Pennsylvania Adoptee Rights

Scranton woman turns adoption story into blog - News - The Times-Tribune

2012-01-08T20:52:00.000-08:00

Scranton woman turns adoption story into blog - News - The Times-Tribune

Adoptee Rights Advocate, Linda Bebko-Jones, Passes at 65

2011-11-22T09:46:00.000-08:00

Linda Bebko-Jones, age 65, of Erie, retired Pa. State Representative, passed away Sunday, November 20, 2011 at UPMC Hamot. She was born in Erie on May 1, 1946. Linda was a graduate of Villa Maria Academy and Erie Business Center. She became active in the political system as a Legislative Aide to several Senators. Linda was elected as a member of the Pa. House of Representatives from 1994 until her retirement in 2006. While serving as a representative she was a strong advocate and sponsored many bills to support military and veteran benefits and health and human services, including adoptee rights, substance abuse prevention and women's rights. Some of the many awards Linda received included the Democratic Woman of the Year; Pa. Federation of Women's Outstanding Elected Women; and Women's Club Woman of the Year. She also served as a delegate to the 2000 Democratic Convention and served on many local and state boards and associations. Her lifelong involvement in her local and state community was her main hobby and interest until the birth of her granddaughter. Linda is survived by one daughter, Pam Kulich of San Diego, Calif.; one son, Bryan T. Jones of Erie; one sister, Gretchen Bebko and two brothers, Larry Nimeth (Dorothy) all of Erie and John Bebko, Jr. of Cleveland, Ohio; one granddaughter, Tegan Kulich; her best friend, Carol Krysiak; three stepchildren, Kevin, Mark and Laurie; nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Thomas F. Jones; her parents, Helen Sobolewski Bebko, John Bebko, Sr. and Joanne Nimeth Bebko; one brother, Mark Bebko and one sister, Nadine Bebko. Friends may call at the Dusckas Funeral Home, Inc., East, 2607 Buffalo Road on Tuesday from 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. and on Wednesday from 11 a.m. until the time of the Funeral Service there at 1 p.m. conducted by Rev. John Detisch. Interment, Calvary Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society ,-Erie Unit, 2115 West 38th St., Erie, PA 16508. To send condolences, visit http://www.dusckasfuneralhome.com/.

Published in the Erie Times-News on November 22, 2011

Thank you to Karen from PARR for passing this information along.

What do Adoptees in PA Need to Know About Accessing Information?

2011-11-18T19:59:00.000-08:00

I won't lie, with the passing of Act 101 and the information that was put out by DPW, I was confused as to what a Pennsylvania adult adoptee should do when in need of information. I had read through a draft of Act 101, various amendments made to it, and its text on final passage but was still confused as to how it was going to be implemented so I sent some questions along to the various agencies involved and I hope the information I received in response will help some adoptees (and their families) out there know what to do.

Original Birth Certificates

Adoptees whose adoptions were finalized in Pennsylvania will need to contact the PA Division of Vital Records to request a copy of their Original Birth Certificate (website).

Identifying and Non-Identifying Information, Medical Info, & Contact
There are several ways for an adoptee to attempt to collect their ID and non-ID information.

An adoptee may contact the County Court in the county where their adoption was finalized to request information from their adoption file. The County Court can inform the adoptee of the process to access information. A listing of County Courts is here. If an adoptee does not know in what county their adoption was finalized, they can contact the PA Division of Vital Records (contact info at the bottom of this page) to receive that information.
An adoptee may register with the PA Adoption Information Registry PAIR (established by Act 101). The PAIR allows adoptees, original parents and other original family members to register their information and provide consent to allow the release of non-identifying and/or identifying information as well as to consent to contact. § 2925 of Act 101 also states: If there is no authorization on file, the department shall designate an authorized representative to: (1) use reasonable efforts to locate the subject of the request and (2) if the subject of the request is located, obtain written authorization from the subject before any information is released. Basic info and forms are found here.
An adoptee whose adoption was completed through an agency may contact that agency to inquire about how to access their record through that agency.
An adoptee whose adoption was completed through the Child Welfare system can inquire about their file through the county children and youth agency.

According to PAE (the Pennsylvania Adoption Exchange): The information provided above pertains only to adoptees whose adoptions were finalized or registered in the Commonwealth of PA, regardless of the state or country in which they were born. If an adoptee was born in PA, but their adoption was finalized in another state, then the adoptee would have to contact that other state to request their process on how to obtain non-identifying and identifying information.

For Original Parents

An original parent may register with the Biological Parent Consent Registry to have the adoptee's original birth certificate released to the adoptee, should the adoptee inquire with the registry. Information here.
An original parent may register with the PA Adoption Information Registry PAIR (established by Act 101). The PAIR allows adoptees, original parents and other original family members to register their information and provide consent to allow the release of non-identifying and/or identifying information as well as to consent to contact. § 2925 of Act 101 also states: If there is no authorization on file, the department shall designate an authorized representative to: (1) use reasonable efforts to locate the subject of the request and (2) if the subject of the request is located, obtain written authorization from the subject before any information is released. Basic info and forms are found here.
Original parents can inquire about information through the agency that handled the adoption.

Keep up with our Links and Resources page for more info on search, rights, activism, and support.

Back from Building Change!

2011-10-16T12:59:00.000-07:00

Amanda from PAR presented at a workshop with Marianne Novy of the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Consortium of Adoption Studies, and the American Adoption Congress. For more photos, see our Facebook page!

Building Change Tomorrow!

2011-10-14T16:32:00.000-07:00

PAR will be presenting at this event tomorrow:

Come see us!

Could Adoptees Lose the Right to Vote?

2011-10-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

By Amanda

I don't think many people in the general population understand just how big a deal losing the right to access your Original Birth Certificate is, let alone have whether or not it was ever your right to have one contested repeatedly. The impact of being denied runs deep into different areas of adoptees' lives. Foremost, there is the central issue of being denied the equality of access to a document all others receive. Then there are the issues of being denied truth and for some, not having a birth certificate means they have one less tie to the basic human right to knowledge of ancestry and roots. Being denied our Original Birth Certificates also complicates things for adoptees when it comes to issues of identity where some adoptees are denied passports and have difficulty obtaining drivers licenses. Our access to a passport stands to continually become more difficult. Due to the issue drummed up by some about Obama's birth certificate, legislation has been considered on the national and state level (in multiple states) to require anyone running for public office or the presidency to show their Original Birth Certificate to do so. This means many adoptees would never be able to run for political office and participate in government and policy-making in that way. Could this issue go so far as to one day make it so that adoptees cannot vote?

I will use Pennsylvania as an example. In Pennsylvania, all first-time voters must show identification. Acceptable forms of identification include: a PA driver's license, an ID card issued by PennDOT, and ID issued by another commonwealth agency, a U.S. government ID (with or without a photo), a U.S. Passport, a Student ID, an employee ID, a firearm permit, a current utility bill, a current bank statement, or a current paycheck. However, this stands to be changed by HB 934, a controversial piece of legislation that would make only an ID issued by PennDOT (an ID or a PA driver's license) acceptable to vote. This legislation is criticized because opponents fear that a considerable amount of eligible voters may be blocked from voting due to the impracticality of the proposed requirements. For example, if someone does not already have a PA driver's license, they may lack the means of transportation to get to a PennDOT location to obtain a PennDOT issued ID. Some individuals who work long hours or have multiple jobs to support their family may not have time to wait in the long lines at PennDOT to obtain an ID. Opponents fear that this will disenfranchise citizens who have lesser means to abide by the requirements from voting, namely the elderly and the poor, and those in groups who are most likely to be among the poor: women, single mothers, and multicultural groups.

