Indiana Bill SB 352 now SB 91UPDATED

By on 1-20-2015 in Indiana, Open records, Original Birth Certificate

Indiana Bill SB 352 now SB 91UPDATED

“A bill that would give adopted Indiana residents easier access to their birth records is headed to the full Senate despite concerns about its potential impact on biological mothers.

Senate Bill 352 would allow those adopted from 1941 through 1993 to access their records unless their birth parents sign a form prohibiting it. Currently, those records are sealed, while adoptions completed since 1994 are open.

The bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee 8-2 on Wednesday. Advocates supported the move, saying the law was designed to shield adopted children from the stigma of illegitimacy and not to protect birth parents. But some lawmakers urged caution, The Indianapolis Star and The Times in Munster reported.

“I feel like we made a promise (of confidentiality) to birth mothers,”[ Image result for roll eye smiley]said Sen. Joe Zakas, R-Granger, who joined Sen. John Broden, D-South Bend, in voting against the bill. “To change that is pretty serious business.

“You could destroy a family,” Zakas added.

Supporters of the measure say Indiana needs a uniform approach to adoption records. People adopted before 1994 must request access to their birth records through the Indiana Adoption Matching Registry, which initiates a process in which birth parents are located and asked for permission to release the records.

Hoosiers for Equal Access to Records notes that 14 other states have repealed laws sealing adoption records.

Indianapolis adoption attorney Steve Kirsh said some birth mothers don’t want to be contacted.

His firm has handled 117 cases in which an employee tried to contact birth mothers and adoptees for consent to share information, and the mother was unable to be found in five cases. In five other instances, the birth mother refused to allow the information to be released, and in five or six others, the mother agreed to the release of information but refused direct contact.

The bill would give birth parents until June 30, 2016, to file a form that would prohibit the release of their information. Kirsh noted that there is no way to notify birth parents about the need to sign such a form.

Pam Kroskie, an adoptee and president of Hoosiers for Equal Access to Records, said birth records speak to who someone is and how he or she came into this world.

“It’s like starting a book at chapter two or a missing piece of a puzzle,” said Kroskie, who was adopted in 1967 when she was four days old. “No one likes either of those things. Something’s missing.”

A similar bill in 2011 failed to make it out of committee.”

Bill would increase access to adoption records[The Courier-Journal 1/15/15 by Associated press]

Daily Bastardette calls for “EMERGENCY ACTION ALERT: Urge Indiana State Senate to Vote No on SB 352 as written”

http://www.dailybastardette.com/indiana-emergency-action-alert-urge-indiana-state-senate-to-vote-no-on-sb-352-as-written/

“Indiana has a very bad bill in the hopper and ready for vote in the Senate. Orignally a clean bill it has been deformed into an anti-adoptee piece of legislation that not only includes a Disclosure Veto, but a warped and inaccurately named Contact Veto that allows birthparents to authorize the state to withhold contact information from pre-adoptive sibings even if they are registered with the state’s adoption reunion registry. Indiana Open Access has offered an amendment to remove ant-adoptee language.

ASenate vote can take place today  Please ready IOA’s action alert below and contact the senators linked below to top this attack on adoptee rights today/.

PLEASE DISTRIBUTE FREELY

***^INDIANA OPEN ACCESS ACTION ALERT * * *

Issued January 19, 2015

URGE THE INDIANA STATE SENATETO VOTE NO ON SB 352, AS WRITTEN

On Tuesday, January 20th, 2015 SB 352 will come before the Indiana State Senate Floor for Second Read. Senate Bill 352, authored by the Honorable Senators Brent Steele and Mike Delph,would require the birth parent’s Consent to Disclosure and Release of the Original Birth Certificate to the adoptee. This bill would allow people who were adopted from 1941 through 1993 to receive records, unless their birth parents sign a form prohibiting it. The mother may, also prohibit contact with pre­adoptive siblings through the denial of releasing contact information provided by pre­adoptive siblings even after she is deceased and even if the pre­adoptive siblings have registered with the State Registry

.According to bill language, birth parents have until June 30,2016 to file a form that would prohibi tthe release of their information. Infinitely disappointing. SB 352 heads to the Senate floor for a vote.

