MICHIGAN: John Doe No 73 Hunts for Birth Parents,, April 25, 2008

DETROIT NEWS
April 25, 2008

John Doe No. 73 hunts for birth parents
He was abandoned as an infant at a Detroit Crowley's store forty-five years ago.
Kim Kozlowski / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- He was just a few days old when someone put him in a shopping bag and abandoned him in a women's restroom at a Crowley's department store nearly half a century ago.

After someone discovered the newborn, he was taken to Detroit Receiving Hospital and called John Doe No. 73. For two consecutive days, photos of the infant appeared in The Detroit News, with police officer Frances M. Clinepleading for his parents to reclaim the baby.

"There are no problems which can't be solved," Cline said in the Feb. 15, 1963, edition. "It appears (this) was the act of a confused woman who panicked in the face of what seemed insurmountable problems."

No one claimed the infant. He was alone in the world.

Forty-five years later, John Doe No. 73 has identified himself as Richard Lane, a happily married father of two and owner of a successful public relations company in Mainz, Germany. He is now making a plea for his birth parents to come forward.

"I would simply like to be able to understand what forced someone to leave me and my life completely up to chance," said Lane, who grew up in Southgate.

Lane's quest to find his birth parents comes as Michigan lawmakers are pushing to open records to upwards of 20,000 adults who were adopted between 1945 and 1980. These people cannot get copies of their original birth certificates, but a pending bill in the Michigan House seeks to change that.

Lane, 45, has pondered since he was 18 and learned that he was abandoned: Who are his parents? Where are they now? Why does his 20-year-old son, David, have red hair?

He said he never wondered about his birth parents while growing up because his adoptive parents, Charles and Margaret Lane, gave him a family life that felt completely normal. But that changed when he found out he was abandoned.

"It was an extremely lonely feeling," Lane said.

He decided to try to find his birth parents because his adoptive parents are now deceased and he wants his birth parents to know that they taught him an important lesson that shaped his life and the person he's become.

"The first lesson they taught me was to learn to embrace difficult challenges," said Lane. "Now, my return gift is perhaps the message that their decision did not lead to the disaster they may have spent the last 45 years thinking about. I'm fine, and I hope they are, too."

Adoption rules changed

Lane only recently learned he doesn't have an original birth certificate because he was abandoned, so the state bill, if passed, wouldn't help him.

Even so, those who could identify their birth parents if the law was different say they share a kinship with Lane.

"There's a yearning in the heart, in the soul, in your being to know from where you came," said Wixom resident Dave Weaver, who was adopted as a child. He found his mother's identity, but she was already deceased. "It feels like there is a piece inside of me, inside the soul, inside the heart, that is missing. I wanted to fill it. And this is how you fill it: You search to find answers."

Nearly a decade before Lane was born, his adoptive parents started the process of adopting a child through Lutheran Children's Friend Society, now known as Lutheran Child and Family Services of Michigan.

At the time, the Lanes did not qualify for adoption because Margaret had already borne a son, and the agency only worked with infertile couples. But six months after her son's birth, Marge Lane had a hysterectomy and was no longer able to have children.

It was 1954, and the waiting list of people wanting to adopt a child was long -- a sharp contrast to today, when 4,200 Michigan foster children are waiting to be adopted and every year 450 children enter adulthood in the state without ever being adopted.

Lutheran Children Friend's Society changed its policy in 1962 and allowed couples such as the Lanes to adopt children. The Lanes applied again and were approved as adoptive parents in January 1963.

A month later, John Doe No. 73 was abandoned. Detroit was bidding for the 1965 Olympic Games, British surgeons completed the world's first kidney transplant and unwed teenage girls who got pregnant were sent away for nine months to give birth to "illegitimate" children.

"Today there's so much less stigma with having a baby without being married," said Barbara MacKenzie, regional director of the Lutheran Child and Family Service of Michigan.

MacKenzie suspects Lane's mother abandoned him because society scorned motherhood outside of marriage. She likely was young and scared, because those are usually the mothers who abandon infants today.

