Date: Monday, February 02, 1998 12:57 PM
Dear Representative __________, _____Legislative District,
I am an adoptee writing in SUPPORT OF HB2810. Access to one's original birth certificate, unaltered and without amendment in any way, is a civil right taken away from adoptees as a consequence of misguided and uninformed social policy promoted under the guise of "the best interest of the child" during the 1930's-1950's. As one who holds two degrees I assure you I am in no way a child; however, like all other adoptees in the United States except in Alaska and Kansas I am denied access to my original birth certificate for life. This irony is lost on my sons' quest for needed medical history which has been genetically inherited.
The Bible says the truth will set you free. For your edification, please let me share with you the truth about some of the arguments against open records. The truth is that birth mothers were never given a guarantee or promise of confidentiality because adoption records are sealed when the adoption is finalized; not at the time of relinquishment. The fact is that in the Tennessee case of Doe v. Sundquist the Supreme court of the United States held that the right of privacy does not extend as far as maintaining anonymity from one's biological children. The truth is that longitudinal studies in those countries which have opened previously closed adoption records prove the RATE OF ADOPTION GOES UP and the RATE OF ABORTION GOES DOWN when records are opened. The fact is that 90 per cent of birth parents are happy to be found contrary to the impression given by the media in those rare cases of acrimonious rejection which are sensationalized to garner high ratings.
I would like to thank you in advance for taking both the moral and legal high ground and restore the civil rights of adoptees to access their original birth certificate without any type of white out or other defacement, amendment, contact veto, or intermediary system upon the age of majority.
Sincerely,
Tana Swanson Cutcliff
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