WE MUST ACT NOW TO DEFEAT SB 352 AND LEAVE CLEAR THE PATH FOR A RIGHTS DRIVEN OPEN RECORDS BILL. DO NOT ALLOW A MISGUIDED ATTEMPT TO WORK WITHIN AND EXPAND AN
EXISTING DISCLOSURE VETO, IN EFFECT BEYOND DEATH, UNDER THE GUISE OF “PRIVACY RIGHTS”,TO ESTABLISH FURTHER PRECEDENT IN THE STATE OF INDIANA! NO MORE BAD LAW ON THEBOOKS!

IOA AMENDMENT TO SB 352 which is based upon the real and genuine Contact Preference Forms (CPF) found in the states of Oregon, Alabama, Maine, and Rhode Island. While HEAR and the authors have spoken to a CPF, it is inessence an extension of the State’s existing Disclosure Veto. IOA believes that all Indiana born citizens should be governed by the same set of laws. We believe that the standard of “direct interest”, which non­adopted citizens must reach for birth certificate access, should be the identical standard for all.Indiana law (IC16­37­1­10) specifically requires a purchaser of a birth or death certificate to have a direct interest. A
direct interest is defined as a documented personal, financial, or legal interest in the record, or immediate kinship(parent, grandparent, or adult sibling) to the person named on the record.

http://www.in.gov/isdh/20243.htm

Who has a more direct interest, than the person named whose birth is recorded on the certificate?

View IOA Amendment to SB 352:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/IndianaOpenAccess/files/

You can watch and listen LIVE to the Floor Session via the internet:
Tuesday, January 20th, 2015  Live Chamber Webcast ­ Senate
1:30 PM (EST)
http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2015/senate#watch­live

E­MAIL the Senators to vote NO on SB 352, as passed by Senate Judiciary on January 14th, 2015, unless amended.

RAPID E­MAIL CUT­N­PASTE
Senator.Alting@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Banks@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Becker@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Bassler@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Boots@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Bray@iga.in.gov;
s34@iga.in.gov;
s10@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Brown@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Buck@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Charbonaue@iag.in.gov;
Senator.Crider@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Delph@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Eckerty@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Ford@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Glick@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Grooms@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Head@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Hershman@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Holdman@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Houchin@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Messmer@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Kenley@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Kruse@iga.in.gov;
s25@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Landske@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Leising@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Long@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Merritt@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Miller@iga.in.gov;
Sen.PeteMiller@iga.in.gov;
s1@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Niemeyer@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Perfect@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Raatz@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Schneider@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Smith@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Steele@iga.in.gov;
s40@iga.in.gov;
s33@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Tomes@iga.in.gov;
Senator.Walker@iga.in.gov;

Senator.Waltz@iga.in.gov;

Senator.Yoder@iga.in.gov;s35@iga.in.gov;

Senator.Zakas@iga.in.gov;

SAMPLE LETTERon how to direct your comments to the Committee

E­mail Subject: NO on SB 352, unless amended
RE: No on SB 352, unless amended

To the Honorable Indiana State Senator,

I write to you today to seek your NO vote on Senate Bill 352. I stand with Indiana Open Access, and their stance,including amendment language.While I am earnestly thankful to Senators Steele and Delph, for introducing and clearing committee this important subject to me and my family, I can not support the current form of the bill. Direct records access, by the adult adoptee, to their government held record is a STRONG step in assuring the adoption industry, in all of its facets, stays honest and clean. Government transparency and open records is a sunshine element and best measure for Indiana.

IOA believes that all Indiana born citizens should be governed by the same set of laws. We believe that the standard of “direct interest”, which non­adopted citizens must reach for birth certificate access, should be the identical standard for all. Indiana law (IC16­37­1­10 ) specifically requires a purchaser of a birth or death certificate to have a direct interest. A
direct interest is defined as a documented personal financial or legal interest in the record, or immediate kinship (parent, grandparent, or adult sibling ) to the person named on the record.http://www.in.gov/isdh/20243.htm

Who has a more direct interest, than the person named whose birth is recorded on the certificate?

Thank you, Senator, for your service

Sincerely,
Your Name”

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Education Resources2

 

Update: “Starting in 1994, if a person was adopted they could request a copy of their birth record just as long as the birth mother didn’t sign a form prohibiting it known as a non-release form.

But those records are sealed for anyone adopted before 1994. Senate Bill 352 wants to open them up, giving all adoptees the same access.

But opponents worry that a generation of birth mothers isn’t prepared for that to happen.

It was a connection that took years to complete.

“Their eyes are like hers,” said Pam Kroskie, as she showed a picture of her two sons.

“I mean it’s even funny, you look at your own nose and you think you know, whose nose is this,” she questioned.