Finding parents not easy

Whoever abandoned Lane didn't have the option of dropping the baby off at a hospital, fire or police department within 72 hours of birth, as parents have today. Since Michigan passed its Safe Delivery law in 2001, 55 infants have been safely given to authorities, who turn the newborns over for adoption.

Indeed, it was a more difficult time for unmarried pregnant girls because they tried to keep it secret, said Effey Winkel, who at age 91 remembers Lane's abandonment because her late husband, Robert E. Winkel, was president of Crowley's department store.

It's possible Lane's birth parents may have their own families now, Winkel said, and they may not have told their spouses and children about what they did in February 1963. But Winkel hopes at least one of his parents opens their arms to him.

"I would hope they would come forward so he knows them and feels like he has parents," said Winkel, who lives in Arizona.

Lane's longing to reunite with his birth parents is colliding with a world where people often connect more on an electronic level than human, and that may add to his urgency, said MacKenzie, of Lutheran Child and Family Service.

"We're cocooning with our computers and televisions," she said. "Because of that, the need to feel connected is stronger today."

Lane had happy childhood

Because Lane was abandoned, a judge estimated his age and gave him a birthday of Feb. 6, 1963.

Soon after, the Lanes adopted him and renamed him Richard Lane.

He says his parents gave him a happy, healthy upbringing. He attended Christ the King Lutheran School in Southgate and graduated from Southgate High School.

"Our lives are probably much better off that we were adopted," said Michele Lane, Rick Lane's sister, who was adopted three years after him.

"I have no hard feelings against my birth mother as an adult. I thank her. I wouldn't be where I am today or had any of the opportunities if I hadn't been adopted."

Though she is not interested in finding her birth parents, she understands why her brother wants to find his.

Rick Lane says he wants his birth parents to come forward so he can share with them that he turned out all right, holds no grudges and is open to what happens afterward.

"We'll see what happens," Lane said. "Life is usually most exciting when you don't know where all the roads will be taking you."

You can reach Kim Kozlowski at (313) 222-2024 or kkozlowski@detnews.com.

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MICHIGAN: Release of Adoptee Medical Records Could Expose Birth Parents, March 17, 2008

GRAND RAPIDS PRESS
March 17, 2008

Release of adoptee medical records could expose birth parents
Posted by Kyla King | The Grand Rapids Press March 17, 2008 07:51AM

ALLENDALE -- Until she was reunited with her birth mother three years ago, Karen Kemme never knew the hereditary disease cystic fibrosis ran in her biological family.

Even so, the Allendale Township mother of three has serious concerns about a proposed state law supporters say would help adult adoptees in her situation.

A bill that soon could be voted on in the House would allow some adult adoptees to get information about their biological family's medical history, and possibly copies of their original birth certificate.

The proposal is controversial because, as written, it could also allow access to the names of birth parents even if they wish to remain anonymous.

"I think there should be consideration on both sides because it's a very emotional thing -- my (biological) brothers and sisters didn't even know about me. (My biological mother) had to sit down with her family and say, 'Listen, I had a baby I released for adoption when I was 16,'" said Kemme -- who, it turns out, does not carry the trait that causes breathing and digestion problems.

Bill sponsor Rep. Lisa Wojno, D-Warren, says the legislation is aimed at helping adoptees learn if they are at higher risk for cancer, hereditary diseases or illnesses.

But the bill has raised concerns at Grand Rapids-based adoption assistance agency Bethany Christian Services because, as now written, it could allow access to birth certificates that previously could not be accessed without the consent of the biological parent.

Adoption advocates worry pregnant women will be discouraged from choosing adoption because of privacy concerns, said Bethany spokesman John VanValkenburg.

"In many cases those records have been sealed for decades," VanValkenburg said. "That confidentiality has been there for sometimes very valid reasons."