Legislation like this also raises concern for me as an adoptee when I go to the PennDot website to see what forms of identification are required in order to obtain a PennDOT-issued identification card. Depending on your age and whether you are a new or current resident of PA, the requirements differ slightly, with everyone requried to show one form of ID from "List A."

"List A" includes:
A U.S. birth certificate with a raised seal
A Certificate of U.S. Citizenship
A Certificate of Naturalization
A U.S. Passport

PennDot specifies...
"Only valid Passports and original documents will be accepted. If the name on your original document differs from your current name, you must provide documentation that connects the names, such as an original Marriage Certificate, Divorce Decree, or Court Order document."

As someone who is very involved in the current Adoptee Rights Movement in Pennsylvania, I will honestly say that I have never had a PA (PA-born or born elsewhere but residing in PA) adoptee come to me and say they couldn't get a driver's license although I do know people who have had issues in other states. However, the issue lies within the fact that the birth certificate that most adoptees nation-wide receive is not the original birth certificate and the issue arises when the filing date listed on the amended certificate is far past the time of birth indicating that another birth document existed before the amended one that the adoptee is issued. I am concerned that getting a driver's license or PennDOT issued ID could become an issue for adoptees in PA--which means also if bills like HB 943 pass--voting will also become an issue. I think we've more than gotten the message that identity is important with increased measures (or legislative attempts thereof) for proving identity to vote, run for public office, travel internationally, and drive. Why don't more people "get" that identity is important for adoptees too, especially when society continues to make requirements adoptees can't meet--and can't meet by no fault of our own but because of other rules society also made. It's like telling a bird to fly after you've just clipped its wings.

Adoptees and the Abortion Stigma

2011-10-09T00:01:00.000-07:00

By Amanda

With the recent passing of innovator, former Apple CEO, and adult adoptee, Steve Jobs, popular articles about the fact that Jobs' original mother could have chosen abortion are flooding the media. As an adoptee, I shake my head at this stigma that follows adoptees and their mothers. Abortion is a decision about pregnancy. Adoption is a decision about parenting. What in the world do they have to do with one another? A lot of women experience unplanned pregnancies. A lot of women consider abortion. Most mothers who have unplanned pregnancies that carry to term and give birth keep their babies. Isn't it more likely that those whose mothers considered abortion therefore would be among those who aren't adopted? Yet adoptees and their mothers are the only ones to carry this stigma. We are valued by our mother's reproductive choices. Our mothers are valued by their reproductive choices. You see, when we say "adoptees aren't equal" we don't just mean that we lack equal access to our birth certificates. We also mean that we lack equal status in the eyes of others. Stereotypes, something perpetuated by secrecy and sealed records, is a part of that.

The articles about Jobs' mothers alleged decision-making process while pregnant with him in 1956 reminds me of a news clip I watched about a year ago where a reporter hounded Adoptee Rights activist, Zara Philips, repeatedly asking her if she was sure that adult adoptees accessing their own birth certificates would not cause abortion rates to rise. She couldn't have said "no" enough times. For whatever reason, people cannot let go of these stereotypes. So here's a bit of information about abortion statistics in access legislation states:

We do not believe any correlation between access legislation and abortion rates exists. If one really wanted to make a correlation by looking at the rates, you'd see a decline in abortion, rather than the stereotype's predicted increase. Even when looking at abortion and adoption rates when infant surrender rates abruptly dropped from about 20% in the 1970's (a number advocates for the rights of senior mothers will tell you is a very low estimate) to about 2% currently, researchers have noted that the decline in abortion rates indicates that mothers are not necessarily choosing abortion over adoption instead (source). Truly, these two issues do not have as much to do with one another as people believe.

Asking an adoptee about adoption or an Adoptee Rights activist about abortion rates is not just a simple question to us, folks. Throwing abortion in an adoptee's face with the assertion that it is their responsibility to remain unequal and lack information about their own life in order to control some other social issue is unfair, hurtful, and oppressive. It's based on bad information fueled by stereotypes about adoptees and women. Abortion, adoption, parenting: these are all seperate issues where society continues to favor the stereotypes over the real stories and realities of individual people. Please work to end the stigma of abortion for adoptees and their families. When you hear the abortion-adoption stereotype, correct it. "That's just not true." It's really that simple.

Building Change: a Convergence for Social Justice

2011-10-07T22:44:00.000-07:00

Register today for the first-ever gathering of people and organizations from across Southwestern Pennsylvania – community members and leaders, human services providers and small business owners, union members, grantmakers, filmmakers, artists, entertainers, media representatives, people from all backgrounds and interests – who share a common goal of advancing social justice and change in our region and world.

This is a three-day, open attendance conference on social justice and change for the 10-county Southwestern Pennsylvania region. Events include workshops, training sessions, plenary sessions, keynote addresses, panel discussions, the Building Change Film Festival, 7 Pathways to Change Art Show, an Internship Fair, entertainment, Youth Leading Change event, and more. Don't miss our renowned Keynote Address by Winona LaDuke on the evening of Thursday, October 13 at 6:30 PM.

Click here for more information.

Adoptee Rights will be presented on Saturday at 1PM.

Back from Pittsburgh!

2011-10-07T21:01:00.000-07:00

Amanda Woolston

Amanda with Marianne Novy for the Q & A Panel

Amanda with Libby from the Pittsburgh Consortium for Adoption Studies

Bits from Amanda's Speech:

Before the Film:
I am a reunited adoptee, adopted in 1985 through private, domestic infant adoption. I am one of a small percentage of adult adoptees who have been granted the legal right to access their sealed birth record and am part of an even smaller percentage of adoptees with access to their own sealed adoption records. You can find my musings on adoption on the internet on my blog entitled Declassified Adoptee. I am also the founder of the Lost Daughters collaboration project blog and the Pennsylvania Adoptee Rights which is a grassroots group that advocates for the restoration of the right of adult adoptees born in Pennsylvania to access their Original Birth Certificates. Believe it or not, adult adoptees are the only citizens born in the United States who are denied access to their own Original Birth Certificates. When a child is adopted, their birth certificate is sealed and an amended one is issued in its place stating that the adoptive parents are the parents who gave birth and other information may be changed as well. It was once a right we had, just like everyone else, to access the original document. There are a handful of states that allow access or have restored access to adult adoptees; Pennsylvania is not one of them.

Prior to 1984, an adoptee born in Pennsylvania could access their original birth certificate simply by writing in to the Vital Statistics Office and requesting a copy. The birth certificate was closed to the public but available to the adoptee to whom it belonged. Despite the protest of those connected to adoption, including the protests mothers who had relinquished a child saying “do not take access away,” Pennsylvania began denying adoptees the equal right they once had. A bill was passed and access was closed. What had once been a very progressive law, in contrast to the rest of the United States at the time, now was a discriminatory law with an archaic policy.

