Support New York Open Records Legislation UPDATED

The unsealed initiative is the name of the New York movement. Their website is here.

They have a petition  at http://www.petitiononline.com/nysarpt1/petition.html . Please consider signing.

The bill’s summary is pasted below:

Petition in Support of New York State Bill of Adoptee Rights – Assembly Bill # A928; Senate Bill # S446.

We the undersigned call for the immediate passage of the New York State Bill of Adoptee Rights Assembly Bill # A928; Senate Bill # S446, Opening the Adoption Records in New York State.

1. This legislation fully encourages the New York State Assembly and Senate Members to acknowledge and support within a law, the lifelong health and well-being of adults who have been or will be adopted in this state. It also has them by law recognize that the denial of access to accurate and complete medical and self-identifying data of any citizen, is a violation of that citizens civil rights.

2. This legislation clearly states that adoptees be given equal considerations permitted by law to all non-adopted citizens. But it does so while providing for the need of privacy for that adopted citizen and his/her birth and adoptive families.

3. All adoptees (whether adopted in or outside of NYS) shall at the age of 18 be granted the right — To have access to and attain his/her Original (long form, line by line vault copy) Birth Certificate. All adoptees will have the right to obtain from a court of competent jurisdiction or the adoption agency the true and correct identifying information that would have appeared on his/her original Birth Certificate, with a hold harmless clause for releasing such information from any liability arising out of the disclosure.

4. This legislation insures that all updated information shall also be released to all parties involved. Adoptees, under this legislation, are guaranteed their right to updated and current birth family medical histories.

5. The contact preference protects the civil rights of all birth parents and adoptees that do not want contact. This preference can be rescinded at any time by the filing party.

6. Regardless of the Contact Preference it will not diminish the right of the Adopted Person to receive updated health information and their Birth Certificate.

7. This legislation also assures within two years of passage that the Governor form a citizens task force to review, assess and report on the progress and administration of this legislation. It states the individuals that shall be a part of this task force (equal numbers of adopted persons, birth parents, adoptive parents and adoption professionals). It allows these individuals to have full access to files from Children & Family Services, Surrogate courts to enable complete and accurate reporting without comprise. It also within this law states that this task force within one year will submit a written report to the legislature and the public on:

The number of Birth Certificates requested by adopted persons.
The number of original uncertified Birth Certificates provided to adopted persons.
The number of contact preferences filled by birth parent(s).
The number of contact preferences rescinded by same parent or parents.

8. This legislation also assures that additional information and data will be collected and accepted from birth relatives and updated continuously. It further states that this data will be provided within 90 days to either the adoptive parents of a minor or directly to the adult adopted person.

9. This legislation also presents the importance and use of a Law Guardian or Guardian Ad Litem to honestly protect the rights of the child.

10. This legislation also presents the importance within its wording, behind all adopted persons having the right to grow up into adulthood, leaving the stigma of forever being a child behind in the laws of this state.

Remember this — some adoptees have been totally denied access to medical information and testing for certain genetic diseases due to their lack of a family history. If ever there was a reason for the adoption laws in NY to change, this is it. No one in this country should be denied their right to practice preventative health care, but that is what is truly happening to adoptees. Why should the status of adoption keep someone from knowing what medical conditions their true blood line holds? Why should the status of adoption keep people from knowing information or people? Adoptees are people and should have the same rights as any other citizens in the USA — but sadly they do not! Now we must come together to change that and get NY State to recognize all of its citizens, adopted or not. We as people all deserve to be complete, fulfilled beings with a true history and true identity of self.
Recent Article

“A call for a bill that will make birth records available to adopted people and their birth parents was supported by adoption rights activists, families with adopted children and mothers who had to give up children for adoption at a gathering at the New York City Hall steps last month.

The bill, sponsored by Assemblyman David Weprin, calls for a change in law in New York where state-affiliated adoption agencies are required to seal birth certificates and medical records of adoptees. If the law comes into effect, adopted people will be able to access their information once they turn 18.

“Any non-adopted person has a legal right to obtain this information. We are simply asking that equal rights to the access of birth records be afforded to adoptees,” said Weprin, in his statement.

