The National Center on Adoption and Permanency, led by Adam Pertman, and the Post-Adoption Center for Education and Resources(PACER) has signed on to the Joint Statement in Opposition to Florida HB357/SB576. This makes a total of 24 national, state, and international adoptee rights and adoption reform organizations who oppose Florida HB357/SB576. The only support the bill has received comes from a murky anonymous “adoptee rights” group claiming to represent Florida adoptees, who refuse to make their names public and rejects the idea that OBC and other adoption record access is a right.
Adoptee Rights Law Center
Adoptee Rights Campaign
Adoption Rights Alliance (Ireland)/The Philomena Project
ALARM Network
American Adoption Congress
Banished Babies from Ireland
Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization
The Donaldson Adoption Institute
The National Center on Adoption and Permanency
Equality4Adoptees (Texas)
The National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
Trace L. Hentz, author, Lost Children of the Indian Adoption Projects series
Access Rhode Island
California Open
Canada Open
Equal Access Oklahoma
Indiana Open
Michigan Open
Minnesota Coalition for Adoption Reform
Missouri Open
Nevada Open
Florida Adoption Initiative for Reform (FAIR)
New York State Adoptee Equality (NYSAE)
Post-Adoption Center for Education and Resources (PACER)
Bill Provisions
1) Pre-July 1, 1977s adoptions: Currently, in theory, Florida adoptees whose adoptions were finalized before June 30, 1977 have unrestricted access to their OBC, a right they have held for decades. No specific legislation, however, was enacted to authorize that release. As a result, due to misunderstanding and misapplication of law, some pre-1977s adoptees receive their OBCs, but many others are routinely denied access. In some cases, the Department of Health has refused to comply, even if with lawfully issued court order has been issued, and adoptees have been forced to sue the state for what is rightfully theirs. HB357/SB576 does not cover these circumstances. It appears, in fact, that under HB357/SB576 pre-1977 OBCs would remain held hostage to current ambiguous and confusing Florida release practice and the whim of bureaucrats. They would receive no relief. That is, it is likely that the current pre-1977 system and its misuse, will remain in place.
(2) July 1, 1977- June 30, 2018 adoptions: OBCs would be released to adoptees 40 years after adoption finalization. An OBC can be released earlier if the birthparent(s) listed on it is deceased or can reasonably be presumed to be deceased; an adoptee provides written evidence of knowledge of the birthparent(s) name that appears on the OBC; the adoptee receives a court order for release. Although the bill does not include a Disclosure Veto or similar restrictions, it does prescribe “contact preference” and medical history forms for birthparents to submit to the state voluntarily. We expect that if the legislative process moves forward that restrictions such as Disclosure Vetoes, or white-outs will be added to the bill making it even more restrictive and anti-equality.
(3) July 1, 2018-beyond adoptions: OBCs would be released to adoptees upon request, with no restriction, at the age of 18.
If your organization has not yet become a signatory and want to join, please contact me at marleyoas@gmail with your authorization and we will add you.
Reject and Resist!
New York Adoptee Rights Coalition
Not surprising. Florida, from all I have learned over the years, was a very popular state to make babies “disappear”. The records therefore cannot be freely opened for many years to come due to the possibility of many finding out they were snatched from their mothers through finding their mothers and learning the truth. I wish more adoptees would come to see the true agenda behind all of this obfuscation and obstructionist behavior by those who hold the records. It is not mothers who are behind this. Not when, in other states, it’s only 1 percent or less of mothers that veto. Is it not becoming more and more apparent that they, the holders of the keys to your records, want us dead before they are willing to turn them over to you. They are terrified of the truth. Can’t you see that? I think they know a lot of us die from grief of a broken heart or by suicide at an early age so 40 years is a way to cover it. The dirty, dark past of coercive and forced adoptions must be held in darkness. That past is not that far back, ergo the 2018 and beyond release with no restrictions. Adoptive parents were the ones that were promised “confidentiality” and “no one would ever know” and “the child is yours forever”. So tired of the lies. “Born to” that’s lie #1. and they’re still telling that lie on every new “amended” birth certificate. What does that tell you? Why would any adoptee believe someone or an organization who continues the practice of such an egregious lie? I truly do not understand why it is so difficult to see. I know some mothers do veto. I could have been one of them. The reason? Because of the crap lies and refusal to give me any hope or even the eye and hair color of my lost to adoption son. But oh, it’s all about protecting ME. Bull! Big lie number 2.