Have you ever been to a new doctor and filled out the required paperwork on family medical history? After moving recently, I went to a new doctor. I had to have all those papers filled out. It was easy because I know all of the information or can get it. Most people know who their biological family is and therefore also know about medical history. However, in the 1940s many birth certificates of adoptees were sealed. This continued to occur for four decades. Now depending upon the state the adopted person lives in and how the laws have evolved, they may not be able to easily access their original birth certificate just like everyone else. Adoptees should have total access to their birth certificate and family medical history because this information will help them to understand where they came from, as well as know of the likelihood of contracting various genetic diseases.
Children need to know where they came from so they can avoid embarrassing and awkward situations later in life like Luke and Leia Skywalker from Star Wars. It will also give them a sense of belonging in the world. Full access to an original birth certificate is something many people take for granted. For those people who have been adopted a changed birth certificate is given with the adoptive parents names instead. As an adopted child grows older, most will become curious. For Jeffrey Hannasch his curiosity started when his daughter was born (Ensslin). He started out on a journey to find his parents. After finding some papers in his adoptive father’s possessions, he was able to find out his mother’s name. Some internet searching and letter writing later he was able to find out that she did not actually know who his father was. She also was shocked that he was...
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...elease of the information (Access).
Works Cited
Bahrampour, Tara. "Invisible Ties to Faraway Lands." Washington Post 2012 Jan 22: A.1. Web. 28 Jan. 2014.
Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2012). Access to Adoption Records. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Children’s Bureau.
Ensslin, John C. "Landmark Adoption Ruling a Bittersweet Victory for Falcon Man." Gazette (Colorado Springs, CO) 2009 Aug 02: N.p. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.
Hamilton, James M. "Adult Adoptees Should Have Unconditional Access to Their Original..." MinnPost.com [Minneapolis] 14 Mar. 2013: N.p. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
O'Connor, John. "Unsealed Birth Records Give Adoptees Peek at Past." Daily Register 2013 Jul 28: N.p. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.
Reyes, Emily Alpert. "Internet Lifts Shroud of Secrecy on Adoption." Los Angeles Times 2013 Dec 12: A.15. Web. 28 Jan. 2014.
Stolley, K.S. (1993). Statistics on adoption in the United States. The Future of Children: Adoption, 3(1), 26-42
In 2002, 51,000 children were adopted through the foster care system. The federal government tracks the number of adoptions from the United States foster care system, and all of its international adoptions. It’s estimated that around 120,000 children are adopted by U.S citizens each year. Half of these children are adopted by individuals not related to t...
“Persons Seeking to Adopt.” Child Welfare Information Gateway. N.p., Feb. 2011. Web. 13 Mar. 2012. .
A upon finalization of adoption birth records and court records of any kind are sealed. Most people will tell you that it’s because of the adoptive parents or the birth parents but in light of that it’s not the real reason records are sealed. The main reason that records are sealed is because the government does not want the records to be open to the public and the adoptee find out though the public (that’s if the adoptive parents deiced not to tell the adoptee). (Samuels 3)
Many people grow up in loving families and cannot imagine not having their parents and siblings around, but each year, 18,000 or more American born babies are put up for adoption (Newlin Carney). That means at least 18,000 children face the harsh truth of maybe not having a family to grow up in. Childhood is a very important part of one’s life and helps shape who one is. These children that are eligible to be adopted just need loving parents, good homes, and stability. And who is to say the high price of adopting is not ho...
McRoy, R., Grotevant, H., Furuta, A., & Lopez, S. (1990). Adoption Revelation and Communication Issues: Implications for Practice. Families in Society, 71, 550-557.
Adoption is governed individually by each state, Kansas and Alaska allow adult adoptees full and unconditional access to original birth records. There are many campaigns that support the right to find adoptees’ birth parents. One of these campaigns is the green ribbon campaign. This campaign fights for the opening of any and all birth records in every state. “A number of large adoption agencies are major supporters of the so-called Uniform Adoption Act of 1994 (UAA) that would reinforce and enlarge secrecy provisions of adoption law”(about.com, 2). Many courts including the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals have heard cases that pertain to the opening of birth records of adoptees’.
The topic of child welfare is quite a broad one. There are numerous programs and policies that have been put in place to protect children. One of these policies is that of Adoption. Adoption was put into place to provide alternate care for children who cannot live with their biological families for various reasons. One of the more controversial issues surrounding adoption is that of Transracial adoption. Transracial Adoption is the joining of racially different parents and children (Silverman, 1993).
...edical history and I was able to have a relationship with my family and not have the added stress of not knowing where I come from. I did not experience any disadvantages from being adopted however, when I looked at the stages one goes through as they get older I can apply them to my life. I feel I may have skipped some stages , but I did question why my mother could not get off the drugs to be able to take care of me and my siblings, however I know it’s not personal because she did not raise any of my siblings. Adoption is something that one is fortune to be loved and to be picked by a family, however I think it is important to be aware of the physical, cognitive and emotional aspects of adopting someone. Overall, I know that I will encounter and adopted student and to be able to have a teacher who was adopted will only help me build a relationship with that child.
...ould not adopted him”(McKinley). Many same-sex couples live in fear if they do not have adoption papers, because their parental rights might be questioned if they were to travel where same-sex adoption is not allowed. Or if the child was to be an accident the non-legal parent would not have a say in the child's medical health.
Current statistics show that open adoptions are increasing in the United States. Despite the challenges and emotional issues involved in open adoption, its incidence is growing and providing a means for families to share their lives in different ways and allowing adoptive children to feel positive about themselves and about adoption.
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "Who Adopts? Characteristics of Women and Men Who Have Adopted Children" (447 KB) , NCHS Data Brief, www.cdc.gov, Jan. 2009
In my research, during the adoption process, it can take anywhere from three to six months and generally includes a personal history, health statements, a criminal background check, an income statement, personal references, and numerous interviews. Reasons for this is because the org...
Bartholet, E. (1991). Where do black children belong? The politics of race matching in adoption. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 139(5), 1163-1256.
In the law of adoptions when you adopt a child the birth parents no longer have any say over them. Your rights over him/her are relinquished and are given to the adopting parents. Why should adoptive parents be legally bound to give access to their child to the biological parents when the birth parents gave up their rights as a parent? As the birth parent you are voluntarily terminating your parental rights and passing them