Fenichel Adoptees on Huckabee

Two Fenichel adoptees were featured on Huckabee a few days ago, talking about their right to know their information, their search for their original families, and their quest to discover their roots.  These two young woman are just a few of many adoptees who were sold as babies as a part of an illegal adoption ring run by Seymour Fenichel, who opperated in several states, Pennsylvania included, in the 70's and 80's. 

Fenichel's ring advertised to expectant mothers, offering free housing and medical care.  Mothers were then pressured into adoption and their babies sold for anywhere form $8,000 to $12,000.  It is believed that the records relating to these adoptees were altered.

As many of you may already be aware, the state practice of amending and sealing has its roots in illegal adoptions.  In the 1930's, Georgia Tann, a notorious baby seller, was the first person to convince the vital statistics department of her state to amend and seal the records for her adoptions.  All 5,000 of her adoptions were illegal.  The purpose?  To keep original parents, many of which had their children illegally removed from their care, from having any recourse in claiming their children.  Alabama (which has since restored adoptee access to birth records) was the first state to legalize this practice, Tennessee (which has since restored conditional access to birth records), which was Tann's home state, was the second.  The practice quickly spread throughout the United States under the guise of providing the adoptee protection from their illegitimate status as their birth certificate often carried a label stating "illegitimate" (a practice Pennsylvania did not discontinue until the 1970's).  It was also thought that by changing the identity of the adoptee and sealing the original, that the original family could not interfere with the adoptive family.

Today, amending and sealing and adoptee lack of access to their own birth record is defended by unfounded claims that it is necessary to keep abortion rates low.  This is not why amending and sealing began.  Amending and sealing is not right.  As we can see in the cases of illegal adoptions, falsifying records and hiding an adoptee's origins hides injustices against the adoptee and the adoptees families.

Transparency in adoption; how can we claim the best interest of those involved without it?  The right to know where you came from.  These are rights and they need to be restored in PA.

If you missed seeing two Fenichel adoptees featured on Fox News' show, Huckabee, please head on over to these links, part one and part two, and check it out.