Our births are events in history and our original birth certificates are documents tying us to that historical event. Yet what everyone else who is not adopted walks into the Vital Statistics Office and receives with no issue, regardless of their family circumstances, an adopted person may never themselves see in their lifetime. Strauss’ film is about the secrecy in adoption and how it as impacted the lives of those whom her documentary follows. An adult adoptee being denied the equal right to access their own Original Birth Certificate is only a part of this secrecy.

After the Film:
Strauss’ s film shows adoptees concerned about reunions, ancestry, medical history, and rights to their Original Birth Certificate. Pennsylvania law attempts to address reunion, information access, and medical history needs by use of a registry system. However, Pennsylvania does not address an adoptee’s right to access their birth certificate the same way everyone else does. Adult adoptees being denied their original birth certificates is a civil rights issue, it is a matter of equality, and it is my chosen area of activism. It is what I came here today to share a little bit about with you.

Few people know why birth certificates of the adopted are sealed. In the early 20th century, birth records were not sealed and formal adoptions were not as prevalent. As adoptions increased in number, birth records became sealed away from public view for a number of reasons. One reason was to hide the illegitimate birth of the adopted person. In Pennsylvania up until the mid-1970’s, the birth certificates of individuals born to unmarried parents bore a label that said “illegitimate” and the stigma of illegitimacy could follow a person throughout their lifetime. Changing an adoptee’s identity and sealing their original birth certificate was also seen as a necessary measure to keep their original family from finding the adoptee and interfering with their new life. One particularly infamous adoption worker from the mid-20th century, Georgia Tann, promoted the amending and sealing of birth records in order to hide the fact that the adoptions she had arranged were illegal.

In Pennsylvania while an adoptee’s birth certificate was sealed from the public, it was available to the adoptee. It seems the history of why the birth certificates were sealed and the process by which they are sealed had been forgotten by the general assembly in 1984. Many of our lawmakers had become dedicated to limiting abortion on a state-level after the passing of Roe v. Wade. The same Representative that drafted Pennsylvania’s Abortion Control Act also drafted the bill that closed off birth certificate access to adult adoptees. They thought that by closing off adoptee’s unrestricted access to birth records that Pennsylvania’s abortion rates would fall when there was no empirically-based evidence to support this. In fact, we know from looking at states that treat adoptees equally, their abortion rates are not any higher than those in any other state.

The Adoption Act of 1984 took away an adoptee’s ability to access their birth document by simply requesting it. Now the adoptee had to either petition a judge or check in regularly with a passive state registry to see if their original parents, who may not even know the registry exists, have placed permission on file for them to have their birth certificate. This is problematic for many reasons. For one, as I said, parents and adoptees may not even know the registry exists in order to be able to use it. Passive registries have very high failure rates. The biggest issue of all with adoptees having to use the court and registry systems is that it makes adoptees a separate class of people with fewer rights than those who aren’t adopted.

So where is Pennsylvania today? In the early 2000’s, there were several access bills that were drafted and failed. In 2009 in response to support in his district, mainly from that of a mother who surrendered her daughter to adoption, Priscilla Sharp, State Representative and adult adoptee, Kerry Benninghoff drafted an equal access bill that, if passed, would have made Pennsylvania one of the most progressive states in the nation in regard to adoptee equality. His bill would have put adult adoptees back under the vital statistics law to access their birth document the same way that every other citizen born in Pennsylvania does. Unfortunately, his bill died in committee at the end of session while a different bill was made law. Under the recently changed law, the adoption social, medical, and identifying information registries will be managed by the Department of Public Welfare. No longer can adoptees petition or receive permission to see their actual birth document but rather a “summary” of certain information on their birth document. In my opinion, this makes our adoptee access laws one of the worst in the nation.

The Baby Peddlers: Interesting Article in Philadelphia Magazine from 1975

2011-09-24T13:28:00.000-07:00

"The “gray market” technique is a non-agency procedure that usually finds lawyers and doctors working together to find babies for couples who want them badly enough to buy their way around the long waits on agency lists. The doctor is often the initial contact, while the lawyer handles the money part of the deal, which includes the payment of medical and legal expenses. The cost can run as high as $25,000. This is where the gray market turns a little black."

Read the rest here.

Pennsylvania Adoptees Should be Seen and Not Heard

2011-09-14T22:08:00.000-07:00

As some of you who have been following us may be aware, Senate Bill 1360 passed last session and was made law. It was praised for making Pennsylvania one of only 24 states in the U.S. to legally recognize open adoptions. It brought Pennsylvania forward in adoption history while at the same time pushing it way back. By saying we've gone back in history I mean, of course, the provision where birth certificate access is now described as access to a "birth certificate summary" and access is still conditional upon the permission of an adoptee's first parents.

According to a DPW bulletin dated April 22, 2011:

"Act 101 will have far-reaching effects on the ability of adopted children to maintain lifelong connections with their biological family and to have access to information that may not have been readily available in the past when appropriate authorizations are on file. These connections to both people, as well as information, will allow access to information that provides an opportunity for children to understand their past and its potential impact on their lives and the lives of their descendants."

What the law essentially says is, your connections to your original family and past are important....only if another person determines so for you, on your behalf, by putting a consent on file. Even if your a 30, 40, 50, 60 (etc.) year old "adopted child." Yes, this law determines how adult adoptees will access their identifying and non-identifying information.

Among the groups listed as assisting in developing policy that makes this law work were original parents, adoptive parents, and other entities. You will notice that adult adoptees, who were once adopted children and who will be still impacted by this legislation as adults, were not listed as being consulted. The old passive registry and court system was a confusing, ineffective, and expensive ordeal for many adult adoptees who attempted to use it. No better a person is there to ask about being adopted than an adoptee. No better a person to ask how a system an adoptee will use should work than an adopted person who has used a system that hasn't worked.

The forms to use the new passive registry system, entitled "P.A.I.R." (Pennsylvania Adoption Information Registry), are found here.

It is the opinion of Pennsylvania Adoptee Rights that treating adult adoptees as perpetual children and micromanaging their ability to access information most others take for granted is both unacceptable and discriminatory. We are deeply disappointed that Pennsylvania continues to make separate rules for the adopted that make what is an unquestioned right for those not adopted a conditional privilege for those who are. It is hard to believe that it was only 26 years ago that Pennsylvania had one of the most progressive adult adoptee access laws in the United States.

Adoption on Film: Families Lost and Found

2011-08-22T20:53:00.000-07:00

Amanda from Pennsylvania Adoptee Rights will be briefly speaking about the amending and sealing law in Pennsylvania at a film festival taking place September 16 -17, 2011 at the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, University of Pittsburgh.

The films shown will be:

Wo Ai Ni Mommy (Stephanie Wang-Breal, 2007),
Adopted: For the Life of Me (Jean Strauss, 2010),
Amanda will be speaking before Strauss' film is shown
To Each His Own (Mitchell Leisen, 1946),

Secrets and Lies (Mike Leigh, 1996)

Amanda's blurb will be made available here on the PAR blog after the film festival takes place.

For more information on the event, see the "events" page at the Pittsburgh Consortium of Adoption website.

Reuion & Medical History: the Right Argument to Getting your Rights Restored

2011-08-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

Adoptee Rights Activists reach out to other adoptees, their friends and family members whenever possible to spread the message about the unfortunate state of the lack of Adoptee Rights in the United States. One such opportunity just took place at the annual Adoptee Rights Demonstration in San Antonio, Texas. As new advocates join and inquire with the Pennsylvania Adoptee Rights group pretty regularly, I wanted to take a moment to talk about the arguments for access and why it's important to keep Adoptee Rights about equality.