With pictures scattered on the table like pieces to a puzzle, Kroskie can now assemble the life she at one point never knew about.

Born in the 1960s, Kroskie was given up for adoption. Through her own research she found her mother and built a relationship with her new family which included two sisters.

But not all adoptees want a reunion, just information. Kroskie said getting access to a birth record is what she believes all adoptees, including those born before 1994, deserve to have.

“Just to look at a birth certificate or just to have that knowledge that we have a name or we had a last name, we had a weight, we had a hospital, that it’s like digging for gold,” she said.

But some argue that information should stay buried. 24-Hour News 8 talked to a birth mother who gave her child up for adoption decades before 1994. She asked that we conceal her identity.

“I come from a generation when I got pregnant it was terrible. You have to understand that it was like, it was just awful. It was like a letter on you,” the mother said.

She like many mothers from her time never thought their child’s birth record would get out.

“I just went on with my life, knew she was in a good environment and I wanted to keep it that way,” she said.

“They kept it a secret. That’s how they came to peace with their decision,” said Steve Kirsh, adoption lawyer with Kirsh and Kirsh.

His firm is worried that if the bill passes, birth mothers from before 1994 won’t know they need to fill out a non-release form to keep those records sealed.

“The adoptees’ right to have information about the birth mother is no greater than the birth mother’s right to her privacy if she wants it,” he said.

Privacy wasn’t an issue for Kroskie. Not only did it allow her to connect with her mom, but she learned breast cancer runs in their family. It was an unfortunate but importance piece to her puzzle she’s grateful to have.

“If nothing else, I think that has been the biggest advantage for me to keep an eye on my health and my sisters’ also,” said Kroskie.

Kirsh added that a new law isn’t necessary since there are already options out there to help connect adoptees born before 1994 with their mother.

Kirsh’s sister, Jill Kirsh Freeman, works as a “confidential intermediary,” which is basically a court appointed middle-man.

An adoptee contacts the intermediary who then begins to search for the birth mother. Records aren’t released, but connections are made.

Kirsh said his firm attempted 117 of them. He said five times they couldn’t find the mother. Of the 112, he said five mothers wanted nothing to do with making a connection and were upset to be contacted. He said another five or six were OK with sharing information, like medical history, but didn’t want to have actual contact with their child.

Kirsh feels it’s the proper way to open up a line of communication between an adoptee and mother.

That’s why he’s worried if SB 352 passes, adoptees from before 1994 will begin that search on their own. He’s worried mothers from that generation aren’t prepared for that possibility.

“The birth mothers that we’re talking about, some of them are 50, 60, 70 years old, maybe older. It’s not reasonable to believe that they’re going to know that they need to file a none-release form,” he said.

“I think we see it as, well it is, it’s a human rights issue,” said Kroskie. “When you have adoptees from 1994 forward have the same, have these rights, why shouldn’t we have the same rights?”

The bill passed through the Senate last month by a 46-3 vote. It’s now in the House. If it were to become law, it would take effect July 2016.”

Birth record privacy a concern as adoption bill moves forward[WISH TV 2/12/15 by Jeff Wagner]

Update 2:“Indiana lawmakers have put on hold a bill that would give adoptees equal access to their birth certificates after an aide to Gov. Mike Pence raised concerns about the proposal.

The House Judiciary Committee discussed a proposal that would make accessing birth records easier for those born between 1941 and 1994. Records during that era currently are sealed.

Adoptees say they want to know their medical histories, but opponents believe birth parents have a right to keep their identities private.

Pence family policy director Lindsey Craig says there’s a silent majority who won’t publicly oppose the bill, and if it passes, birth mothers should be allowed adequate time to file paperwork if they still want to remain anonymous.

Lawmakers agreed Monday to postpone a vote until changes can be made.

The bill would affect 350,000 Hoosiers. In January, WTHR interviewed a mother and son in favor of the bill.

“We are standing before you as mother and son, both adoptees. A house divided. One has no access to information; the other has all of their access to their information. How does that make sense?” Melissa Shelton told lawmakers in January.”

House panel weighs giving equal access to adoption records[Wthr 3/23/15 by Associated Press /Lauryn Schroeder]

Update 3:“The leader of an advocacy group for Indiana adoptees says she’s optimistic state lawmakers will endorse a bill to expand adoptees’ access to sealed records.