Michigan law allows some adopted individuals to get birth certificates once they become adults. But for those adopted between May 1945 and September 1980, a copy of the original birth certificate showing the names of biological parents is available only with a court order. Otherwise, the documents are sealed.
Adapting adoption

A look at legislation that would let adopted individuals get a copy of their birth certificate when they turn 21:

Why: To help adoptees get information about their biological family's medical history.

What is the concern: Birth certificates of children adopted between May 1945 and September 1980 previously have been accessible only with a court order. The proposed law could identify birth parents who may wish to remain anonymous.

Changes being considered: Lawmakers are considering revisions to protect privacy concerns.

State Rep. Fulton Sheen, R-Plainwell, opposed the bill when it passed out of committee saying it could violate confidentiality promises made to birth parents years ago. Sheen said the legislation is undergoing revisions he hopes will address privacy concerns before it comes for vote before the full House.

"I don't think we should be choosing whose rights are more important," Sheen said. "For those parents who don't want to be found, they ought to be able to give them the health information but have their names removed."

In Kemme's case, the 42-year-old used a confidential go-between at Bethany to make the initial contact with her birth mother, even though her birth mother had signed a form letting the state release her identity.

But even if her birth mother had not wanted to be identified, Kemme said she could have used the same confidential process to exchange medical history information.

"There was no law stopping me from doing that," Kemme said. "It would have happened the same way."

Bonnie Baker Harris, a post-adoption specialist at Bethany, said the agency regularly helps adult adoptees and their biological parents confidentially share medical histories about allergies, heart disease and other conditions.

"Birth moms are usually very relieved to find out that is an option for them to help that child access that information without having to jeopardize their need for confidentiality," Baker Harris said. "Usually, that's because the birth mother never shared with anybody the fact that she did have a child and released this child for adoption."

-- The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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MICHIGAN: Adoptees Could Have More Access to health History Under Bill

ASSOCIATED PRESS
March 10, 2008

Adoptees could have more access to health history under bill
By TIM MARTIN

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Some adopted children would be able to get information about their biological family's medical history and possibly copies of their original birth certificates when they become adults under bills that soon could be voted on in the Michigan House.

Rep. Lisa Wojno, a Democrat from Warren and sponsor of the bill, says the legislation is aimed at helping adoptees learn more about their health prospects. She said the legislation could be a tool to help people learn whether they are at higher risk for cancer, hereditary diseases or other illnesses.

"Without that information, it puts their health and their children's health at risk," Wojno said.

The bill is undergoing some revisions but could be ready for a vote later this month. The changes under discussion could help ease concerns about privacy rights for biological parents.

Michigan law allows some adopted individuals to get birth certificates once they become adults. But for those adopted between May 1945 and September 1980, a copy of the original birth certificate showing the names of biological parents is available only with a court order. Otherwise the documents are sealed.

Denise Lindeman of Center Line told a House committee that the bill is needed to provide parity in Michigan adoption law. Lindeman was adopted, but as an adult has been reunited with her birth mother.

The House bill as originally written would allow adoptees 21 and older to apply for a copy of their original birth certificate regardless of when they were adopted. A birth parent of an adopted individual could file a form with the state indicating whether they want to be contacted by the child they gave up for adoption.

Birth parents also would have the option to file an updated medical history form with the state, which would be available to the adoptee regardless of whether the parent wants to be contacted.

Another option under consideration during a revision of the bill would allow adoptees to obtain a health history without getting a copy of the original birth certificate. That provision is aimed at alleviating concerns the bill would violate confidentiality promises made to birth parents years ago.

Ed Rivet, legislative affairs director for Right to Life of Michigan, said the bill could be drafted to ask biological parents to provide a health history at the time of the adoption placement. That could provide vital health information right away, rather than requiring adopted children to wait until they become adults.

That option also would protect confidentiality, allowing closed record adoptions in some cases.

"We need to leave that option available, even though it's a small segment," Rivet said.

There are more than 2,500 adoption placements in Michigan each year.

___

The adoption records bill is House Bill 4896.

