief. Right now, the one I have is a Xerox copy and I can see the staple in the corner where my original is folded behind it,” Hamblin said.

There is another bill that deals with this same issue. Beussink and Blisset say they support House Bill 1112, which would allow adoptees their birth certificate with permission from their birth parents.

However Hamblin said that is not enough; that process is still too long.

SOURCE 

NOTE and COMMENT: HB 1112 would make it so the adopted person has to go through the same process that they do now to get their records. This means that thousands of adopted adults would get nothing when the court cannot find their file or the appointed searcher cannot locate the biological parent even though the adoptee is charged and average of $300-$500 for such a search. Adopted adults should have the right to their own information. If the biological parent chooses to Not have a relationship, then at least the adopted person would have closure and the chance to ask for Medical information: Comment from Heather Dodd

HBO 1112 is an agency bill that mirrors current law which does not follow best practices in adoption. HB 647 establishes that adult adopted Missourians have the same right to their original birth certificates as non-adopted adults. (That one is the one we need and want...Trace) 


**************MORE NEWS!

http://www.elkharttruth.com/news/indiana/2015/03/16/Indiana-Supreme-Court-hears-disputed-adoption-of-2-boys.html

Indiana Supreme Court hears disputed adoption of 2 boys

Indiana Supreme Court hears adoption case of 2 boys that pits grandmothers against each other

What's best for kids? Michigan adoption bills would protect faith-based agencies, limit LGBT options

http://www.mlive.com/lansing-news/index.ssf/2015/03/whats_best_for_kids_michigan_a.html

January  2016: Colorado to open all birth records!

Adoptee Rights Coalition: #OBC ACCESS #ADOPTION

SOURCE: Adoptee Rights Coalition: 

Thank you for visiting this site to learn more about the issue of sealed original birth certificates (OBC) in the United States.

Please view or download our Comprehensive Lobby Packet for Adoptee Rights Legislation here.

Every person who is born in the United States receives a birth
certificate that recorded the historical event of their birth.  Birth
certificates have become increasingly used in to verify identity in our country.  When a child is adopted, which could be months or years after their birth, their original birth certificate is sealed and an amended one is issued that lists the adoptive parents as though they are the biological parents.

Although all 50 States have some law on the books allowing adult adoptees to access the original birth certificate, adult adoptees in all but six States encounter systemic barriers in accessing this record.
 This discrimination occurs for no other reason than the fact that the individual was legally adopted as a child.  The Adoptee Rights Coalition opposes policies that treat adopted persons differently than all other citizens born within a given State.  We believe that this institutionalized discrimination sends a negative message about being adopted.

We urge legislators to speak with their peers in Kansas and Alaska,
two states that have never sealed birth certificates of adopted persons. We also ask legislators to speak with their peers in Oregon, Alabama, New Hampshire and Maine, the four states that have passed legislation that gives adopted adults unconditional access to their birth certificates without any
restrictions upon reaching the age of 18. 

Adoptee Rights legislation has no fiscal impact.  It simply  acknowledges that adopted persons access their original birth certificate the same way those who are not adopted do.

The Adoptee Rights Coalition officially endorses Maine LD 1084 as model legislation for all other States in the U.S.  LD 1084 gave
adopted persons born in Maine equal access to their original birth certificates while allowing original parents to state their boundaries in a non-legally binding Contact Preference Form.

*******************

OHIO Update

On December 19, 2013, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed Substitute Senate Bill 23 into law, granting 400,000 adoptees born January 1, 1964 through September 18, 1996 access to their original birth certificates. The law has two key dates.
Between today, March 20, 2014, and March 19, 2015, birth parents may file a “Contact Preference” form or a “Birth Parent Name Redaction” form.  The redaction form allows a birth parent to have his or her name removed from the original birth certificate prior to its requested release. If a birth parent chooses to submit the form, a complete social/medical history form must also be submitted. All forms are voluntary, and if the handful of states that have enacted similar legislation are an indicator, a very small percentage of birth parents choose to redact.


Once this waiting period is complete, adoptees can apply for their original birth certificates beginning March 20, 2015.


*******************

Restored OBC Access States

The following states have restored the right for an adoptee to legally obtain his or her original birth certificate (OBC).

