Overview
Many American adult adoptees–adults adopted as children–want to obtain their birth records and locate their biological families, known as birth families. Those adults adopted through closed adoptions, who had all contact with their birth families cut off after adoption, and their birth records legally sealed, will face obstacles in their quest.
Adoption History
Historically, most adoptions were open adoptions. For example, Roman Empire families that did not have a male heir would adopt a boy from another family, who then lived with his adoptive family, had contact with his birth family and sometimes carried the surnames of both families.
Before 1950, most American adoptions were open adoptions. Adult adoptees could obtain access to their records easily, as described by Professor Elizabeth J. Samuels of the University of Baltimore School of Law in a study, “The Strange History of Adult Adoptee Access to Original Birth Records.”
Birth Mothers Stigmatized
Closed adoption procedures developed in the late nineteenth century, and gradually became the favored form of adoption after 1930. Closed adoptions grew out of societal beliefs that unwed birth mothers were sinners and possibly mentally ill. Birth fathers had no legal rights and were ignored.
In an Adoption Law Network article, “Real People: Birth Mothers,” women described giving up their children for closed adoptions. Many of these birth mothers suffered acutely from this social stigma and also from losing their children.
Sealed Birth Records
Closed adoptions necessitated sealing the original birth records, so many states passed laws requiring this, which still remain in effect.
Once a closed adoption has become finalized, an adoptee receives a new birth certificate, listing the adoptive parents as the child’s parents. The original birth certificate and related documents remain with the state government in a sealed file.
Open adoptions regained public favor in the 1980’s partly due to public protests by birth parents and adoptees whose reunions were being blocked by sealed records.
Opening Birth Records
The complex state laws sealing birth records, and specifying conditions under which adoptees can access the information, are outlined in an essay, “Access to Adoption Records,” produced by Child Welfare Information Gateway of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Adoptees seeking reunion with their birth families face a legal obstacle course. They may need to obtain a court order allowing them to see the records, and an adoptee’s access may be denied unless the birth parents consent. Adoptees can hire an attorney to help them navigate the state records laws.
Reunion Strategies
Adoptees who cannot get access to their sealed birth records should not lose hope. Some adoptees have hired private investigators to find their birth families. Other adoptees list their information on reunion websites stating their interest in finding their birth families, hoping that their birth families will see their listing.
The Child Welfare Information Gateway maintains a helpful list of links to many websites offering legal and emotional advice to adoptees searching for birth families, “Adoption Search and Reunion.”
About this Author
Robin Elizabeth Margolis is a freelance writer in the Washington, D.C., area. She has been writing health care, science and legal articles since 1988. Margolis was the editor of a health law newsletter, and has a B.A. in biology, a master’s degree in counseling and a paralegal certificate.
