HB2006. sponsored by Rep Cody Harris, is nearly identical to 2021’s HB1386 That bill passed the House with flying colors. Despite overwhelming support in the Senate, it did not receive a hearing because…well, because it’s Texas.
Continue reading
This year is a legislative nightmare. As of tonight we have fourteen OBC and OBC-related bills to follow; seven traditional Safe Haven bills; and twelve Safe Haven Baby Box bills.
Continue reading
No one knows the exact number, but thousands of queer and trans young people are lost, figuratively and literally, in the broken corrupt foster and adoption systems and what follows. They are subject to harassment, physical, sexual and emotional abuse, social isolation, incarceration, depression, suicide ideation, stigma, bullying, exploitation, violence, and rejection by bio families as well as foster and adoptive ones. They and their families, who do stand with them, are increasingly subjected to family policing through Draconian rules, regulations, and laws pushed by “conservatives,” Christian Nationalists, and traditional family values politicians and special interest groups. (Oten the same groups that oppose adoptee rights in general.) They are ignored by the very “child protective system” and so-called care communities–public, private, and increasingly corporatized– that are supposed to protect and nurture them.
Continue reading
US international adoptees once more need our help in passing The Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2021. It MUST pass this year. The Bill passed the House in February and has been sitting in the Senate since then. With the midterm election and the impending retirement of sponsor Sen. Roy Blount (R-MO), it is imperative to act now.
Continue reading
Today, HB 2284/S1146 the bill that restores the right of all Massachusetts-born adoptees to obtain their Original Birth Certificates without the restriction goes into effect. Until today Massachusetts adoptees born between July 17, 1974 and January 1, 2008 and their OBCs were tossed in a black hole by a series of archaic laws that kept their records sealed except by court order. Those born before and after those dates enjoyed full and unrestricted access to them. No reasonable explanation was ever given for this nonsense…
Continue reading
Governor Charlie Baker has signed H2294/S1140 making Massachusetts the 13th state (and third this year) to acknowledge and codify the right of all of its state-born adopted people at age 18 to obtain without conditions or restrictions their original birth certificates upon request. Current law bars those born between July 17, 1974, and January 1, 2008, to obtain the document without a court order. The new law goes into effect November 3, 2022
Continue reading
Congratulations Louisiana-born adoptees! Today your right to your original birth certificate is officially restored after 45 years of sealing. Have at it! Let us know when you get it,l send stories, comments, Here is how to obtain your Louisiana Original Birth Certificate.
Continue reading
This afternoon the Massachusetts Senate by a vote of 40-0 passed he measure passed the House last year and has been held up in the Senate Rules committee since then. Earlier today it was released from the committee and sent to the Senate floor for an immediate vote. There is no reason to think that Governor Charlie Baker will not sign on. In effect, the days of segregated Original Birth Certificate access are about to end in Massachusets.
Continue reading
For Samuels, adoptees are projections—imaginary grateful beneficiaries of her imaginary Adoptopia, or what she calls “the wonder of adoption.”
Continue reading
On June 15, 2022, Governor. John Bel Edwards signed HB 450--the bill that restores the right of all Louisiana-born adopted people to their Original Birth Certificates upon request, without restriction,.The House, voted 76-21 and the Senate 29-5. For Pete’s sake, Louisiana! Louisiana! If Louisiana can acknowledge, codify our rights, and pass a bill, then any state can!
Continue reading
Get involved with Bastard Nation's national and state-level advocacy efforts. Sign up or update your contact information here. We'll be in touch.
Bastard Nation is a proud partner organization in the New York Adoptee Rights Coalition, along with the Adoptee Rights Law Center and the Adoptive and Foster Family Coalition of New York. Plus strategic partner Reclaim the Records
Bastard Nation is a proud partner in the Texas Adoptee Rights Coalition, along with Equality for Adoption, Gladney Adoptees for Rights and Equality, and the Adoptee Rights Law Center. Plus strategic partner Reclaim the Records