Alaska:

OBC’s Never Sealed


Kansas:

OBC’s Never Sealed


Alabama:

OBC’s Sealed 1991

Access Restored 2000


Delaware:

Access Restored 1999


Illinois:  

OBC’s Sealed 1946

Access Restored 2010


Maine:  

OBC’s Sealed 1953

Access Restored 2009

New Hampshire:  

OBC’s Sealed 1973

Access Restored 2005


Oregon:  

OBC’s Sealed 1957

Access Restored 2000


Ohio:  

OBC’s Sealed 1964

Access In Process 2014


Rhode Island:  

OBC’s Sealed 1944

Access Restored 2012


Tennessee:

OBC’s Sealed 1951

Access Restored 1999

We'll be posting more about which states are opening OBC access soon...Trace

Petition to put fathers names back on original birth registrations for Ontario adoptees

For those who are not aware, please read Cat Hen's following description posted on the new Ontario Government’s Idea Board: 

“From 1960 to 1980, unwed father's names were illegally removed/omitted by the Ontario government. Many parents were illegally denied the right to name the father despite the law at the time allowing them to. Father's gave their consent. Many of these people are Aboriginal adoptees who were wrongly taken from their families. The UN has now asked the Ontario government TWICE to restore these names of adoptees as it affects Aboriginal rights. The UN Special Rapporteur Professor Anaya is disgusted that the Ontario government still refuses to do so, hurting Aboriginal families. Many parents still want the names put back for adoptees and many fathers are still giving their consent to do so.”
“Please restore these names as the UN has requested. Otherwise, how can this be fair and just to those who are being punished simply for being adopted? They are being denied human rights that the UN has said numerous times that they are entitled to and that all other Canadians enjoy.”

Please vote YES on this issue and share widely. The more votes we can get the better. She is trying to get the government to restore the illegally removed/omitted unwed father's names back onto the original birth registrations of adoptees. To get the Ontario government to notice, we have to give this post as many YES votes as possible.
To find the post, register then just type in "adoptee" or "birth registrations" and vote on the post when you locate it.
Here is the link for that. Many thanks for your support. ~ Cat Hen

http://commonground.ontarioliberal.ca/

• For more information on that, here is the UN report submitted to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. The report can be found in the 4th column from the left. It is called "Canada Looking in Ontario".
  http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/crcs61.htm
  
  The UN Human Rights Council also told both the Provincial and Federal government to put these names back. Both levels of government still continue to completely disregard the UN recommendation. Both governments are in violation of Article 8 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This also violates the Canadian Charter of Rights (on discrimination based on birth status), the Ontario Human Rights Code (being denied a government service), the UN Declaration on Human Rights, Articles 2, 7 and 25 and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, Article 8.

  

  Committee on the Rights of the Child - 61st session

  www2.ohchr.org

  Convention- Status of ratification, Reservations and declarationsOP on Sale of Children - Status of ratification, Reservations & declarationsOP on Children in Armed Conflict - Status of ratification Reservations & declarationsOP on a communications procedure - Status of ratification

  
  

  The UN Conclusion report on that is also on the same link. It can be found in the far right-hand column. Click on "E" for English version or "F" for French version.
  http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/crcs61.htm

  

  Committee on the Rights of the Child - 61st session

  www2.ohchr.org

  Convention- Status of ratification, Reservations and declarationsOP on Sale of Children - Status of ratification, Reservations & declarationsOP on Children in Armed Conflict - Status of ratification Reservations & declarationsOP on a communications procedure - Status of ratification
• 
  

CT Adult Adoptees want access to OBC

By MICHELLE GOLLADAY , The Connecticut Law Tribune , July 26, 2013

"Who am I?" "Why am I?" These are two basic questions human beings ask themselves upon growing older—especially when one's birth parents are not the same as the parents he or she grew up with.

For now, in Connecticut, it's nearly impossible for some people to find answers. Adults who were adopted when they were children don't have access to their true birth certificates. Now, an organization that includes a handful of lawyers, and a legislator with a J.D. degree, are advocating for a law change that would lift that restriction.

Access to birth certificates would not only identify a person's birth parents and connect them to other blood relatives, but it would also allow them to find out about possible genetic probems and address and anticipate possible health issues.

"To cut a human being off from their genetic heritage is insane," said lawyer and psychotherapist Karen Caffrey, who has a counseling practice in West Hartford. "We have to correct this inequality and injustice to Connecticut citizens, just like we did for women voters years ago."

Caffrey and other advocates are members of a group called Access Connecticut, which is lobbying for a change in the law.