Bloomington resident Pam Kroskie of Hoosiers for Equal Access to Records tells The Herald-Times the group believes it has “a really good shot this time to make it all the way through” the Legislature after another measure stalled last session.
She says the bill lawmakers will consider when their session begins Jan. 5 is similar to legislation Ohio lawmakers enacted in March.
The new bill would give biological parents the option of designating if they are comfortable with being contacted directly by an adult adoptee, if they prefer being contacted by an intermediary, or if they do not want to release any identifying information.” 

Indiana adoption advocates to push again to open up records [The Indy Channel 12/31/15 by AP]

Update 4:“Adopted children in Indiana are one step closer to accessing vital birth and medical records.

The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously voted Wednesday to forward a bill that would allow identifying adoption information to be released unless the birth parents have a non-release form on file with the State.

The bill, sponsored by State Sen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford, would affect all adoptions between 1941 and 1993 – roughly 350,000 Hoosiers. Adoptees born since January 1, 1994 can already access their vital records when they turn 21 as long as the birth mother did not sign a non-release form.

Adoptions done between 1941 and 1993, however, are currently considered closed adoptions, meaning birth parents and adoptee children cannot find each other or exchange crucial medical information unless they go through the State’s adoption registry. If passed, this new bill would replace that closed status with a “contact preference form,” giving birth parents one of four contact options:

  1. allow adoptee children to contact them directly, and authorize the release of identifying information
  2. allow adoptee children to contact them and/or request identifying information through a third party
  3. not allow adoptee children to contact them at all, but allow the State Registrar to release current medical information
  4. not allow adoptee children to contact them at all, and not allow the release of any identifying information

The new system would not take effect until 2018 in order to give the State Department of Health a chance to get the necessary forms and databases setup, and to give birth parents ample time to file their contact preference form in case they do not want any contact.

Marcie Keithley-Roth surrendered her child in the 1970s, but said at Wednesday’s hearing, “We were not promised a lifetime of anonymity from our own offspring.”

She said she was never asked if she wanted anonymity, nor was she given paperwork promising she would have it.

“We were scared, we were resourceless, some of us were teenagers, we were abandoned by the fathers,” she told the committee.

Priscilla Kamrath with Indiana Adoption Agencies United said it is “extremely critical” that adoptees get access to medical information so doctors can determine their risk for major illnesses and conditions like breast cancer.

“We have not encountered any catastrophic consequences as the result of releasing this information,” she said.

Adoptees also don’t have access to their original birth certificates, making it difficult, if not impossible, to get a passport. As REAL ID requirements start setting in across the country, supporters of this bill say it could also be harder to get a driver’s license.

No one was present at Wednesday’s hearing to directly testify against the bill, but State Sen. Joseph Zakas, R-Granger, read an e-mail he received from an adoption attorney in Indiana who has concerns about it. The attorney said, “My primary concern about the change is the potential for harm to women who have kept their adoption plans secret. We know fully 10 percent of women we contact do not want contact with the adoptee.”

Adam Pertman, president of the National Center on Adoption and Permanency, said his own experience nationally is that fewer than 5 percent of birth mothers react negatively, and “we don’t preclude 95-98 percent of beneficiaries…just because something might happen.”

A similar bill passed out of the same committee last year, and even passed the full Senate before dying in the House of Representatives. The contact preference form is the biggest difference in this year’s version. Supporters hope that will offer enough protection to birth mothers so those who fought against last year’s bill will change sides this time around.

This year’s bill is modeled after Ohio’s program, signed into law by Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio, in 2015. Paul Mannweiler, a former Indiana House Speaker now with Hoosiers for Equal Access to Records, told the committee Wednesday he had spoken with a health commissioner in Ohio. The commissioner told him they’d had fewer than a handful of complaints out of the thousands of requests they’d gotten so far. Many of those complaints came about because Ohio’s law classified a no-contact preference from the birth mother as nothing more than a warning to the adopted child. The proposed bill in Indiana would make a no-contact preference a hard and fast “stop”, which supporters of the bill hope will reassure those still worried about the privacy of Indiana birth mothers.

The bill now heads to the full Senate.”

Bill giving equal access to adoption records heading to Indiana Senate [WTHR 1/13/16 by Evan Hoffmeyer]

“Efforts to open records from Indiana’s closed adoptions era – 1941 to 1993 – have failed for years, largely to shield birth mothers who don’t want to be contacted.

But changes made to this year’s version of the bill are already showing signs of changing minds and ensuring the measure’s passage.