___

On the Net:

Michigan Legislature: http://www.legislature.mi.gov

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MICHIGAN: Bill Would Extend Adoptee Rights, March 6, 2008

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DETROIT NEWS
March 6, 2008

Bill Would Extend Adoptee Rights
Kim Kozlowsky

A Michigan House committee on Wednesday approved a bill that would allow some adults adopted as children to get their original birth certificate.

"It's a great first step in getting adoptees the rights we've been entitled to all along," Daryl Royal, a moderator of the Internet mailing list michigansearching.com, said after the hearing of the Family and Children's Services Committee.

Michigan law currently allows birth certificate access to adoptees after they become adults. But those who were adopted between May 1945 and Sept 12, 1980, cannot get their original birth certificate, a situation that has left thousands of people without any clues to their family origin, genealogy or medical history.

Instead, they have a birth certificate that lists only their adopted parents.

The proposed bill also would give parents who gave their children up for adoption during those years the option of letting the state know if they're willing to be contacted. If they prefer no contact, they would be asked to fill out an updated health history.

At the hearing, several advocates lobbied lawmakers to pass the bill, pointing to states that have opened adoption records and saying they deserve to enjoy the rights that many Michigan residents take for granted.

"Closed-record adoptees have been swept under the rug for far too long," Center Line resident Dee Lindeman told the committee. "It is time to right this wrong and bring us some manner of parity with other adoptees across Michigan."

Opponents of the legislation include Bethany Christian Services, an adoption agency; Right to Life of Michigan; and the National Council for Adoption.

Though representatives from those organizations did not testify Wednesday, some lawmakers voiced concerns about disregarding a birth parent's wish not to be contacted.

"I don't want those people who don't want to be revealed to be revealed," said Rep. Fulton Sheen, R-Plainwell, who opposed the measure along with fellow Republican Reps. Brian Palmer of Romeo and Jack Hoogendyk of Texas Township.

Rep. Lisa Wojno, D-Warren, countered that Oregon passed a similar law 10 years ago and since then, 83 people have indicated they do not want to be contacted. Supporters also noted that research by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute showed that states with open adoption records have not seen an increase in abortions or decrease in adoptions.

An identical bill has been introduced in the Senate, but has not yet been scheduled for a hearing.

You can reach Kim Kozlowski at or kkozlowski@detnews.com

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MICHIGAN: Adoptee--Unseal Birth Records

DETROIT NEWS
March 4, 2008

Jerry Robertson always wanted to know who his birth parents were.

Born in 1945, Robertson was adopted during the first year that birth certificates of children adopted in Michigan were permanently sealed. That era ended in 1980, but it left thousands of people without access to their original birth certificates and clues to their ancestry.

Today Michigan lawmakers will begin contemplating one of the most heated questions within the adoption community -- should upwards of 20,000 people be allowed to access family information that has been kept secret for decades?

Bills in both chambers of the Legislature would allow people adopted between 1945 and 1980 to obtain their original birth certificate. It also would allow birth parents to tell the state whether they want to be contacted, and how. A hearing on the matter will be held today before the House Families and Children's Services subcommittee.

Robertson died in 1996 without knowing his family roots, but his daughter, Terri Koch, hopes a change in the law will allow her to fulfill his wish.

"It was excruciating and heart-wrenching and so unfair," said Koch, of Battle Creek, who continues the search for her father's birth parents. "He was the most caring person who ever lived but he was also the most tortured soul. I will never give up searching."

Opponents counter that the records should be kept secret to keep intact the parameters that were promised to birth mothers years ago.

They support opening the records but only if there is consent from both sides.

"The main concern is that the adoption was done at a different time, under certain rules that promised birth mothers confidentiality," said John VanValkenberg, spokesman for Bethany Christian Services, a Grand Rapids adoption agency with offices in 30 states.

"It's a balancing act," he said. "The rights of adoptees to have access (to their adoption records) is an important part in shaping their identity. We recognize those rights, but they must be balanced by the rights of the birth parents who were promised confidentiality."
Concerns now 'unfounded'

As society has become more accepting of childbirth outside of marriage and Internet tools have helped reunite families separated by adoption, a growing number of adoptees are pushing their states to open records to help them trace their genealogy.

