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Do adoptees have the right to know who their parents are
Should adoption records be open essay
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Kyla Huggins
Professor Stanley
English exposition
1 March 2015
Access to Open Adoption Records There has been controversy over whether adoptees should be allowed access to their birth records for thirty years. Adoption records include but is not limited to their original birth certificate which is what many adoptees yearn for. Those who support an adoptees right to access their birth records believe it is fundamental for them to know who they truly are. Other who oppose believe it is important to protect the promised anonymity of the birth mother or father. I believe that adoptees at the age of eighteen should be allowed access to their birth records. Sealing birth records did not begin until the mid-1920s. States did not begin capitalizing
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That is not considered equal treatment if adoptees do not have the same access available to them. Burke stated, “If we approach open records as a civil rights issue, then we want to be the same as everyone else and not have extraordinary rights.” (par. 5). Opponents use the birth parents right to privacy as their main argument. But there are many birth parents who genuinely do want to be in contact with their child, but were not even given that option. Somewhere throughout the adoption process the birth parent signs a contract to waive their parental rights. Lorraine Dusky claimed, “The relinquishment papers gave me no opportunity to confirm or deny whether I might want to know her one day.” (par. …show more content…
Putting aside the search for birth parents, people should be able to know vital information about themselves. Adoptive parents have expressed dissatisfaction that birth parents have recently started requesting some form of openness in the adoption. Open adoptions and open adoption records should then prove to encourage rather than discourage future adoptions.
People who oppose to unsealed adoption records reiterate that some birth parent just don’t want to be found. A free-lance writer Robert Kirner was another person that found a way to find his birth mother without his original birth certificate by hiring a searcher. His mother did not want to be in contact with him. "The refusal left me numb." Kirner stated. Opponents also argue that once the privacy of adoption records are no longer private it will pave the way for other private records ( doctors, therapists, etc.) to become public as well.
They also claim that if a mother is not able to keep her confidentiality she will resort to abortion. Statistics from the American Psychiatry written by Paul K.B. Dagg, M.D, show that “We know from informal studies that when women who have placed a child through a confidential adoption arrangement become pregnant again, they choose abortion because they found the confidential conditions of adoption unbearable.” (par.
When a couple or individual decides to adopt a child, they know they are going to take on the responsibility of taking care of someone else’s child. Due to the biological parent(s) who can’t take care of that child anymore, because of either drug abuse, alcohol abuse, abuse to the child or if the parent(s) had died and there is no other care for the child. So that’s why this gives other couples who cannot have kids, the opportunity to promise themselves to be a great parent to a child in need. Though there are some bad things about adoption as well. Like adopting a child from another country of another race, because once that child is adopted into an American family, he or she will be cut off from their culture and never know about their history. Everyone should to know about their culture and history.
Since 1972, the issues surrounding the rights of unwed birthfathers have provided America with a highly controversial and morally challenging topic for debate. Prior to 1972, these unwed fathers were given little or no involvement in their child’s adoption proceedings, but because of highly publicized adoption cases in which birthfathers have retained custody of their child many years after their adoption took place, state legislatures have been forced to review their adoption laws regarding birthfathers and create more concrete ones. The laws in Florida regarding birthfathers have changed dramatically over the past several years, with complicating, senseless laws being replaced with more rational and reliable ones. The newest laws, passed in 2003 regarding a Putative father registry provide the most stable and fair support for legal adoption proceedings.
First, social-work and mental-health experts have reached a consensus during the last decade that greater openness offers an array of benefits for adoptees—from ongoing information about family medical issues to fulfillment of their innate desire to know about their genetic histories—even if the expanded relationships prove difficult or uncomfortable for some of the participants (Verbrugge). An open adoption is when the natural mother and the adoptive family know the identity of each other and could obtain background or medical history from the biological parent. In an open adoption the parental rights of biological parents are terminated, as it is in a closed adoption, but an open adoptio...
Sealed records for adoptees should be illegal due to the emotional, medical and the history of an adoptee. How is sealing a person’s life away upon any kinds of adoptions and never allowing them to know who they are, where they came from, and their medical background be close to right? How can being for sealed records ever help the ones who really need the support?
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’.