Sen. Brent Steele (R-Bedford) sought to include more choices for birth mothers in this year’s adoption records legislation.

Instead of just choosing whether to allow or deny contact, mothers can release only medical records to their children or allow contact through an intermediary. 

Advocates such as Ryan Griffith hope it’s the formula that will lead to passage.  Griffith, with his adoptive mother nearby, says opening the records is about children wanting to know who they are.

“On Mother’s Day, I give that woman a Mother’s Day card,” Griffith says. “But in the back of my head – who is my mother?  What is my heritage?  I don’t know that.”

Sen. John Broden (D-South Bend) voted against the measure last year; his concern is that some birth mothers won’t know the records were opened and suddenly have a child they didn’t want to contact show up at their door.  But he says the changes in this year’s bills have mostly alleviated those fears.

“We’re not likely to reach 100-percent in terms of outreach but I think this will greatly reduce that number and that potential,” Broden says.

The Pence administration, which derailed the bill last year, did not send a representative to testify at Wednesday’s Senate committee hearing.  The committee unanimously advanced the measure.”

Open Adoption Records Bill Passes Senate Committee [WBAA 1/13/16 by Brandon Smith]

Update 5:”Adoptees born between 1941 and 1994 would be able to access their birth records under a bill passed Thursday by the Indiana Senate.

The measure, approved on a 43-5 vote, would reverse a 1994 measure that sealed adoption information that didn’t have a disclosure consent form. That means records would be made available beginning in 2018, unless the biological parents file another nondisclosure form with the Indiana State Department of Health.

The bill now goes to the House for consideration.

“This bill is so important to adult adoptees across Indiana,” Pam Kroskie, president of Hoosiers for Equal Access to Records said in a statement. HEAR has been a vocal advocate for the release of adoption information during Indiana’s closed adoption record period, and Kroskie had success in finding her biological parents using the Internet.

Current law allows for avenues for people adopted during those years to seek information about their birth with the assistance of an intermediary. The process can often be costly and time-consuming. Birth parents must also give consent for the release of any identifying information by the state’s Health Department.

Such information can give adoptees insights into important medical information, supporters say.

“This bill would give them an avenue to obtain needed medical information for kidney transplants and breast cancer,” Priscilla Kamrath of Indiana Adoption Agencies United said at a committee hearing last week.

The new measure also gives biological parents additional contact preference options for new adoption cases.

Opponents of the bill say birth mothers should have a right to privacy.

“She gave that child up with the understanding of her right to not be contacted,” Sen. Carlin Yoder, R-Middlebury, said just before the vote. “I think if you go back and change this now, I think we’d be going back on that deal we’ve made with the birth mothers.”

But bill co-author Sen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford, said the adoption process used to be less formal than it is now.

“There was never a contract with these ladies that we would never ever disclose your identity to anyone,” he said.”

Indiana Senate passes bill to open adoption records [Indianapolis Star 1/21/16 by Aric Chokey,AP]

Update 6: “A bill that would give Indiana adult adoptees access to the state’s “closed records” has passed the House Judiciary Committee Monday.

Senate Bill 91, which passed with an 11-2 vote, would allow adoptees to access their original birth certificates and adoption records.

Under current law, Hoosiers adopted after 1994 have access to their records. But those adopted between 1941-1993 — the “closed records” period — are unable to access records, and they are forced to use difficult and expensive measures to access records.

Hoosiers for Equal Access to Records, a non-profit formed to help Hoosiers in this fight, thanked the committee for hearing the concerns of adoptees.

“SB 91 will finally allow adoptees to find the closure they desperately seek, uncover vital answers about their medical history and cure administrative headaches that come from having an amended birth certificate,” HEAR President Pam Kroskie stated in a release.

The bill now heads to the Indiana House.”

Adoption records bill passes House committee [WLFI 2/15/16 by Alexandra Kruczek]

Update 7: “Adoptees born between 1941 and 1994 may soon be able to access their birth records under a bill passed by the Indiana House.

The bill passed in a 72-24 vote Monday and now heads to Gov. Mike Pence’s desk.

The measure would reverse a 1994 measure that sealed adoption information that didn’t have a disclosure consent form. That means records would be made available beginning in July 2018 unless the biological parents file another non-disclosure form with the Indiana State Department of Health. The bill would also give biological parents additional contact preference options for new adoption cases.

Open-records advocates have argued adoptees need important birth information such as their medical histories. Opponents maintain biological parents should have their own right to privacy.”

