Bloomington Pantagraph
April 20, 2008
Letter: Many birth mothers want children to know identity
Megan Bakaitis who wrote the letter published April 13 (``Oppose proposal about adoptee birth certificates'') is the daughter I surrendered for adoption in Dec., 1966. Megan argues that adoptees should not have the unrestricted right to their original birth certificates.
While Megan is a fine person, I strongly disagree with her views on adoptee access.
I live in Portland, Ore. On Nov. 3, 1998, Oregon voters passed Ballot Measure 58 with 57 percent of the vote. This measure allowed adult adoptees to obtain their original birth certificates.
Opponents immediately challenged Ballot Measure 58 in the courts as violating birth mother privacy. The Oregon Court of Appeals upheld the law and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review the decision. The measure became effective May 31, 2000.
While opponents of the measure claimed that birth mothers did not want their children to know their identities, birth mothers said something quite different.
Two days before the election, over 500 birth mothers - including me - placed their names in a full-page ad in Oregon's largest newspaper, the Portland Oregonian, supporting the measure.
When I learned in 1997 that Megan was looking for me, I was terrified, but also overjoyed. Since our reunion, I have felt much more complete. It is indeed true that the truth will set you free.
My experience is not unique. Over 9,000 Oregon adoptees have received their original birth certificates. There have been no reports of birth mothers becoming distressed over being contacted by their child.
I have met birth mothers and birth fathers from all over the country. I have never heard any regret having a reunion - regardless of how the reunion turned out.
Jane Edwards
Portland, Ore.
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