Since 1996, six states have allowed adoptees access to their adoption records, including three states in 2007, according to Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute in New York. Kansas and Alaska have never closed adoption records.

In November 2007, the Adoption Institute released a study examining reasons why some oppose releasing adoption information to adoptees once they become adults, such as concerns of violating the birth mother's anonymity, increased abortion rates and decreased adoption rates.

"The concerns that people had about allowing access simply are unfounded," said Adam Pertman, executive director of the institute. "The bottom line is, if adopted people want these birth certificates for some legitimate reason and there's no negative consequences, then why not do it?"

Michigan has allowed anyone adopted after Sept. 12, 1980, to acquire their original birth certificate when they become an adult, so long as there isn't a confidentiality request from their birth parents.

But those adopted between 1945 and 1980 only have access to a birth certificate with their adopted parents' names on it. Original birth certificates cannot be released without a court order, according to Nanette Salyer, adoption inquiry specialist at the Michigan Department of Human Services.

That has prompted people such as Pamela Hewitt to try all kinds of strategies to find their birth parents. Hewitt is glad she found her birth mother in 2001, thanks to the Internet. But it took 26 years.

"There were a lot of dead ends and a lot of closed doors," said Hewitt, who lives north of Port Huron. "It was very, very sad."
Search program not enough

Michigan also changed its adoption law in 1980 to allow people adopted during the closed era to obtain nonidentifying information such as the birth parents' health history, ethnicity and educational background.

It also set up the Michigan Adoption Central Registry, a list of birth parents and siblings indicating whether they want to be contacted. Currently, 95 percent of the 26,311 people in the registry have indicated they would like identifying information to be released about them.

In 1996, Michigan established the Confidential Intermediary Program, which allows adoptees, birth parents and their family to petition the Family Court to appoint someone to search for relatives at a cost of $250. The confidential intermediary obtains the adoption file, attempts to update the information and contacts the person to see if they wish to be contacted by the person who petitioned the court.

"There's no guarantees you'll find someone," said Daryl Royal, a confidential intermediary in Wayne County, adding that the program is not well-known.

But many people adopted during the closed-record era say that is not enough.

"Michigan's adult adoptees who were adopted during the closed adoption era really require just one thing, and that is access to their original birth certificate," said Debby Fraser, 49, of Dearborn Heights, who was adopted in 1961 when she was 17 month old. "Being no less and no more than any other American citizen, and in keeping with the status quo that all nonadopted people have access to their birth records -- with logic and fairness -- our records should be opened to us."

kkozlowski@detnews.com

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MICHIGAN: Rules Limit Connection Between Kids and Biological Parents

WOOD-TV, Grand Rapids, December 18, 2007
Rules limit connection between kids and biological parents

By TONY TAGLIAVIA

GRAND RAPIDS -- Bonnie Baker Harris has witnessed some remarkable reunions, like the one between Steve Flaig and Chris Tallady.

"Sometimes it can get quite emotional," Harris said.

She is the post-adoption specialist for the Bethany Christian Services Adoption Agency. As part of that work, she helps adopted children and biological parents connect.

"I would say we get several calls every week," Harris told 24 Hour News 8.

Those calls can result in a connection, especially for children whose biological parents ended their parental rights after September 1980. In those cases, as long as a parent hasn't asked not to be identified, his or her child can get the parent's name and last known address through the adoption agency.

For the children of parents whose rights were terminated before September 1980, information can only be released if a biological parent specifically allows it.

So what if there is no permission or denial on file?

"That is a very, very common outcome," Harris said. "The state has put into place what's called confidential intermediary services."

That person works as a go-between without telling either party who the other one is.

As Steve Flaig and Chris Tallady's story shows, sometimes an intermediary can be helpful, even when names and addresses are available. In their case, it led to a happy result.

"Best Christmas present ever," Chris Tallady said.

Her son's response?

"I can't wait to get to know each other better."


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