At present, there are seven states that have laws allowing adoptees to access their original birth certificates. They are Alabama, Alaska, Kansas, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon and Rhode Island.

Joyce Bahr, president of The Unsealed Initiative, an adoption reform organization that has been working on the issue since 2005, says, “Birth mothers don’t always want confidentiality. Those who give up children for adoption are usually young mothers who are not equipped to make decisions. They deserve the right to have access to their children later.”

Bahr, 63, was reunited with her son 19 years after she gave him up for adoption. Her adoption agency wasn’t affiliated to the state, which made it easier for her to access her son’s records and locate him.
“People often say that reunions don’t work. But they’re wrong. Reunions almost always work,” said Bahr.

Weprin said that unsealing birth records was important because it gives adopted people access to their genetic history and medical records.

“People need to know their families’ medical histories for preventive care,” said Weprin.

Jill Averbach, who lives in Poughkeepsie, New York, relocated her birth son eight years ago. Averbach, 68, felt compelled to find her son to inform him about his family’s history of heart disease. When her son, Joel Vergun, was located and informed of his genetic medical history, he underwent tests and discovered that he had the same medical condition that his birth father had – high potassium content in the bloodstream. In spite of Vergun being a pilot and having to undergo regular medical tests, the problem was undiscovered until Averbach found him.

“I might have been dead today if she hadn’t found me,” said Vergun, 51.

Judy O’Mara, adoption director for Baker Victory Services, an international adoption agency based in Lackawanna, New York, said that being denied birth records is agonizing for adoptees.

“We get 4-5 calls a month from people who were given up for adoption at our agency wanting to find out their details. If their records were available, it would cause less stress to them,” said O’Mara.

O’Mara was part of a committee set up by the Council of Family and Child Caring Agencies, a representative organization of over a 100 nonprofit adoption agencies, in 2010 to look into the issue of disclosing birth records. O’Mara was supportive of disclosure but added two recommendations to her report.

“I believe the age at which adoptees are allowed to access records should be raised to 21, and that the birth mother should have the option of withholding the records,” said O’Mara.

[This is a typical response for the  adoption industry– to put conditions of higher age and withholding of records. The ACTUAL proposed legislation IS for age 18 and no conditions on getting the OBC.]

The current law allows the state to disclose non-identifying information about birth parents to adoptees like information about hair and eye color and height.

“The information wasn’t enough for me to know what my parents looked like,” said Charlie Mehlich, an accountant based in Queens. Mehlich, 61, has been searching for his birth records for the past 11 years. “I enjoy observing how parents and children resemble each other. It’s something most people take for granted. I find it fascinating.”

For Carole Whitehead, a Long Island resident, who gave up her son for adoption in 1963, and reunited with him in 1985, not being able to locate her son’s birth records for years was a traumatic experience.
“It was the only proof that I had had this baby. I didn’t want it taken away from me,” she said.”

Assemblyman calls for reform in adoption law
[Narrative MYC 12/5/11 by Vandana Sebastian]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Clean legislation! This needs to be addressed in 2012.

Update: Commentary

“While other states have succeeded in opening birth certificates and providing access to medical histories, the New York Assembly is holding back on granting this right to adoptees.

The passage of Assembly Bill 8910 and Senate Bill 1438 would give adoptees the choice to find their family of origin and to obtain their medical records, while still maintaining privacy within the adoption triad.

Five states have similar laws to New York’s legislative proposal, including three in the Northeast — Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. The other two are Alabama and Oregon. Reform groups continue to encourage New York legislators to bring the legislation to the floor for a vote. The bills failed to reach the floor of the Legislature last year. The importance of this legislation is clear from the bill’s new name. It’s called the Adoptees Equal Rights Bill.

Adoptees born in New York state have not had the same rights as non-adoptees. The legislation would allow adoptees, having reached the age of 18, to obtain a copy of their original birth certificate from the State of New York Department of Health by showing proper identification and paying a nominal fee. They can also receive medical records that may have been filed with the state by the birth parents. A birth parent can request a contact-preference form that would accompany a copy of the birth certificate. He or she can request to be contacted directly or through an intermediary. A birth parent can choose to offer only medical information and can request that he or she not be contacted. If a birth parent wishes to make contact at a later time, she can do so by submitting a contact preference form from the Department of Health.

