Bastard Nation - Equal Access Oklahoma Partnership Announcement

Bastard Nation is happy to announce that it has entered into a partnership with Equal Access Oklahoma, dedicated to adoptee equality in the State of Oklahoma. It joins BN partners CalOpen, Indiana Open Access, Missouri Open, Michigan Open Access, and Open Adoption Records Quebec BN will continue to work with and support Oklahoma Open, a non-Bastard Nation partner with a long record of non-compromise campaigns.

Equal Access Oklahoma advocates for the restoration of human and civil rights of Oklahoma adult citizens denied by law from having access to personal records pertaining to their historical, genetic and legal identities, because they were adopted as children. It seeks to restore the dignity of adult adoptees by eliminating the government’s imposed management of adult adoptees relationships resulting from sealed records.

You can read the BN-EAO partnership resolution here. The EAO Facebook Page is here.

Equal Access Oklahoma is led by Staci Neasby.

We asked Staci to tell us, in her own words, a little bit about herself and the goals of Equal Access Oklahoma.

I was born 1969 in Oklahoma City, OK, and placed for adoption at birth. I spent three months in foster care and then I was adopted at age 3 months.

I had amazing adoptive parents who I call Mom and Dad. I had a wonderful childhood, with very supportive parents that raised me! I was the 3rd generation of adopted children. I broke the cycle !

My struggles: When I decided as an adult that I wanted my OBC, the state of Oklahoma slammed doors everywhere I went to attempt to access my records. I have been a citizen of Oklahoma since birth , never leaving the state. I was able to obtain my OBC via a court order eventually. This is where my journey began! At the age of 44, I finally had my original birth records after fighting to get them for 20 years prior to that.

To me it is every adoptee’s right to have access to their original records.

Our organization is not about search; it is about stopping the roadblocks we experience as adoptees and being treated as second class citizens. In 2016 , we should have the same rights as all other citizens, the right to know where we came from , and to finally witness with our own eyes , the day our lives began. It is very important to me that we can gain clean bills to finally open original birth records in Oklahoma. I will not cease my efforts until there is no adoptee left behind in Oklahoma!