Adoption records bill heads to governor’s desk [WHIO 2/22/16 by Aric Chokey]

Update 8:“A new bill signed into law Friday will open all adoption records in Indiana finalized before Jan. 1, 1994.

The records will open starting July 1, 2018, unless the birth parent files a contact preference form with the Indiana State Department of Health.

The legislation applies to all adoptees between 1941 and 1993 – roughly 350,000 Hoosiers.

“SEA 91 expands opportunities for adopted Hoosiers seeking more information on their health and heritage even while ensuring that birthparents who choose to maintain their privacy are protected, and I am pleased to sign it into law,” said Gov. Mike Pence after he signed the bill. “I want Indiana to be known as the most pro-adoption state in America and SEA 91 will give greater clarity and compassion to our adoption laws.”

SEA 91 will open all adoption records finalized before 1994 unless a birth parent requests with the Indiana State Department of Health that the records remain sealed. The legislation goes into effect on July 1, 2018, providing time to inform birth mothers about these changes.

Hoosiers for Equal Access to Records (HEAR), a non-profit that was advocating for adult adoptee access legislation in Indiana, praised the governor.

“Today marks a tremendous victory for hundreds of thousands of people adopted in Indiana,” said Pam Kroskie, president of HEAR. “We are deeply grateful to the Indiana General Assembly for passing this legislation, and thank Governor Pence for his partnership on this critical issue.”

Melissa Shelton from Carmel worked for passage of this bill for eight years. She was adopted before January 1994, so she did not have access to any health information. Her son, who she adopted after January 1994, has access to all of his adoptive information. She was fighting to get a level playing field for all adoptees.

She watched as lawmakers passed the bill 72-24 last week.

“The protections are out there,” she said. “This is as protective as we can be. We don’t want anyone hurt and no one is going to be hurt. This is a fabulous bill. It’s a fabulous day for all adoptees from 1941 to 1993.”

Adoptees born since January 1, 1994, like Shelton’s son, can already access their vital records when they turn 21 as long, as the birth mother did not sign a non-release form.

Currently, adoptions done between 1941 and 1993, are considered closed adoptions, meaning birth parents and adoptee children cannot find each other or exchange crucial medical information unless they go through the State’s adoption registry.

The new law replaces the closed status with a “contact preference form,” giving birth parents one of four contact options:

  • allow adoptee children to contact them directly, and authorize the release of identifying information
  • allow adoptee children to contact them and/or request identifying information through a third party
  • not allow adoptee children to contact them at all, but allow the State Registrar to release current medical information
  • not allow adoptee children to contact them at all, and not allow the release of any identifying information

The law does not go into effect until July 2018 to allow time for birth parents to file the forms saying which of those four options is their preference. It also gives the State Department of Health a chance to get the necessary forms and databases set up.”

Gov. Pence signs adoption records bill [WTHR 3/4/16]

Update 9:“A new law that went into effect July 1st allows any Indiana resident adopted before January 1, 1993 to request access to their adoption records. Those records were previously sealed. Senate Enrolled Act 91 opens the records unless the biological parent files a contact preference form to restrict access.

Eligible individuals must register with the Adoption Matching Registry.  Individuals eligible to register include an adult adoptee, adoptive parent, birth parent, and birth sibling. Spouses and relatives of the deceased adoptee or deceased birth parent may register with the appropriate proof of relationship. An individual must be 18 years or older to register. To receive adoption information, the individual seeking information must be at least 21 years old, and complete both forms, identifying and non-identifying. A government issued ID must accompany the forms.

This change was pushed by a woman out of Bloomington, Pam Kroskie. She was also adopted but found her birth mom several years ago. She says she began the fight for other adoptees more than 20 years ago so others could get the opportunity.

“I just thought no adoptee should have to go through this and when I found my mom I thought what can I do,” she said.

She believes this will impact thousands of adoptees in Indiana. One of them includes Nick Schneider from Bloomfield. He’s 65 years old and has been searching for his birth mom for decades.

“My dream would be to sit down face to face with my mother and say thanks, thanks for life,” said Schneider.

He already submitted his paperwork and he expects to get some information back in the next few weeks. Indiana State Department of Health warns it may take 12 to 16 weeks to process requests after receipt due to high volume.

For a link to forms and more information on the Adoption Matching Registry, click here.”

https://fox59.com/2018/07/01/new-indiana-law-opens-adoption-records/

[Fox 59 7/1/18 by Kelly Reinke]

 

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