My birth mother story was a secret I kept for 40-plus years. I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in Yonkers on Feb. 22, 1966. I called her Jennifer Leigh. I was a very immature young woman with no job and no support offered from family. Adoption seemed to offer Jennifer Leigh the best option for her future. I prayed that she would go to a couple that desperately wanted a child, and she would prosper with her new family. I signed papers vowing that I wouldn’t interfere with Jennifer’s life.

She’s going to be 46 years old this month. I think she’s old enough to decide if she is ready to meet her birth mother. I’m more than ready to meet her and hear her story.”

Give adoptees access to birth and medical records
[Lo hud.com 2/15/12 by Cynthia Crider Doolittle]

Update 2: “There are thousands of adopted adults in New York State who are hoping for an end to the day when they are treated as second-class citizens because of the circumstances of their birth. Rhode Island and Oregon are the latest states to recognize that access to one’s biological heritage is a basic human right, and it is time for New York to join in that recognition.

I am a reunited adult adoptee, impacted even now by the 1935 law that prevents me from accessing my original birth certificate, a document routinely available to a non-adopted person. Current New York State law allows me only my “amended” birth certificate.

My “raised seal, long form birth certificate” containing the names of my adoptive parents, was issued by New York State shortly after my adoption was formalized in court in 1951, when I was 3. I had been with my parents since age 1. The original certificate, containing my name at birth and that of my birth mother, was “sealed” as part of the court proceeding.

In the years since, I grew up, married, raised two sons, paid my taxes, lived my life, and am looking forward to my “golden years.” In spite of not having that original birth certificate, I managed to reunite with my birth family in 1998 and develop a lasting and positive relationship. I have also helped many others with their searches, becoming part of an internet-based group that facilitated more than 1100 similar “finds.”

Recently I applied for a U.S. Passport, and this week received a letter informing me that the birth certificate I had submitted was insufficient. It had been issued more that one year after my birth.

Unlike a non-adopted person, I will be required to provide additional documentation, some of which I have only because my late parents saved such things. Ironically, I am about to contact New York State Vital Records to obtain one additional document, a letter from them formally refusing my request to waive the rule. That, plus the treasured copy of my Order of Adoption, listing my birth name, should be sufficient.

I will overcome this obstacle, but for many adult adoptees, the prospects are not as clearly defined. Many have no information at all, some only scraps. Allowing them access to their OBC gives them a starting point for research that can lead to reunions, but more importantly to a clear sense of self — knowledge of who we are and where we’ve come from.

Time to pass adoption legislation

[Gates Chili Post 6/10/13 by Brad Cupples]

“With the State Legislative Session scheduled to end June 20, which means things sometimes move pretty quickly as the session winds down, there is a legislation pending in the New York State Assembly and State Senate, known as the Adoptee Bill of Rights.

This bill (S2490A/A909), if passed and signed into law by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, would give adult adoptees more rights to learn about their past.  If enacted, adoptees would be able to obtain a copy of their original birth certificate when they reach the age of 18.  Also, the adoptee would receive an updated medical history that is submitted by the birth parents to the State Health Department. It finally creates a contact preference for the birth parents.

The current law on the books was signed into law by Governor Herbert Lehman in 1935 and enacted in 1938, seals the original birth certificates. Adoptees only receive an amended birth certificate, listing the names of the adopted parents. (By the way, Governor Lehman and his wife the former Edith Altschul, adopted three children.)

The bill has attracted 81 sponsors in the Assembly, and 22 in the state Senate, but it needs to go to the floor for a vote.

Why my interest in this subject?

My mom, Rebecca Wilcox Barnhoorn and my Uncle Paul Watkins are adoptees and were given up for adoption shortly after they were born.  Mom was born in 1939 in Bath, Steuben County, and my Uncle Paul was born in 1937 in Buffalo, to Orin and Helen Jane (Williams) Wilson.

After three of months of research, I reunited them as brother and sister for the first time on Dec. 17, 1990.  Along the way, I learned a lot about the backgrounds of my grandparents, including their medical histories.

Last fall, my Mom almost passed away due to serious health issues. Fortunately, from my genealogical research, I shared the medical history with doctors and nurses taking care of my mom. Having the knowledge of the medical histories of my grandparents was extremely helpful.