First of all, I will absolutely acknowledge that there are many hardships that have come along with not having access to one's original information and original family. For instance, there are so many who have had needless health complications because they had no medical history to provide their health care practitioners. Wanting to search for family is also completely understandable.

But these things do not argue for your full equality. They will not make your original birth certificates accessible to you the same way other citizens access theirs. This is because Pennsylvania already believes it is addressing these issues. Let's discuss why that is.

Your Rights Based on Search/Reunion
As I said, the desire to search is absolutely understandable. However, when we ask for our original birth certificates based on our desire to do a search, the response is "OK, you can have your birth certificate if your family wants to be found." How fair is that? Not to mention, having an OBC does not guarantee a successful search. Research has shown that of adoptees who have their OBCs in Oregon who desired to search, nearly half of them were unable to find the parent they were looking for, despite the fact that they knew the parent's name.

This argument is also not inclusive of everyone. Not everyone that wants their OBC wants to reunite. Some know their parents' names or are reunited already. They want their OBC because it is theirs.

Pennsylvania already believes it addresses this request and our laws do it in the way I've described above. It allows adoptees to petition the court system for non-ID and ID, and some courts will hire a confidential intermediary to seek permission from the original parents to have their information released. There is also a passive mutual consent registry where adoptees can check to see with their original parents have put a release on file. Passive mutual consent registries have enormous failure ratings.

You should have your OBC because it is yours, not because someone else gives you permission. Who else, regardless of family drama, has to ask for permission to see their own birth certificate? Searching, reunion, and contact are the private business of the adoptee and their family members.

Your Rights Based on Family Medical History
As I said, I know that for so many people, managing their health care has been tremendously difficult without a family medical history. I had a tumor at the age of 21 that was extremely hard for my doctors to identify. It would have been helpful to have been able to share that I have a history of both malignant and benign tumors on my paternal side with my doctors. It is also a good cause. People can come up with 90 million ridiculous, stereotype-riddled reasons why adoptees should not have access to their birth certificates--answering these can be a daunting and overwhelming task. Few people will say to an adoptee that they should not be able to have information to manage their health care and to be able to pass it on to their own children.

However, the issues are still separate.

Adoptee Rights asks for the restoration of an Original Birth Certificate to each adult adoptee who wants theirs. PA birth certificates are very simple are are not likely to have any medical information on them. The implication of this argument then would be, that the adoptee will use their OBC to find their original family to ask for family medical history. The response to this? "OK, you can have your OBC if your original family wants to share it with you" or, some other legislation that addresses medical history while leaving adoptee equality out of the mix.

Pennsylvania already believes it addresses this request. PA has a mutual consent registry for the exchange of medical information, managed through the Department of Public Welfare. It does not address adoptee equality. It does not involve the release of OBCs or make OBC release equal for all.

As I said before, asking for contact or even medical information is a private matter between the adoptee and their families. I agree that Pennsylvania needs to improve its medical information registry! However, that is a separate matter from the OBC issue. Neither cause will get any justice when we put the two together in the same argument.

Your Right to be Equal
Adult adoptees born in PA have a right receive their Original Birth Certificate because it is a right afforded to every other person born in Pennsylvania. Period. There is no justification for treating adult adoptees differently than everyone else.

Pennsylvania current law does not currently address this request. And it should.

To learn more about the arguments so that you can reach out to your legislator, visit our Get Informed page at the top of our website.

---Amanda

An Adoptee Rights Demonstration 2011 Video

2011-08-10T13:11:00.001-07:00

It's Op-Ed and Letting Writing Time! Let's Get Going!

2011-07-04T10:27:00.000-07:00

This is the perfect opportunity for everyone to start writing to their legislators and submitting Op-Eds to their local newspapers!

Here's some topics you can cover:

Rhode Island just passed a law giving adult adoptees unconditional access to their own original birth certificates. They have joined Alaska, Kansas, Oregon, New Hampshire, Alabama, and Maine as the states who treat adoptees equally. PA has an Adoptee Rights bill too, HB 963. Let's be the next state to correct to treat adult adoptees equally!

The Adoptee Rights Demonstration is in one month! Activists from all over the world will be at the National Convention of State Legislators protesting and inside the convention at the Adoptee Rights Coalition booth providing education. Let your local newspaper and your legislators know that Pennsylvania adoptees and mothers and VOTERS will be there marching for the return of Adoptee Rights!

Happy Independence Day! This is a time where we reflect on freedom and justice for all in our country. But what about the rights of adoptees and the injustice of adoptee inequality? Discrimination is not an American value.

Is your legislator on the House Children and Youth Committee? Call/email/write to them and ask them to give HB 963 a hearing! For more info on the bill and info on who to contact, click here.

Fenichel Adoptees on Huckabee

2011-07-03T17:14:00.000-07:00

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.

RHODE ISLAND....THE 7TH STATE!

2011-07-01T09:43:00.001-07:00

Congratulations to adult adoptees born in the state of Rhode Island. A victory today, in one year the law will take effect that will allow adoptees over the age of 25 to access their own original birth certificates!

Please, please head over to Access Rhode Island's Facebook page and "like" them and thank them. They did an amazing job!

PAR Featured on Yahoo! News

2011-05-05T19:30:00.000-07:00

"Imagine not knowing who your mother is, what your genetic heritage is, or how you might be connected to history. Imagine having difficulty getting a passport or driver's license. For adopted individuals, this is an unfortunate reality, since many states prevent them from accessing their original birth certificates. But if mother and activist Amanda Woolston, 26, can do anything about it, that will change.

Woolston, who lives in the greater Philadelphia area, is a stay-at-home mom, part-time student, and activist by night. She takes care of blogging, corresponding with other activists, letter writing, and other activities after her sons, 2 1/2 years and 4 weeks, go to sleep. The issue is personal to Woolston, who was adopted, but it was because of her children that she became an adoptee rights advocate......"

Read the rest here.

Introducing HB 963 & How You Can Help

2011-03-12T06:15:00.000-08:00

House Bill 963, introduced by Rep. Benninghoff, authorizes the Pennsylvania Bureau of Vital Statistics to disclose the original or amended copy of a birth certificate upon the written request of an adoptee age 18 or older. To view the bill, go to www.legis.state.pa.us and click on “Find Legislation by Bill No (HB 963).” The first several paragraphs of the bill are taken from the language in Senator Greenleaf’s bill passed last fall and provide for release of a summary only of the original birth record. Under paragraph (d) of Rep. Benninghoff’s bill, the adopted adult is entitled to receive a copy of his or her original birth certificate.

HB 963 has been assigned to the Committee on Children & Youth. At this time, we are asking that you contact the Majority Chair and Vice Chair of this Committee requesting that they schedule the bill for a hearing. Contact information is:

Rep. Dennis M. O’Brien
Chair, Children & Youth
Email: dobrien@pahousegop.com
Phone: 215-632-5150

or

If your legislator is a member of Children & Youth, you should also contact her or him.