Adoption consist of the legal termination of the birth parents rights, willingly or unwillingly, and recognizes the adoptive parents as the sole persons legally responsible for the adopted child. This legal process transfers all rights and responsibilities of the child to the adoptive parents. As stated by the Dave Thomas Foundation (2014, August.), adoption is
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.
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Adoption recently has caused a hot-spot debate in Australia . Mr Rudd just argued that we should maintain the policy but I don’t agree with him. I am sure many of you are not satisfied with the current situation because we all clear this is not a great one. Adoption is so important because it is a way to change children’s lives. This debate is not about me and Mr Rudd; it’s about you and these children so you should make the best choice. For too long this policy has been disadvantaged to the children who are adopted or going to be adopted and those foster families. It’s the time to change. Relaxing the regulation of adoption within Australia and from overseas will be one of the liberal party’s aiming next term if I get your support. And let me tell you why choosing to relax adoption’s regulation is stepping up in the right direction to change.
...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.
And Before the year of 1850 there were absolutely no laws governing the adoption process. This made the process more convenient because their were no circumstances having to be followed and didn't have to go through the adoption process. Individuals who lived in the city would just give their children up because they couldn't assist the child with the proper needs . However farmers took advantage because this was an opportunity to get an extra hand on the farm. Then in the year of 1850 adoption became legally in recognition in the United States. This led the government to make several standards for the adoption process. This led to more states to make more laws in 1917, for example Minnessota demanded the intervention of the Welfare department followed by a recommendation from the
Many couples who cannot have their own children are patiently waiting for a child to be adopted, and abortions are taking away that opportunity from willing families. The other side of this controversy is called pro-choice. Pro-choice followers believe, as implied by the name, that a woman’s right to choose is more important than anything, even human life. The Roe vs Wade case of 1973 is the building block of their side of the argument, the ruling being “the right to privacy.” is enough protection to defend a woman’s reproductive rights (Roe v Wade 1973).
For those who are a part of the adoption world one of the most hotly debated issues is whether birth records should be open or closed to adoptees. With this issue comes strong feelings on both sides. In most states adoption records are fully sealed and inaccessible, unless the adoptee petitions the court. In 16 states these records are fully or partially available upon request with no court involvement, and also may depend upon when you were born. In a few states records are completely prohibited and the adoptee will never have any access to them. Alaska and Kansas have always made original birth records available.
This seems to be an immeasurable political fight. Abortion versus adoption, why more women choose to abort their babies than give them up for adoption. It is true that the process to abort an unborn baby is less expensive than adopting one, however, this is only true for the adopting family. “Depending on how far along you are in the pregnancy, the cost will range from $500-$2,000 for an abortion” ("Abortion or Adoption"). Granted that some insurances will cover most, if not all, the cost of the abortion if it is deemed a medical emergency. Conversely, most abortions are a mother 's choice and are not deemed a medical need. This being said the mother is responsible for the payment of the abortion in full. “There is no cost to you if you choose adoption. In fact, pregnancy-related expenses are paid for by the adoptive family, which often include medical care and living expenses” ("Abortion or Adoption"). Birth mothers do not have to pay anything out of pocket to place their baby with an adopted family. With that being stated, the process of adoption is essentially cheaper for the birth mother in the long run. The question supplicates, why do so many women still choose to abort their babies? “Some mothers choose abortion instead of adoption because they believe they can’t deal with wondering about where their babies are for the rest of their lives” (Brown, 2012). In cases such as this, open adoptions are the best answer not aborting the baby. If more mothers were educated on all the different types of adoption, then maybe more mothers would choose adoption over
The practice of adoption began over 4,000 years ago. All adoptions are arranged in 3 ways private, independent, and closed. Private adoptions are adoptions where you can place your child with anybody you choose with the courts approval. Independent adoptions are adoptions where a child’s placement is put arranged by a lawyer or doctor, in some cases the adoptive parents put in the expenses of the pregnancy and deliver of the couple their getting the child from. There are also black market groups that will illegally adopt your baby (with the birth mother’s permission) in some cases you will have nothing to do with your birth if and when the baby is handed over to the adopted parents. Closed adoption is where there is no information about either families, the birth parents or the adoptive parents, after the adopti...