MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL STAR TRIBUNEMarch 11, 2008
Kathy Tingelstad and Ann H. Rest: Proposal does not pit adoptees, birth parents
Instead, it carefully restores a right to basic information for those who have been adopted.
By KATHY TINGELSTAD and ANN H. REST
The March 7 Star Tribune editorial regarding the adoption legislation that we are sponsoring chose to focus on mythology about adoption rather than on the proven need for adopted persons to get their birth information.
The debate over whether adopted adults should have access to their original birth certificates is often mistakenly viewed as birth parent vs. adoptee rights. This is simply not true. The reality is that the debate is more about restoring the right that adopted persons once traditionally had to their birth information, pitted against the mythology that birth parents need protections from secrets and that the state and placing agencies should be the protectors of those secrets.
Minnesotans may not realize that when an adoption takes place, the original birth certificate that contains the birth parents' names is sealed and not available to the adopted adult. In 1917, Minnesota became the first state to seal adoption court records away from prying eyes of the public, in an era when secrets were designed to protect the child and the adoptive family. These records were always available to the adoptive family and in many cases to the birth parents.
In 1945, as secrecy became the foundation of adoption, our state joined others in sealing the birth certificate away from the parties that most needed it -- adult adoptees. As many birth mothers will attest, they were not promised confidentiality (because it could not have been guaranteed), but rather they were encouraged to forget about their adoption placement. Most of them, however, were not able to forget. And society has changed from secretive adoptions to open adoption placement celebrations. That birth parents are advocating for this legislation is evidence they want the best for the children they bore.
We, as legislators, have been working for several years with a group of grass-roots volunteers yearning to update Minnesota's antiquated laws regarding access to the original birth certificate for adult adoptees. These volunteers are adoptees, birth parents and adoptive parents who return, year after year, to advocate for reform.
They are armed with data that shows no state has undone access once the legislation has passed. They have research showing that adopted adults who are denied their birth information are harmed emotionally and are at heightened medical risk.
Our compromise legislation honors provisions for birth parents who wish to prevent the release of a birth certificate to the children they relinquished; they may sign an affidavit of nondisclosure with the Health Department. Since 1982, when this document was first implemented, there have been 1,228 filed. That preference would be honored; these birth certificates would not be released.
The Star Tribune editorial falsely stated that the legislation "would change a sensitive and fundamental aspect of the adoption process retroactively." This is not true, since the affidavit was not in existence prior to 1982, and yet it will be available both retrospectively and prospectively to birth parents wishing to use it.
Our legislation is also based on new data released last month by the Health Department showing that 11,683 birth parents signed documents stating they do wish disclosure. Yes, more than 90 percent of the birth parents signed this affidavit of disclosure! Adult adoptees would be able to get a copy of their original birth certificate; this is something nonadoptees take for granted.
Here is the crux of this legislation: It is mindful of both birth parents' and adopted adults' needs. To be characterized by the editorial as putting birth parents at risk is misleading and perpetuates harmful myths. Our legislation brings this important adoption issue up-to-date with 21st-century standards in society.
Kathy Tingelstad, R-Andover/Coon Rapids, is a member of the Minnesota House. Ann Rest, D-New Hope, is a member of the state Senate.
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