Here is the message you should convey:

Currently, non-adopted people born in Pennsylvania can apply to the Bureau of
Vital Statistics, pay a $10.00 fee and get their birth certificate. Adopted people,
however, may only receive copies of their amended birth certificate, issued after
their adoptions were finalized. Their original birth certificate is sealed to them.
HB 963 would allow PA-born adopted adults to receive a copy of his or her
original birth certificate in exactly the same manner as every other citizen of the
Commonwealth. We urge you to schedule a hearing in the near future affording
members of the adoption community the opportunity to voice our support for HB
963.

Remember, the more voices that the legislators hear, the better chance we have of getting a hearing.

717-787-5689

Rep. Dan Moul
Vice Chair, Children & Youth
Email: dmoul@pahousegop.com
Phone: 717-334-3010

or

717-783-5217

Update About Act 101 of 2010 (SB 1360)

2011-01-28T09:17:00.000-08:00

Individuals interested in Adoptee Rights and accessing information about their adoptions have been asking PAR about the new law and where they can find information. According to DPW...

April 25, 2011: the new law takes effect
March 2011: the Act 101 Bulletin will be released that will outline the new requirements in laymen's terms.
After the release of the final draft of the Act 101 Bulletin, all forms about the expanded registry will be available at www.adoptpakids.org along with the Act 10l Bulletin.

We hope that helps some of you who had questions.

Pa. woman charged for conducting fake raffle to benefit family adoption fund

2011-01-26T08:39:00.000-08:00

From The Star-Gazette:

"A Canton woman was charged Tuesday after police said she set up a fake raffle to benefit a Columbia Cross Roads family’s adoption fund, then didn’t pay the family.

State police in Towanda charged Lynette Karen Shedden, 41, of Canton, with theft by deception as a third-degree felony.

Shedden collected a minimum of $16,000, police said.

Shedden approached the White family, who was planning in fall of 2009 to adopt three children with special needs from Ukraine, and offered to run a raffle to assist with adoption costs, police said.

That family, who police said was not involved in the fraud, was the subject of a Thanksgiving Day 2010 story in this newspaper. Two of their adoptive children have Down syndrome. The other has Holt-Oram syndrome, which caused a left hand deformity, club foot and a heart defect.

“I’m sick that she would use my children … to capitalize their disabilities to line her pockets,” Sherry White said. “It really made us heartsick, … left us in a really bad position.”

At least 1,600 tickets at $10 each, police said.

According to a criminal complaint against Shedden filed in District Court in Troy, Shedden met with Sherry White in January 2010 and gave her 1,000 raffle tickets, and said she would keep 1,000 to sell on her own.

“When the tickets were being sold, we were really optimistic,” White said. “We were very grateful for her help. We thought it was a blessing.”

“We knew Lynette for many years … so we didn’t have any reason to doubt her in any way,” she said.

White said the family expected to get $10,000 from the raffle, which they would have been used to bring the three children from Ukraine in August."

Fallout felt from airlift of Haitian orphans

2011-01-14T08:12:00.000-08:00

From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

…The boys were part of the airlift of 54 orphans Jan. 18, led by Gov. Ed Rendell and U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire, D-McCandless, after appeals by two Ben Avon sisters, Jamie and Ali McMutrie…

And one year later, many international adoption experts and child welfare officials are trying to work with the Haitian government, with limited success, to ensure that this type of hastily planned evacuation doesn’t happen again.

“People always respond in a crisis out of the kindness of their hearts, but this was misguided kindness,” said Julie Rosicky, executive director of International Social Service-USA.

The 12 children who ended up at Holy Family, she noted, were not in the midst of adoption proceedings, even though their parents had signed relinquishment papers. They were included because the McMutrie sisters refused to leave Haiti with Mr. Rendell unless those children came, too.

“It broke all the principles we’ve established as an international adoption community to keep children with their families and in their countries of origin above all else, with inter-country adoption a last resort,” said Ms. Rosicky.

Indeed, the mother of 11-year-old Fekkens Souffrant, one of the 12 BRESMA children who came to Holy Family, told The New York Times earlier this month that she had not known, when she signed relinquishment papers, that she would not be able to see her child again and didn’t discover he had been taken to the U.S. until she visited the orphanage several days afterward.

Federal officials declined to comment specifically about Fekkens’ case, although the Red Cross had conducted a trace to locate the 12 biological families of those children at Holy Family, and Haitian and U.S. officials met with each biological family to determine whether the family wanted the child to be adopted by a U.S. family.

Read the full article here.

Prof. Samuels & History of Closed Records at Pitt Law School

2010-09-05T14:39:00.000-07:00

The following information below has been copied and pasted off of a flier about the upcoming visit of Professor Elizabeth Samuels to Pitt Law School.

PLEASE FORWARD FREELY......
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pittsburgh Consortium for Adoption Studies
University of Pittsburgh School of Arts and Sciences

School of Law

Women’s Studies Program

Present:

Elizabeth Samuels
Professor, University of Baltimore School of Law
Adoption, Identity, and Confidentiality:
The History of Closed Records
\Thursday, September 30 12:30 pm
G-20 University of Pittsburgh Law School

3900 Forbes Avenue

Currently, when children are adopted, they are usually issued new birth certificates in which the names of adoptive parents replace the names of birth parents. Copies of their sealed original birth certificates have been unavailable to adult adoptees in most states for varying numbers of years. But recently many states around the country have considered, and some have passed, legislation restoring adult adoptees’ right to receive uncertified copies of their original birth certificate upon request. House Bill 1978, now in the Pennsylvania House Health and Human Services Committee, would restore this right, overturning the 1984 law that foreclosed access. Another bill in the House, H. B. 1968, takes a different approach: it would establish procedures by which a court or agency must locate birth parents and obtain consent before providing identifying information to an adoptee. Against the backdrop of these bills, this talk will discuss the surprising, often misunderstood history of adoptee birth records and the significance of that history with respect to adoptees' rights and birth parents’ concerns.

Elizabeth Samuels received her J.D. from the University of Chicago. She is the author of an influential article in the Rutgers Law Review on the history of sealing adoptees’ birth records, has written about laws governing mothers’ consent to the adoption of their newborns, and is currently doing research on the surrender documents birth mothers signed during the last century. She has made presentations at national conferences on adoption, testified in state legislative hearings about adoption law bills, worked on projects with the Donaldson Adoption Institute, and received the “Angel in Adoption” award of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption of the U.S. Congress.

Contacts: Marianne Novy, mnovy@pitt.edu, or Rhonda Wasserman, wasserma@pitt.edu

More on Unethical Vaccine Trials

2010-08-26T21:51:00.000-07:00

More information in the news about the adoptee born in Ireland and adopted to Pennsylvania who received controversial vaccinations without her mother's consent while in a Mother and Baby Home in Ireland.
---------------------------------------------------------
Copied from: Source

Monday August 23 2010

PRESSURE was last night growing on the Government to hold an independent inquiry into controversial vaccine trials carried out in the 1960s and 1970s.

The Adoption Rights Alliance joined the growing chorus of survivors and politicians calling for a new probe into the trials, which were conducted on behalf of a multinational drugs company.

The call comes amid continuing questions regarding the whereabouts of a confidential investigation into the issue that was carried out by the Department of Health.

In 1993, the private secretary to the then health minister, Brendan Howlin, said the inquiry had been carried out into the nature of the trials.

On foot of this probe, he said Mr Howlin was "satisfied" that there was no added risk to the children who were involved.

