ANOTHER LETTER TO THE INDY LEGISLATORS

have enclosed documentation from Ohio's HB 7 and Maine's adoptee access laws. I am also including information on Oregon's law. With a contact preference form, it gives the relinquishing parents a say in how they want to be contacted. It does not deny the adoptee access to their own original birth certificate. Adoptees in this country and state are having more and more issues with getting passports, other forms of identification, and even being allowed to vote. Why? Their amended birth certificates look suspect. We as a group need to be able to prove our American citizenship. If you look at Roe vs. Wade, Griswold vs. Connecticut, and even the Eisenstandt case, you will see that these cases represent the right to privacy as the right to be free from governmental interference. This includes state and federal interference. Another case to look at is Brown vs. Board of Education. This case stated that separate is not equal. Adoptees and their families are being treated unequally by the separate laws in the state of Texas. Any one who is not adopted has access to their birth certificates and other documents with their names on them. Adoptees and their families do not have that same access. Currently relinquishing parents do not have a say at all. They do not get a copy of the original birth certificate. If you look at the laws, the records are sealed at finalization of the adoption, not at relinquishment. If a child is never adopted, then their records are never sealed. Keep in mind we are discussing adult adoptees. I am lucky in the sense that my adoptive mother has not only supportive but has encouraged me to take this road. She helped in creating the fighter that I am. Once an adoptee becomes an adult, just like the non adopted, neither set of parents should have any say over the original birth certificate. Look at it this way. Do your parents control your birth certificate? No they don't. The same laws should apply to adoptees. Truthfully it is not that hard to find in Texas. I have done it five times in the last six months. Its been both relinquishing parents and adoptees. I have even had an adoptive parent wanting to open the adoption of their child. All it takes is someone finding someone like me to help them look.

The state can earn money by just providing copies of the original birth certificate. Here is a video about Oregon's Measure 58. It also shows how New Hampshire handled their financial report on it.

This is Oregon's official website on the statistical information on the records issued:

http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/chs/order/58update.shtml

Here is what the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute said about both relinquishing mothers and adoptee rights. They quoted 90% of relinquishing mothers wanting contact.

http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/publications/2006_11_Birthparent_Study_All.pdf
http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/publications/2007_11_For_Records.pdf

Here is the information for the New Hampshire debate and subsequent passage of their law.
Its all on You tube but its very informative. Janet Allen was essentially in the passing of this bill. You will see that it did not cost the state any extra money. This state has not had any issues with stalking adoptees or relinquishing parents.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHB0mCSnRE4 part one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDv4EBe9wcE part two
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfBMiKGUDLs part three

Here is my rough raw data that I gathered on the Oregon and New Hampshire Laws.

OREGON STATISTICAL INFORMATION
ADOPTEE ACCESS LAWS
# OF RECORDS # OF RECORDS # OF NO CONTACT # OF CONTACT
YEAR REQUESTED PROCESSED PREFERENCE THRU CI
2001 5832 5565 79 (1.4%) 27 (0.4%)
2002 6722 6439 80 (1.2%) 28 (0.4%)
2003 7459 7296 81 (1.1%) 29 (0.4%)
2004 8021 7811 81 (1.0%) 28 (0.4%)
2005 8486 8190 83 (1.0%) 29(0.4%)

OREGON STATISTICAL INFORMATION
ON ADOPTION

YEAR # OF ADOPTIONS
1998 849
1999 922
2000 831
2001 1071
2002 1118
2003 854
2004 943
2005 1033

The law went into effect in May 2001. Adoptions have not gone back down to the level of 1998.


NEW HAMPSHIRE STATISTICAL INFORMATION
ADOPTEE ACCESS LAWS
# OF RECORDS # OF CONTACT # OF NO CONTACT
YEAR PROCESSED THRU CI PREFERENCE
2005 778 6 (0.7%) 11 (1.4%)
2006 137 1 (0.7%) 1 (0.7%)
2007 139 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%)
2008 91 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%)

It was in 2005 that the law allowed adoptee access to their records in New Hampshire.

