Category: News

The lack of support of HB2725 from the Public Health Committee indicates that a genuine adoptee rights bill cannot succeed this session. This was not the case in recent years, especially in 2015 when a nearly identical bill passed unanimously out of two committees and passed the House on a vote of 138 to 1. In many respects Texas is getting closer to enactment of a genuine adoptee rights bill and the opposition has become more organized in defeating it. It was, in fact, TXARC’s preference this session not to introduce a bill and instead use the time to educate the public and legislators, with a goal to reintroduce a clean bill in 2021. This was a decision prompted by key leaders in the legislature who advised us over the past year to “take a session off.”

According to the Texas legislative website, HB2725 has not been recommended for passage and is not being reported out favorably by the Public Health Committee

This week has been a busy one for adoptee rights activists around the country, Instead of a short  Facebook and Twitter blurb noting legislative updates, we thought we’d give a fuller examination of what went down.

There is no state interest in keeping original birth certificates sealed from adult adoptees to which they pertain. Nor does the state have a right or duty to mediate and oversee the personal relationships of adults. Those who claim a statutory right to parental anonymity through sealed records promote statutory privilege and state favoritism. A half-million Texas adoptees are denied birth record access. Think about this: That is more than the population of Arlington or Corpus Christi. SB2725 will give them full rights and privileges.

Is Gladney saying, with the save-face caveat (or warning?) that disclosure “may” be dependent on state laws–which of course, Gladney can influence in Texas and perhaps in other states?While making adoptive parents the domestic gatekeeper, is Gladney saying that it is OK for adoptees (usually) 18 and over to get access to the OBC, court records, and other recordsIs Gladney back-door endorsing the QuadA endorsement of record access?

So here it is: a clear, concise explanation and timeline of Texas access law  in the newly-published report, Texas: Setting the Records Straight, released by the Texas Adoptee Rights Coalition in March 2019.

There is no state interest in keeping original birth certificates sealed from adult adoptees to which they pertain. Nor does the state have a right or duty to mediate and oversee the personal relationships of adults. Those who claim a statutory right to parental anonymity through sealed records to them promote statutory privilege and state favoritism. 30,000 Connecticut adoptees were left behind in 2015. The passage of SB972 brings them back.