However, the results of this investigation were never published and the department is currently searching for the documents in its archives.

Officials said all files relating to the vaccine trials were stored off-site in a secure storage facility and not in the department at Hawkins House. The department said it would examine the files when they are retrieved.

The probe was followed up by another investigation, commissioned in 1997 by the then health minister Brian Cowen.

It found that at least 211 children took part in three separate vaccine trials in the 1960s and 1970s. The report was referred for further investigation to the Commission Investigating Child Abuse, also known as the Laffoy Commission, that year.

However, two court cases taken by doctors involved in the trials curtailed the work of the Commission and it was eventually closed down in 2006 by Health Minister Mary Harney.

Since then, the issue has fallen off the public agenda and the victims have never received counselling, medical screening or an apology from the State.

Last night, Susan Lohan, co-founder of the Adoption Rights Alliance, insisted that all documents should be probed by an independent inquiry.

"All of the documents should be transferred to an independent body, which will then investigate the reason why these trials were carried out on vulnerable children," she said.

"It is terrible to think of the way these children were treated. They were treated as if they were expendable."
"They were the children of women who were shunned by society and they were clearly regarded as so worthless that nobody thought anything about subjecting them to experiments."

Fine Gael health spokesman Dr James Reilly said all documentation should be examined firstly by the Oireachtas Health Committee.

Experiments
"It is totally unacceptable for children in the care of the State to be involved in a vaccine trial without proper information being made available or the full consent of their parents or guardians," he said.

Dr Reilly added: "Having examined all the evidence, the committee can then decide the next step."

The Irish Independent last week revealed that Mari Steed (50) and three other victims of the trials are to take legal action in the US courts against GlaxoSmithKline, the company which was responsible for the trials.
Ms Steed was given the vaccine in the mother and baby home at the Sacred Heart Convent in Bessborough, Co Cork, when she was between nine and 18 months old, without her mother's consent.

A government spokesman last night could not comment on the calls and a spokesman from the Department of Health was not available for comment.

- Patricia McDonagh
Irish Independent

PAR Guest Columnist for Open Adoption Examiner

2010-08-25T13:04:00.000-07:00

The practice of amending and sealing the birth certificates of the adopted began in the first half of the 20th century as a way to protect the adopted person from the "illegitimate" label that was placed on the birth certificates of children born out of wedlock. Pennsylvania had such a practice until the 1960s. The stigma of illigitimacy could follow a person throughout life. Sealing the original and releasing an amended document with the adoptive parent's names presented as the parents who had given birth served the purpose of disguising that an illegitimate birth had taken place. Despite the records being unavailable to the public, Adult Adoptees born in Pennsylvania were able to review their sealed birth record by simply making a written request.
In the second half of the 20th century interest arose in closing the Adult Adoptees' access to their own Original Birth Certificate. Professor Elizabeth Samuels of the University of Baltimore School of Law has written that the original sealing of birth records caused even more stigma and misunderstanding in society........

read the rest here.

Adult Adoptee: Victim in legal battle over infant drug trial

2010-08-21T14:16:00.000-07:00

By Patricia McDonagh
Friday August 20 2010
for Independent.ie National News
(reposted to this blog. Original source here).

A WOMAN subjected to a controversial vaccine trial as a baby without her mother's consent broke her silence last night to reveal her traumatic decades-long fight for justice.

Mari Steed (50) was effectively used as a guinea pig during the 'four-in-one' vaccine trials carried out on her between December 1960 and October 1961 when she was between nine and 18 months old.

She was given up for adoption to a couple in the US shortly afterwards and is now preparing a class action in the US courts against the multinational drugs giant responsible for the medical tests, an Irish Independent investigation reveals.

Ms Steed and three others who were also subjected to the trials are looking to separately sue the Catholic religious order that they claim facilitated the experiments in the early 1960s.

She was administered the vaccine on at least four occasions at the Sacred Heart Convent, Bessborough, in Cork, also known as the Bessborough Mother and Baby Home.

Ms Steed became aware she had been subjected to the vaccine trials after she retrieved her medical documents while trying to track down her mother, Josephine, in the late 1990s.

Josephine, who is now in a nursing home in the UK, last night said the tests were carried out on her baby daughter without her consent or knowledge of her medical history.

"They didn't ask me for my permission to give her that shot," she said.

Ms Steed, who now lives in Philadelphia, and a number of other victims in the US are taking the landmark case because repeated attempts to seek justice in this country have failed.............

(read the rest here)

Monday is "Contact Chairman Oliver Day" for Adoptee Rights

2010-08-13T19:52:00.000-07:00

Call/email/mail Pennsylvania House of Representatives Health and Human Services, Chairman Oliver, on Monday please! This is of vital importance that everyone who can contact him does.

Why? We need HB 1978 to get a hearing in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Health and Human Services Committee. HB 1978 is a 100% clean access bill. If it becomes law, as-is, it will streamline Vital Services in PA. Adult Adoptees will be able to walk into Vital Statistics just like everyone else and get their Original Birth Certificate with no restrictions.

Your email/call/letter shouldn't take more than a two sentences. Tell him you support HB 1978 and tell him to give it a hearing!

-------Contact Info-----------------

Hon. Frank Louis Oliver (Chairman)

34E East Wing
PO Box 202195
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2195
Phone: (717) 787-3480

Fax: (717) 783-0684

foliver@pahouse.net

Do you live in Philadelphia County? YOU are HIS constituent. Let him know that!

-------More Info-----------------

Read the bill: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr=2009&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=B&billNbr=1978&pn=2659

check us out at http://www.adopteerightspa.org/

HB 1968 and PAR's Concerns Clarification

2010-08-11T19:48:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have received responses from Representative Sonney. PAR wants to clarify our concerns with HB 1968. It is important anyone new to the movement understand what Adoptee Rights asks for, that it covers adults only, and that it is seperate from "open adoption."

Open adoptions are (usually non-binding) agreements between the Original and Adoptive Parents of a minor that establish the level of information-sharing during the adoptee's youth. Regardless of the preference for openness between families, the Original Birth Certificate and records relating to the adoption are still sealed. PAR only advocates for the release of the Original Birth Certificate (not court or agency records) once an adoptee has reached the age of majority and does not currently take a position on contact and information sharing arrangements between the parents of a minor.

We understand that HB 1968 involves a Confidential Intermediary and it seeks not to compromise the "confidentiality" of Original Parents during the information sharing process. However, HB 1978 does not allow any sort of permanent confidentiality as it involves unrestricted access of adults to an uncensored birth certificate with the Original Parents' names on it. These two conflicting themes in the bills concern us that the provisions for confidential information sharing in HB 1968 would cause eventual changes to HB 1978 to provide conditional release of the OBC instead of unhindered release.

HB 1978 is the first clean access bill Pennsylvania has had in over 7 years with a total of almost 26 years of various individuals fighting tirelessly for Original Birth Certificate access. We hope Representative Sonney can understand why we have these concerns.

We would have no problem with an optional intermediary solely for minors to exchange information with their Original Families, if the law had an expressly written understanding that any confidentiality would end at the age of 18 (because we want birth certificate to be able to be accessed, without restriction, by the Adult Adoptee). Information sharing through an intermediary should be optional for Adult Adoptees and not hinder the right of Adult Adoptees to know the names of their Original Parents (e.g. as they appear on the Original Birth Certificate). We have concerns with what the intentions are with the intermediary being "confidential" as we believe that promising a mother that her name will never be released to her surrendered descendant is not only extra-legal, but it does not anticipate the minor adoptee's future rights as an adult citizen who is entitled to truth and equality as well as access to Original Identity. These are Civil and Basic Human Rights.

