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Adoption
HTT?
I suppose I'll do as suggested.
How do you feel about the sealing of original birth certificates. Who do you think it protects and why do you think it exists?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: HTT?
I don't feel one way or another. We have a copy of our daughter's original birth certificate, as does her birthmother. I can understand the emotional aspect of it in a closed adoption where that information is restricted and unavailable, and I can understand the feeling that it "erases" part of a person's identity, although I don't agree with that (at least in our state).
It was explained to us that it was for legal purposes in preventing the wrong copy to be distributed when a replacement was requested and that she should only have one "legal" identity. ETA: And also to protect the "privacy" of the birthparents. Which makes sense and is something our birthmother wanted.
Having said that, her record is available to her at any point after the age of 19 -- the state keeps a copy of all of the adoption paperwork along with the original birth certificate and supporting documents in a file. We have it as well, but in a case where an adoption is closed or the information isn't made available to the child, they have access to EVERYTHING related to their adoption as far as the court/state is concerned when they turn 19. And I think that is great.
I don't know if it works this way in other states, so I can only speak to my own, but I think that it's a good way to handle it.
I really have not thought about it a lot. I think that adoption were handled very differently when these laws were passed than they are handles now.
In our IA adoption. I have two huge notebooks full of info that was provided to use such as hospital records, adoption stuff, a personal documents from BM. All our info is in these notebooks also so DD can see everything that we went through to get her home.
I have a copy of the orginal birth certificate because the birth family gave it to me which I am not suppose to have (laws & privacy). I also have DD's passport that I will make a copy of before I give it back (rule) when we finalize. We have childhood photes of DD's BM in DD's room and we tell her often who BM is. We also have photos of foster parents in DD's room(birth granparents). We are not allowed to have contact with BM (drugs) but anything she wants to know she can because we have weekly contact with BM's family. DD will always know her family adoptive and birth.
PAL/PGAL Welcome
I believe that sealing birth certificates is rather uncommon now. The only person/people I could see it protecting are the birth parents, and that is only if they don't want their child to know who they are for some reason.
We are currently awaiting finalization of our adoption. Our DD will receive a new birth certificate when finalization happens. However, we also requested a duplicate copy of her original birth certificate, so that she always has both.
As an aside, you (OP) seem to be very angry about something. What is your background? Where do you fit into the adoption triad? I would like to know more about why you are so heated on these topics.
I understand it's not so much an issue now, but there is a whole generation of adults who do not have access to their birth certificates. Current legislation has not changed for them. They are on file but they do not have access to them.
I am not angry, and I am only heated because it concerns children and basic human rights. When either of those are violated, I am bothered. I am considering adoption via foster care, and am pro-Adoption reform.
In my case, since it was foster/adopt and there is a potential threat with the BF, the county suggested that when we get her new birth cert and go for a new SSN, to make sure we dont provide and BM info at all, so that her "new" identity cannot be traced back to her original birth cert/name.
I do not, however, think her original birth cert is sealed and wouldnt bother doing anything about that. One thing I thought was interesting though, is anyone can go to the county and get a copy of a birth certificate. You do have to sign an electronic afidevit saying you have a right to the information and can be prosecuted, but honestly, who would ever think the county/state would actually do that - even if they figured it out. That sorta made me uncomfortable. Anyone could get a birth cert and use it to esablish credit, get a passport, etc. that was a bit scary for me.
In Ohio, only people who were born prior to 1964, and people born after 1996 (once they become adults) have access to their original birth certificates. This was some sort of "compromise" the legislature threw together a while back -- and they've never altered it. So basically, anyone born between 1964 and 1996 is out of luck.
I oppose it, having watched my adopted siblings struggle with the feeling of disconnection from their past that they feel from not knowing their original identities. One brother told me: "I know who I am now, but not who I was. Almost everyone else knows what name they were given at birth, but I don't."
[Edited for clarity]