You can check their statistics with the following link.

http://www.sos.nh.gov/vitalrecords/Preadoption%20birth%20records.html#progress
http://www.sos.nh.gov/vitalrecords/Publications/Contact%20Preference%20Form.pdf contact preference form

http://www.sos.nh.gov/vitalrecords/Publications/Medical%20History.pdf birth history form

This is how I would like our bill to look like:

http://gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2004/SB0335.html (New Hampshire)

It gives the adoptees their OBC. Relinquishing parents have their say on the contact portion of it. Contact is already legislated in the law in the form of stalking and harassment laws. This will increase adoptions in our state and it will decrease abortions. Our abortion is second highest in the nation. This is even more obvious in Oregon where none of the federal regulations that have been passed did not affect the statistics in Oregon.

If you need to ask me any further questions, please contact me.

ADDITIONAL ADVICE FOR INDIANA ADOPTEES

I am hearing more and more issues with the Department of Health. Indiana adoptees and natural mothers need to start requesting their information via certified mail. You have proof that you have sent it in. They can't tell you any longer that it is lost. If you sent any form of payment in, make sure it is either a check or money order. You want to have proof that you have paid it and that they have cashed the check.

We also must start writing our legislators to let them know. They have to hear that it is getting harder and harder for adoptees and their families. It is also time for them to hear that we are having issues with getting false information from the agencies.

WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOUR RIGHTS?

As time moves forward, more and more Coleman adoptees and Coleman mothers are coming forward. I feel it is important to re issue the information that you all are entitled to. What your resources are. What exactly are your rights as defined by Indiana state law. You need to know this if you are searching. If you are interested in joining the cause of the Adoptee Rights Coalition, I will also provide more information in regards to this as well.

Here is the information every Indiana adoptee should know when beginning their search:

• You have the right to your non identifying information. You will have to be insistent with the Department of Vital Records in Indianapolis.
  
• You have the right to choose the confidential intermediary. You do not have to use the agency confidential intermediary. I recommend Candy Jones and Lori Baxter. Candy Jones is a first mother in reunion. She is a member of Concerned United Birthparents. She is also a member of the American Adoption Congress. I recommend using her if you are searching for your natural family. She has been there and can reach your mother in a way that most CIs can not. Lori Baxter is an adoptee. She is also a school teacher who does this in her spare time. I recommend her for first parents searching for adoptees. She can reach your adoptee in a way that an agency can not. I have heard great things about both of these confidential intermediaries. I absolutely do not recommend Catrina Carlisle or Kris Lucas. I have heard countless stories about both of them. They will hurt your reunion more than help you reunite. Both of these women work for the adoption agency. Both women have the adoption agency's interest at heart. Catrina Carlisle is the former agency director of Coleman Adoption Services before they merged with St. Elizabeth. She is also an adoptive parent. She isn't your adoptive parent especially if your adoptive parent supports your search.
  
• The law states birth parent. Both birth parents can be contacted if it is in your court records. There is no restriction on it. St. Elizabeth Coleman is the one that puts restrictions on contacting your natural father.
  
• There is no limit on contacting your parents. St. Elizabeth Coleman only allows one phone call to your natural parents.
  

DOES BROWN VS. BOARD OF EDUCATION HELP OUR CASE?

As an adoptee, I think it does. The reason is because the right to privacy laws of Indiana and the constitution itself treats us separately. It could also be said for Illinois since their laws are similar to Indiana.

What is Brown vs. Board of Education? It was the Supreme Court decision essentially banning all segregation in the United States. This case originated in Kansas but several cases in other states were brought forward at the same time.

Their decision:

"...that in the field of public education the doctrine of separate but equal has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal...therefore plaintiffs and others...are deprived of the equal protection of the law guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution."

Adoptees and their families are being deprived of their equal protection. In the laws as well, we are giving special immunities and privileges to the adoption industry as a whole. Its time to change it.

WHAT EXACTLY IS ROE VS. WADE?

Roe vs. Wade is not about the right to an abortion. If one were to read the actually court case on this, one would realize this. It is about the right to be free from governmental intrusion. Trust me you don't want that Supreme Court Case to be overturned. If it is overturned, it allows the state and federal governments back into our private lives. They will begin to govern what we all do in our private lives. If Roe vs. Wade is overturned, it will allow the government to override our parental rights, to decided how and when we have sex, what we use to protect ourselves with our sexual actions, and many other things. Am I the only one that sees this?

If you don't believe me, read this.