I would like to see other adoptees and their families have the same opportunity, minus the hoops I had to go through, to learn about their biological blood lines and medical histories. Changing the law would be as American as apple pie.

But time is running out.  Contact your legislators in their District Offices.  Please tell them to vote for the Adoptee Bill of Rights (S2490A/A909).

With the advent of modern medical science, allowing adoptees to obtain their original birth certificate and medical histories of their biological parents would be a great start. Lives hang in the balance.”

Lives in balance of adoptee bill

[The Livingston County News 6/14/13 by Steve Barnhoorn]

Update 3: “A 20-year-old bill that would make it easier for adoptees over the age of 18 to get their original birth records is up again in the New York Legislature, where backers say it has more momentum than in the past.

Supporters of the Bill of Adoptee Rights argue that information from unsealed birth records is vital to the medical and mental health of adoptees, while opponents claim that easing disclosure rules could violate a biological parent’s privacy.

The bill, which was first introduced during the 1993-1994 session, had failed to gain a critical mass of support in the Assembly until recently. Assemblyman David Weprin, a member of the Democratic majority and sponsor of the bill, said this week it has 80 sponsors, including members across the aisle. The same bill in the Senate is sponsored by Republican Senator Andrew Lanza.

“An adoptee has the right to know basic information about themselves,” said Weprin. “Why should they be discriminated against for a missing piece of the puzzle that is their identity?”

The proposed law would give adoptees in the state the right to get copies of their unsealed birth certificate and medical history form, if available. Unsealed birth certificates contain their original birth name, the name of their biological parents, the biological parents’ address at the time of birth, the date and location of birth, as well as religious and ethnic heritage.

Adoptees and biological mothers testified at a recent hearing held by the Assembly Health Committee. Among them was Ellen Mohr, 88, a Charlottesville, Va., resident who grew up in New York and began the search for information about her biological parents four years ago fearing that she “might not live much longer,” and because she did not want to offend her adoptive family.

“I was sitting in Catholic Charities, the person I was talking to had a medical folder about me,” said Mohr, who had been adopted through a Catholic agency. “She was sitting across from me and knew everything about me but couldn’t tell me.”

The original birth certificate could indicate if the adoptee had any medical complications at the time of birth and include the medical history of the biological parents. Proponents argue that adoptees should have that information to help determine if there are any health issues that could have been inherited from the biological parents and whether they should take any preventive measures.

Under current New York law, adoptees can file a request with the courts to obtain their unsealed birth certificate and medical information, but they run the risk of being denied if a judge decides the reason for the request is insubstantial. If a birth certificate is released, the biological parents aren’t notified unless they filed a consent form to release their contact information. Biological parents are notified of requests for their medical records.

The proposed law has new notification rules. Once the original birth certificate is requested, the biological parent would be notified and given the option to be contacted by the adoptee directly, be contacted by the adoptee through an intermediary, or not to be contacted at all. The adoptee would still have access to their biological parents name and last known residence regardless of the biological parents opting not to be contacted.

Opponents of the bill say that the measure could leave biological parents who were promised confidentiality vulnerable to unwanted interaction with the adoptees, including possibly putting them in danger.

“If retroactively applied, the right to privacy and confidentiality (of) the biological parents would effectively be cast aside and promote access merely for the sake of curiosity and eliminate the court as a gate keeper,” Suffolk County Surrogate Court Judge John Cyzgier Jr. said at the Assembly hearing.

Another reason supporters say the law should be changed is a growing need for the information in the birth records.

As of April 2011, the U.S. Department of State required certified copies of birth certificates that contain the city, county, or state of birth as well as a person’s full name, date of birth and place of birth as evidence of U.S. citizenship. Adoptees have had trouble when applying for a U.S. passport because their birth certificates are sealed at the time of adoption and information on date and place of birth is not readily available.

New Jersey has a similar bill in their Legislature, which passed the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee last month. If passed, New York would join Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, Rhode Island and Tennessee to offer adoptees unsealed birth certificates.”

Adoption records bill up again in NY Legislature[The Washington Times 2/7/14 by JOSEFA VELASQUEZ/Associated Press]