Working alongside Connecticut's movement is state Representative David Alexander, an Enfield Democrat, an adoptee and a member of the legislature's Public Health Committee. He plans to try to push a bill through the committee in the 2014 legislative session that would allow adult adoptees to receive both of their birth certificates.

"I am a captain of the Marine Corps, and initially when I joined, I had to obtain and produce my birth certificate," said Alexander, who graduated from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 2006. "My original [birth certificate] existed, it was there in the government office, and the town clerk was like, 'I'm sorry, I can see it, but you can't.'"

Alexander said he has lined up several co-sponsors, and if the measure passes the Public Health Committee, it will be forwarded to the Judiciary Committee. The bill would allow adoptees over the age of 18, and who were adopted after 1983, to get their birth certificates. "It's weird that the government and the state have complete acccess to this document, said Alexander, and the adult adoptee does not.

Two Certificates

For most people, obtaining a birth certificate is as easy as visiting a government office in the state of birth upon turning 18 years old. For those same people, there is only one birth certificate to obtain—the original documentation of birth.

Read more: http://www.ctlawtribune.com/PubArticleCT.jsp?id=1202612721271&thepage=3#ixzz2aS6M0Gs1

WA state Native adoptees - GOOD NEWS

BIG NEWS! Wanted to let you all know that Governor Inslee signed the original birth certificate (OBC) bill (HB 1525) this week.  What this means is that after June 30, 2014, Washington state adoptees will be able to get a copy of their original birth certificate as long as their birth parent hasn't filled out a veto preventing them from getting their own birth record.

We worked hard to get the veto removed but certain legislators were hellbent on making sure there was a veto option for birth parents, and ultimately they got their way.

Statistics from other states show that the majority of WA adoptees will be able to get their OBC, which is good. It's just sad (and maddening) that there will be some adoptees who will be denied.
FOR ALL OF YOU WANTING TO GET YOUR OBC NEXT YEAR WHEN THE LAW GOES INTO EFFECT, WE ADVISE YOU REQUEST THAT OBC ASAP. Most vetoes will be filled out
the first year or two, so best to request it quickly next year.
-Penni

Washington State Adoptee Rights Bill

Website:   Washington Coalition for Adoptee Rights & Equality
Email: washingtonadopteerights@gmail.com

NOTE: We posted about this pending legislation on this blog... There are 24 tribes in WA state - that is one of the states where Native American children were taken as part of the Indian Adoption Projects!  I know many adoptees from there. So happy we have movement on opening adoption records, finding tribal relatives and OBC access. Sad there is a veto clause...Trace

New and Adoption Headlines (2012)

Adoptee searches for her long-lost birth mother in Colombia ... OregonLive.com Adoptee and Adoption Mosaic executive director Astrid Dabbeni finds her birth mother after 36 years.

US Couple Accused of Tormenting Russian Adoptees Goes to Trial RIA Novosti A US couple accused of tormenting their adopted Russian children will be going to trial, fox6now.com news portal said on Saturday. Court papers say Kathleen ...

BLOG WEEK: MY TOP 5

Kevin Ost-Vollmers and Shelise Gieseke at Land of Gazillion Adoptees Blog said Feb. 26th begins BLOG WEEK to answer this question: “Why does the adoption establishment annoy the heck out of us (adoptees)?” http://landofgazillionadoptees.com/2012/02/22/secret-message-for-other-bloggers-about-the-week-of-february-26th-aka-why-the-adoption-establishment-annoys-the-heck-out-of-us-blog-week/

MY MISSION today is to answer that question!  Ok, so why does the adoption establishment bug the heck out of me?

Here is my Top 5.

1- (Lack of) Disclosure - Old archaic laws are on the books in many states and it seems every state is having some kind of major meltdown or fiscal crisis. Adoptees who are fighting to gain access to our birth records can’t seem to grab their attention or warrant the lawmaker’s time or serious consideration - unless maybe the lawmaker is an adoptee.  

Yup, we know adoptees are low on the totem pole and status meter and that annoys me.

What are “they” thinking? Oh, it’s obvious - the status quo - let’s not rock the boat, just leave the law as is and let's not disclose information every adoptee needs and deserves, and definitely let’s not disturb the Adoption Industry who lobbies Wash. DC with fancy dinners and big campaign contributions. (Lack of medical history is a huge problem for many adoptees, including me)

I can hear the lobbyist pounding on their tables, “adoptees should be grateful they were adopted.” The adoption industry is a billion dollar business and they don’t want to lose a single dollar in profits. It’s about money. Even now, the adoption industry does not appreciate adoptees or ask how we feel or acknowledge what we endured. We are not invited to sit at their table or join in discussions. That really bugs me!

