NEW YORK: Adult Adoptees Deserve Respect from State by Eileen McQuade, by January 21, 2008

ALBANY TIMES UNION
January 21, 2008

Letter to the Editor, Adult Adoptees Deserve Respect from the State

by Eileen McQuade, president, American Adoption Congress

Sharon Smith's story of unsuccessfully searching for information about her origins is one the adoption reform community hears all too often ("Opening closed books on adoption," Jan. 13). Like Ms. Smith's birth mother, I relinquished a daughter to adoption in New York state, and did not register in the state registry. Unlike Ms. Smith, my daughter's search was successful -- just because her birth mother has an unusual surname.

Obtaining important personal information from the original birth certificate is a matter of right and should not depend on circumstance. The birth certificate is the key document U.S. citizens use today for identification in myriad situations, yet we have a significant number of adults who cannot get a copy of the document that was created at their birth.

These adopted adults did not agree to the sealing of their birth records. The information that is unique to who they are might be available to a judge or a social worker, but not to them. Adopted adults are adults foremost, and need to be treated as such by the state of New York.

EILEEN MCQUADE

President

American Adoption Congress

South Windsor, Conn.

Eileen2155@gmail.com


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