We have offered to meet together with both bill sponsors in an effort to make sure both the needs of Minor Adoptees and Adult Adoptees are met, making sure to protect the identity and civil rights of Adult Adoptees.

Re-Cap of "Contact Rep Sonney Day." Please read.

2010-08-09T12:34:00.000-07:00

We have spoken to Rep. Sonney's office about HB 1968. The intention of HB 1968 had been to allow adoptees to petition or request for medical information from their Original Parents as well as allow contact for siblings.

They were not aware how the access to the Original Birth Certificates entered into the bill that they wrote because they did not intend to hinder OBC access.

Unfortunately HB 1968's process uses the court systems and agencies to petition for information--which is also what Adult Adoptees currently have to do in order to get their OBC, records, or contact as well, under the same portion of law. HB 1968 was centered around instating this extra process to the law mentioning confidentiality of Original Parents several times. We cannot pass a bill with a process that is designed to work around the current facade of "confidentiality" in adoption because it would hinder an OBC access bill--because as you know, the names of Original Parents are on those OBCs.

Sonney's office is reviewing the bill and will get back to PAR about any changes. We will be taking the petition down for now so that they have time to review the bill and get back to everyone who wrote to them.
Thank you all!

Amanda

Adoptee Rights in Examiner.com Philadelphia

2010-08-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

Adoptees born in Kansas or Alaska have not had to worry because their records were never sealed.

Adoptees born in Tennessee, Alabama, Delaware, New Hampshire, Maine, Oregon or Illinois are likely able to get their hands on their own birth records (depending on the year they were born and/or birth parent input, in some states).................read more.

Does your Rep Newsletter Offer to Help You Apply for Birth Certificates?

2010-08-07T21:00:00.000-07:00

Take him/her up on his/her offer!

When I got my House of Representative's newsletter in the mail, something at the bottom caught my eye. His office can help me apply for birth and death certificates! Now, I'm an adoptee and PA voter, but I wasn't born in PA (and I have my Original Birth Certificate), so my Rep cannot help me....but there are loads of PA-born adoptees out there. Will their Reps be willing to help them?

Call your Rep's and Senator's offices and tell them that you need to make an appointment for someone to help you apply for your birth certificate!

If they don't know the difference between an Original and an Amended, tell them. If they don't know the process, tell them everything you have to go through. If you were denied, tell them about that too.

Why the Original is Important

Identity is identity whether you are adopted or not.
You were not materialized out of thin air in a judge's chambers. Your life began at birth and you deserve to know about yourself from birth forward
Original Birth Certificates are made available to the non-adopted; the adopted should be no exception.
You may need the original to get a passport. If you move into another state, you may need it to get a driver's license depending on their laws.
You deserve to see the original, factual document off of which your amended certificate is based to make sure the amended is accurate.

Is your legislator adopted? How would they feel if their positions were questioned because they could not produce an Original Birth Certificate to prove their citizenship or that they were born in the United States? How would they feel if they were not permitted to run for office if they cannot show an Original Birth Certificate? Such legislation aimed at public officials in the United States has been discussed!

The Process for the OBC
You must pay $10 and register with the Birth Parent Identifying Information Registry. If there is no match, you will receive nothing. You will have to periodically keep applying and paying $10 to see if your Original Parents have given permission yet (the registry is passive), you will not be notified if they do find the registry and release their identities. How often should you keep checking in? How would your Rep feel if they had to pay $10 every time?

The Process for the Non-ID info/ID info/OBC
Ask your legislator to help you petition the court. Keep them updated every step of the way. Did the court you contacted even respond? What are the fees? Ask your Rep if they would like to pay fees like that in order to receive factual birth documentation. Would they want to petition a judge? If your application gets sent back, tell your Rep. Let your Rep know how hard this process can be.

And if you don't get your birth certificate out of it, your Rep will have to do the right thing and support HB 1978 which will allow you to get your birth certificate.

If they are offering to help in their newsletter, they really should mean it--and they should mean it for all of their voters, not just the non-adopted ones.

Live and Vote Outside of Pennsylvania?
Go to your Rep/Senator (if in their newsletters, website, or other public statements they've offered to help you with applications) and show them just how bound to your birth state you are for your identity. How strong is their claim that they're willing to help you? You do not vote in the state that holds your OBC hostage, tell them how that feels. Ask them to look in to how their state treats Adult Adoptees.

--Amanda

URGENT ACTION NEEDED--Help us Defeat HB 1968

2010-08-06T21:41:00.000-07:00

Dear Advocates,

As you may have known, there were two bills in the Health and Human Services Committee that seek to change the portion of adoption law that governs an Adult Adoptee's access to identifying information.

HB 1968 is the BAD bill. HB 1978 is the GOOD, equal rights, bill.

Unfortunately, despite all of our outpouring of support for HB 1978, it is still sitting in the HHS Committee. HB 1968, on the other hand, has made its way out of committee and is now before the PA House of Representatives for consideration.

It is of utmost importance that HB 1968 be defeated. HB 1968 not only does not change the current law much at all; it actually makes it worse. Worse even yet, should HB 1968 pass, we worry that legislators (1) will believe that the law is improved when it isn't and (2) won't want to re-address this issue and portion of law, and will leave HB 1978 to die in committee.

We cannot let the law get worse with HB 1968. We cannot let HB 1978 die.

We have created a call-to-action made available HERE.

In the call-to-action you will find:

(1) the text to the bill

(2) bill sponsors to contact

(3) a guide letter to assist those who are new to contacting legislators in drafting letters and emails.

(4) ways to help PAR and defeat HB 1968

(5) our Position Statement of Opposition to HB 1968 to give you an overview on the bill and why we oppose it.

For more information, please see http://www.adopteerightspa.org/

Adoptee Rights Coalition on NPR

2010-08-02T04:57:00.000-07:00

Please make sure to comment!

http://www.thetakeaway.org/2010/aug/02/adoptee-access-original-birth-certificates/

Another Op-Ed! This Time in The Daily Review

2010-07-23T12:59:00.000-07:00

In support of HB 1978
EDITOR: Under current law, Pennsylvania-born adopted adults are denied access to their original birth information unless they have court approval and written permission from the parents who gave birth to them, unlike any other adult who does not need permission.
HB 1978, sponsored by Representative Benninghoff, would correct this inequality by allowing adult adoptees to have their original birth certificate. HB 1978 has been stalled in the House Health & Human Services Committee for almost a year. It deserves a public hearing so that members of the adoption community can voice their support for or concerns about the bill. Committee Chair Frank Louis Oliver should schedule a hearing as soon as the General Assembly returns from its summer break. Representative Matt Baker is Minority Chair of the House Health & Human Services Committee.
As adoptive parents of an adopted adult we know first hand how very important this basic right is for adult adoptees. We fully support HB 1978.
Anne and George Vivino-Hintze

Windham

Please go here to comment and read the letter on the original webpage, Tweet, post to Facebook etc. Please go here to vote for this letter on Yahoo Buzz so that more people will be able to see it.