2- Secrecy - Over and over and over “they” claim our natural mothers demanded secrecy yet many mothers who lost children after closed adoptions are saying, “damn the secrecy, damn the laws, where are my children?”

Uniting all these mothers with all the adoptees on the same stage, fighting the discrimination, shame, secrecy and old laws would be powerful!

Sadly it seems both are on their own warpath to be heard.  Uniting our voices on this issue - especially natural mothers and adoptees who have been silenced for too long - is what is urgently needed. Big crowds marching on Washington DC would get "their" attention.  

Blogs (my favorites are listed in the right column) are enlightening the world to our plight. Using our voices, activism and blogging for change is good.

3- Identity - Adoptees are denied our basic human rights to the truth of our ancestry, our tribe(s), our birth name, our family names, our background (which is our identity), our medical history, our original birth certificate (OBC) and information about both our natural parents.

I noticed writing my memoir how adoptees will say they are looking for their mothers -- but we do have a dad somewhere and possibly siblings - and we do need to know who they are and where they are! Adoptees need to add “dad and siblings” to their list of needs when facing adoption industry discrimination and current adoption laws.

The bias in the adoption industry is to protect the adoptive parents and seal our identity so no one will ever find out the truth. That deeply annoys me.

If you are Native American, you cannot be enrolled without documentation and proof. If you are a Split Feather/adoptee, you not only lose your identity but your treaty rights and all that goes along with being an enrolled tribal member. Just remember your identity is Native American with or without tribal enrollment.  We must unite and form a national organization to teach about the government’s use of closed adoption to hurt and destroy American Indian families and cripple future generations.

4- New Identification Cards? Yup, as of 2005 more states will implement this new country-wide identification card. And guess what? Adoptees who cannot produce a real birth certificate (OBC) may (let me stress “MAY”) not be able to renew a driver’s license, vote, or apply for or renew a passport. That scares me and bugs me equally! Those ignorant lawmakers who wrote the Real ID Act of 2005 (and passed it) didn’t consider adoptees or how this would affect us? We pay them big salaries because they represent us. What were they thinking? They were not thinking of adoptees, perhaps 10 million of us in the USA.

5 - Gratitude - Over and over I hear adoptees say - almost by script - how grateful they were to be adopted by their parents. I call this our gratitude attitude. We get stuck there mentally and it’s hard to move on to empowering ourselves to regain our birth rights and identity. I know my gratitude silenced me. Gratitude meant I could not talk to my adoptive parents about anything - how I felt, what I planned to do, or even ask them questions about my adoption file. Laws prevented me from knowing anything about myself and my first family.

AND I found out my new parents were not really informed when they adopted me in 1957. They had basic information like I was illegitimate, how my mom was unmarried.

AND my adoption file didn’t include medical history. Really. Apparently the adoption industry didn’t think about the child at all when compiling information for the adoption hearing. It was about convenience and expedience for adoptive parents. Really.
Looking back the adoption industry should be so embarrassed and horrified they didn’t get our medical history when they “sold” us to our new parents.

So, what about the Adoption Establishment annoys you? Please leave a comment.

WE NEED YOU NOW! New Bill in WA state

IMPORTANT!! New WA bill for OBCs and Non-ID! 


Write these lawmakers! I did!



Penni writes on Soaring Angels:
Hello- We have a new bill this year that would release original birth certificates (OBC) to Washington State adoptees AND would also compel counties and adoption agencies to give out ALL possibly non-id (changes the 'shall' to 'will' in the non-id RCW - YAY!!).

This bill is House Bill 2211:
http://apps. leg.wa.gov/ billinfo/ summary.aspx? bill=2211

Because there are certain legislators who are extremely anti-open records, we did have to agree to a compromise this year. This compromise would add an option for birth parents to file an affidavit of non-closure, which would
mean the adoptee couldn't get their original birth certificate. 

The good thing about this particular compromise is that it would expire every 2 years and the birth parent would have to renew it. Also, even if a birth parent would file an affidavit of non-disclosure, the adoptee would
still be able to get their non-identifying information.

WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU:

1. CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE! 
We need all of you with a WA connection to contact your state representative and ask them to support House Bill 2211 (HB 2211). 

