If you know anything about adoption searching in the U.S., you know that it can be quite a chore. Some states are much easier to search in than others as access to adoption records in our country varies greatly from state to state. In some states, access is even different from county to county. Trying to wade through all the bureaucratic obstacles to obtain adoption records can often be a frustrating and burdensome challenge.

In the past 4-5 years, I have met many adoptees and birth parents who are searching and/or in reunion. After many discussions about search and reunion, I have reached the conclusion that reconnecting with birth family members is a very significant experience for many. I know that for me personally, reunion has been a life-altering, enriching experience. I also know that the experience of reunion is as different as we all are. Not all reunions are as positive as mine has been.

However, I also know that not a single person that I know who has searched regrets their decision. This holds true even for those with less than stellar reunions. It also includes those who found a birth family member who did not want contact. The more I talk to people about search and reunion, the move convinced I am that reunion can be a positive experience with amazing possibilities for healing. Therefore, I am a strong advocate for search and reunion.

However, I also question the system of closed records which makes searching necessary in the first place.

Nancy Ashe presents a very good overview of the open records’ debate here.

http://www.reunite.com/adoption-records/the-open-records-debate.html

In Nancy's article, she spells out the foes and advocates of search and reunion. In many states, activists are currently working towards changing laws that keep records sealed. Advocates of open records believe that the right to information about one’s birth should be a basic human right.

The National Counsel for Adoption (NCFA) and other opponents of open records attempt to cloud the issue. They are constantly coming up with new reasons why they believe open records should remain sealed. One of their favorite cries is that “birth parents deserve the privacy that they were promised”. I find that argument particularly annoying for several reasons. First, I find it nearly impossible to believe that they have any interest in protecting the rights of birth parents. My other problem with that argument is that I am unable to find a single birth parent who was promised anonymity and “protection” from their own child.

I will share an article I wrote re birth mother privacy vs. open records in a subsequent post and explore both sides of this hotly debated issue.