UNJUST Sealed Birth Certificate Laws

My original birth certificate--everyone should have the same

As the legislative session wound down in New York, the Assembly passed a bill that allows natural birth parents not only a veto, but put in place a confidential intermediary system, those assuring that many more
birth mothers will deny their children knowledge of their original identity. The bill (S5964) was referred to the Senate Rules committee but in the flurry of activity that engulfs the legislative chambers in the last hours of every session, it stayed in committee as the session ended.

After years of work on giving adoptees the right to know who they are--without any restriction, without a natural parent veto--this legislation was disappointing. Assemblyman David Weprin who has been the main sponsor and spark plug for this bill obviously felt that he could not get a clean bill--no restrictions, no confidential intermediaries--despite strong lobbying at the end to kill the bill. It passed 125-19. My own assemblyman Fred Thiele, who has been a staunch supporter of the original bill that had no restrictions, in the end joined those who voted for this bill.


KEEP READING: [Birth Mother] First Mother Forum: UNJUST Sealed Birth Certificate Laws: 


[1] At this writing: Alabama, Alaska, Kansas, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon and Rhode Island
and allow adult adoptees unrestricted access to their original birth certificates; Rhode Island adoptees must be 25. I call them free states. 

[2] At this writing: Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Montana, Ohio,
Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont, and Washington. New Jersey will join that list in 2017. The American Adoption Congress website lists the state laws and the access they grant. See: http://www.americanadoptioncongress.org/state.php

[3] Samuels,Surrender and Subordination: Birth Mothers and Adoption Law Reform, Michigan
Journal of Gender and Law, 2013, Vol 20: 1, pp. 32-81.

[4] Samuels, “The Idea of Adoption: An Inquiry into the History of Adult Adoptee Access toBirth Records,” Rutgers Law Review, Winter 2001, Vol. 53:2, pp. 432-434.

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO FORWARD TO YOUR LEGISLATOR IN ANY STATE THAT DOES NOT GIVE ADOPTEES THE FREE AND CLEAR RIGHT TO THEIR ORIGINAL BIRTH CERTIFICATES.