Bastard Nation
Press Release

May 15, 2000

For Immediate Release – May 15, 2000
Contact: Bastard Nation 415-704-3166

ALABAMA OPENS BIRTH AND ADOPTION RECORDS TO ADULT ADOPTEES

Bastard Nation, the Adoptee Rights Organization, is extremely pleased to announce the passage of Alabama’s HB690, which restores the unconditional right of the adult adoptees of that state to the original records of their births and adoption. In a moment of historical symmetry, Alabama, which in 1991 was the last state in the U.S. to deny adoptees access to their own records, has become the first to open them unconditionally by legislative action. (A ballot measure in Oregon granting adoptees unconditional access to their original birth certificates was passed by the electorate in 1998.) Bastard Nation is very proud to have worked with and supported Alabamians Working for Adoption Reform and Education (AWARE), the coalition of Alabama adoptees, birth, and adoptive parents responsible for this historic achievement. Particular thanks and congratulations go to the prime sponsor of HB 690, Representative Jeff Dolbare; the Senate sponsor, Senator Phil Poole; and the leaders of AWARE; BN members Sandra Wilson and David Ansardi as well as Jean Uhrich.

The dedicated AWARE team lobbied this bill through unanimous House passage and a 26 to 2 vote in the Senate by relying firmly on the argument that adoptees are entitled to the same civil rights in respect to accessing their state-held records as all other citizens. While other adoption reform efforts have focused on the need for records in order to reunite with birth parents, AWARE has agreed with Bastard Nation that the question of records access is one of fundamental rights and not the need for reunion. Thousands of adoptees across the country are able to find their birth parents yearly even under the sealed records system; only an acknowledgment of adoptees’ rights to their own records restores them to full equality with non-adoptees.

The legislators of Alabama recognized the fairness of this argument, and little opposition was expressed to the bill. An amendment similar to Oregon’s, which allows the birth parent to express a preference regarding contact with the adoptee, was added on the final day of the Alabama legislature’s regular session. Governor Don Siegelman has expressed his support for the bill and has said he will sign it into law.

Adoptees and all supporters of Adoptee Rights have cause to rejoice as Alabama joins Alaska, Kansas and Oregon in the open records column!

Bastard Nation Executive Committee

Marley Greiner
Cynthia Bertrand Holub
Ron Morgan