BLOOMINGTON PANTAGRAPHApril 13, 2008
Letter: Give adoptees access to their birth records
State Rep. Sara Feighenholtz, D-Chicago, an Illinois-born and adopted person, is sponsoring legislation to make birth records available to adopted persons born in Illinois as noted in The Pantagraph (``More open records for adoptees?,'' March 22, Page A1).
Rep. Feighenholtz said, ``Existing Illinois law robs tens of thousands of Illinois adults of the right to know who they are.''
As a longtime adoption advocate and former confidential intermediary for the state of Illinois, I can honestly say most people touched by adoption feel their rights have been violated by the present Illinois law that prevents adoptees from obtaining their original birth records.
Original birth records for Illinois-born adopted persons have been closed since 1947. Our legislators now have the opportunity to change the law and allow persons adopted before 1946 access to their original birth records.
Those adopted after 1946 will have to wait six months to allow biological parents who wish to keep their identity a secret to do so through the Illinois Adoption Registry.
The Illinois Department of Public Health maintains the registry and records indicate only 17 biological parents have filed forms to prevent identity disclosure.
Eight states now allow adult adopted persons to access their birth records.
Illinois has laws to prevent identity theft.
For more than a half century, adoptees in this state have been denied access to their identity in the first place. Passage of House Bill 4623 could end what amounts to ``identity theft'' for individuals who were born and adopted in Illinois.
I urge you to ask your representative to vote ``yes'' for HB 4623. A public meeting about this important adoption reform and open birth records will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at St, John's Lutheran Church, 1617 E. Emerson, Bloomington. For more information, call (309) 820-0230.
Marilyn Strohkirch
Bloomington
The writer is co-founder, Healing Hearts Adoption Support Group.
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Dr. John H. Marburger III is Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the White House science office. Prior to joining OSTP, Dr. Marburger served as President of the State University of New York at Stony Brook and as Director of the Brookhaven National Laboratory.
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dennie
Illinois Alcohol Addiction Treatment
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