PAR's Priscilla Sharp Writes OP-ED for PA News Source!

2010-07-22T13:53:00.000-07:00

Priscilla writes:
I am on my way to the Adoptee Rights Demonstration, a rally and protest in Louisville, Ky., on Sunday. This rally will coincide with the opening day of the annual summit of the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Adult adoptees in most of the advanced, industrialized nations of the world have unrestricted access to their original birth certificates as a matter of right. In contrast, adult adoptees in all but six states in the U.S. are forbidden unrestricted access to their own OBCs, due to archaic laws that are a legacy of a culture of shame that stigmatized infertility, out-of-wedlock birth and adoption.

In Pennsylvania, adopted adults are denied access to their original birth information unless they have court approval and written permission from the parents who gave birth to them, unlike any other adult who does not need permission.
HB 1978, sponsored by Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, would correct this inequality by allowing adult adoptees to have their original birth certificates. HB 1978 has been stalled in the House Health & Human Services Committee for almost a year. It deserves a public hearing so that members of the adoption community can voice their support for the bill.

I am a mother who placed a daughter for adoption in 1964, and I fully support this bill. I hope you, too, will give serious consideration to supporting this important issue that has adversely affected thousands upon thousands of citizens — your neighbors, friends, perhaps even your own family — for decades too long!
Priscilla Stone Sharp State College

Read more: http://www.centredaily.com/2010/07/22/2108174/adoptees-need-better-rights.html#ixzz0uRlRUMQg

Please go directly to the article by the link above and make a comment!

WHYY Philly on Adoptee Rights. Adam Pertman and U of Penn Professor Debate

2010-06-21T14:31:00.000-07:00

A debate took place between Adam Pertman of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute and Prof. Anita Allen of the U. of PA Law School today on WHYY Philly regarding adoptee access legislation. You can listen to the archive of the show at http://whyy.org/cms/radiotimes/

Contact WHYY and tell them you support Adoptee Rights and want to hear more. Let them know about HB 1978 and PAR Advocates. Our website is found here: www.adopteerightspa.org.

Adoptee Rights Editorial in Philly.com

2010-06-19T12:06:00.000-07:00

See the below editorial on Philly.com and make a comment. Ask them to follow House Bill No. 1978 in Pennsylvania!

Editorial: A fair balance

The New Jersey Legislature should pass a bill that would allow adopted kids to find their parents while striking a good balance to protect the privacy of birth mothers.

Adult adoptees would get not only access to their original birth certificates and names of their biological mothers, but also important family medical history.

It would be a major victory for advocates who have been working for more than 30 years to open up access to birth records. Only eight states currently allow such access. (Pennsylvania ended the practice in 1985.)

The measure cleared the Assembly Human Services Committee this week by a 6-0 vote. The full Assembly should approve the measure.
The Senate approved the bill in March. It is unclear whether Gov. Christie will support it, but proponents have reason for cautious optimism this time around.

The bill includes reasonable safeguards to protect the rights of birth parents who may not want to be contacted directly. But it would still require them to provide medical and cultural information.

Giving adoptees and birth parents access to adoption records could bring the closure that many have desperately sought for years.

PA Call to Action HB 1978

2010-05-31T21:45:00.000-07:00

_____________________________________

**FORWARD FREELY**

_______________________________________

A Pennsylvania Adoptee Rights Call to Action

End Adult Adoptee Inequality in Pennsylvania

PROMOTE HB 1978

STOP HB 1968

STOP SB 1360

Nathaniel Craver's death prompts look at safeguards within Pennsylvania, county inspection systems

2010-04-24T21:06:00.001-07:00

Passing on recent adoption article: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2010/03/nathaniel_cravers_death_prompt.html

The ARD Letter Writing Campaign has Begun!!

2010-04-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

From the Adoptee Rights Demonstration Louisville blog:

"Letter Writing Campaign

Have you ever wanted to help out with the adoptee rights movement, but weren’t sure how to get involved? Maybe you’re not able to make it to the protest, or better yet, maybe you’re joining us and still want to help out?

This is your opportunity to get involved!

On 3 specific dates from now until the protest, protesters and supporters will be sending letters to their state representatives. Our mission is to inform the legislators about the issues surrounding Adoptee Rights and unconditional access to our birth certificates, as well as informing them of our 3rd appearance in Louisville this July. Join us!

This July 26 - 28, 2010 the Adoptee Rights Coalition is an Exhibitor at the Annual Summit of the National Conference of State Legislatures, where thousands of your State Representatives are expected. By participating in this campaign you are helping “our cause” reach the legislators before we meet during the convention. When we approach them for their positions and possible support for unconditional access, they will have a better understanding of what we’re talking about.

We may have 2 minutes with someone, who if given the correct material through our writing campaign, would support a clean restoring access bill in your state.

If you’ve never written a letter to your state legislator, now is the perfect opportunity to get started! A draft letter as well as other important information is below.

We’re asking volunteers to come together and participate in this letter-writing campaign over the next months leading up to the protest.

For more info, click here.

Pennsylvania Adoptee Rights

Scranton woman turns adoption story into blog - News - The Times-Tribune

Adoptee Rights Advocate, Linda Bebko-Jones, Passes at 65

What do Adoptees in PA Need to Know About Accessing Information?

Back from Building Change!

Building Change Tomorrow!

Could Adoptees Lose the Right to Vote?

Adoptees and the Abortion Stigma

Building Change: a Convergence for Social Justice

Back from Pittsburgh!

The Baby Peddlers: Interesting Article in Philadelphia Magazine from 1975

Pennsylvania Adoptees Should be Seen and Not Heard

Adoption on Film: Families Lost and Found

Reuion & Medical History: the Right Argument to Getting your Rights Restored

An Adoptee Rights Demonstration 2011 Video

It's Op-Ed and Letting Writing Time! Let's Get Going!

Fenichel Adoptees on Huckabee

RHODE ISLAND....THE 7TH STATE!

PAR Featured on Yahoo! News

Introducing HB 963 & How You Can Help

Update About Act 101 of 2010 (SB 1360)

Pa. woman charged for conducting fake raffle to benefit family adoption fund

Fallout felt from airlift of Haitian orphans

Prof. Samuels & History of Closed Records at Pitt Law School

More on Unethical Vaccine Trials

PAR Guest Columnist for Open Adoption Examiner

Adult Adoptee: Victim in legal battle over infant drug trial

Monday is "Contact Chairman Oliver Day" for Adoptee Rights

HB 1968 and PAR's Concerns Clarification

Re-Cap of "Contact Rep Sonney Day." Please read.

Adoptee Rights in Examiner.com Philadelphia

Does your Rep Newsletter Offer to Help You Apply for Birth Certificates?

**URGENT ACTION NEEDED--Help us Defeat HB 1968**

Adoptee Rights Coalition on NPR

Another Op-Ed! This Time in The Daily Review

PAR's Priscilla Sharp Writes OP-ED for PA News Source!

WHYY Philly on Adoptee Rights. Adam Pertman and U of Penn Professor Debate

Adoptee Rights Editorial in Philly.com

PA Call to Action HB 1978

Nathaniel Craver's death prompts look at safeguards within Pennsylvania, county inspection systems

The ARD Letter Writing Campaign has Begun!!

URGENT ACTION NEEDED--Help us Defeat HB 1968