You can find your representatives here:
http://apps. leg.wa.gov/ DistrictFinder/ Default.aspx

2. IF YOUR REPRESENTATIVE IS ON THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE, SETUP A MEETING!
If any of you live in a district with a representative on the House Judiciary Committee, and would be willing to set up a meeting, we could arrange to have someone from WA-CARE go with you to the meeting. 

Here are the members of the Judiciary Committee:
http://www.leg. wa.gov/House/ Committees/ JUDI/Pages/ MembersStaff. aspx. 

3. SETUP A MEETING WITH ONE OF THESE SENTATORS!
Do any of you live in the districts belonging to Sen. Becker, Sen. Keiser, Sen. Stevens, and Sen. Pridemore?? If yes, we also need to try to set up meetings with one of these sentators in the event that the bill passes the
house and moves on to the senate, need to find a potential senator to sponsor the bill.

For more information about the efforts in WA to get the adoption laws changed, see the WA-CARE website: http://wa-care.com/default. aspx

Next WA-CARE meeting: Wed, Jan 18, 2012, 11.30am at Cutter's Point Coffee, 5750 Ruddell Road SE, Lacey, WA.

Any comments or questions, please email WA-CARE at washingtonadopteerights@gmail. com
Thanks! Penni


From Trace: Write a letter to the legislators and email Penni and tell your story - good and bad - adoption secrecy is like a cancer and needs maximum exposure aimed at the lawmakers. The adoptee and their stories are critical to change these lawmakers minds.

TO:	Representative Tina Orwall
FROM:	Ms. Trace A DeMeyer
BILL:	2211 (For Adoptee Rights)
	Dear Rep Tina Orwall I did live and work in WA state for many years but currently live in MA. I am an adoptee and an author. My struggle to find my identity, my medical history, my ancestry, my family and my tribe is detailed in my memoir ONE SMALL SACRIFICE: Lost Children of the Indian Adoption Projects. My book is on Amazon. My blog (www.splitfeathers.blogspot.com) has research and history and many articles by and about adoptees who are also struggling with archaic laws. Not all have American Indian ancestry. Do you know who you are? Do you know what it is like not to know? Or date someone who could be your relative? Or get sick and not have medical history? Or have a fake birth certificate and now with the REAL ID ACT you may not be able to get a new drivers license or passport. My friends Wanda and Tom are WA state adoptees and cannot find their parents. Is that right? They are adults, not children. It's possible their parents are dead but they remember their siblings before they were taken to CT to be adopted. That was a part of the Indian Adoption Project. Excerpt from my second book SPLIT FEATHERS: TWO WORLDS Administered by the Child Welfare League of America and funded by a federal contract from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Children’s Bureau, the Indian Adoption Project lasted from 1958 through 1967. During an era when matching dominated adoption practice, it placed 395 Native American children from 16 western states with white families in Illinois, Indiana, New York, Massachusetts, Missouri, and other states in the East and Midwest. (Only 14 children were adopted by Southern families and one child was adopted in Puerto Rico.) Approximately fifty public and private adoption agencies cooperated with the project, but the largest number of children were placed by agencies that were leaders in African-American adoptions and services to children of color: Louise Wise Services and Spence-Chapin Adoption Services (both of New York) and the Children’s Bureau of Delaware. Because tribes are legally considered sovereign nations, the incorporation of Indian children into non-Indian families constituted a kind of international as well as transracial adoption...The Indian Adoption Project was perhaps the single most important exception to race-matching... It aspired to systematically place an entire child population across lines of nation, culture, and race. (85% of Indian children in 16 states were placed in CLOSED ADOPTIONS)(Each state had its own program after IAP using the ARENA projects which moved thousands of Indian children from Canada and the US to non-Indian adoptive families. I have more proof in book 2.) In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Native Americans challenged the idea that the Indian Adoption Project was a triumph and denounced the project as the most recent in a long line of genocidal policies toward native communities and cultures. In June 2001, Child Welfare League Executive Director Shay Bilchik legitimated Native concerns, formally apologizing for the Indian Adoption Project at a meeting of the National Indian Child Welfare Association. He put the Child Welfare League of America on record in support of the Indian Child Welfare Act. “No matter how well intentioned and how squarely in the mainstream this was at the time,” he said, “it was wrong; it was hurtful; and it reflected a kind of bias that surfaces feelings of shame.” Source: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~adoption/topics/IAP.html When you consider all the lies and secrecy and harm that surrounds adoption, how does that make you feel? Trace A. DeMeyer
RESPONSE:	Ms. DeMeyer has requested a response to this message.