Why Adoptees Need Access To Their Original Birth Certificates; and Janice Butler of Woman Of Character Ministries

Why Adoptees Need Access To Their Original Birth Certificates In the US, 48 states continue the practice of sealing adopted children’s original birth certificates (the OBC) upon finalization of the adoption. In all but 4 of those 48 states, adult adoptees do not have unrestricted access to their OBC like all other people do at the age of 18. Right now, only Alaska, Kansas, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Alabama allow unrestricted equal access to all adoptees over the age of 18. In Rhode Island, they have restored access to all adoptees over the age of 25. There are groups that have been working to change the law in Missouri with HB647 that would allow the adopted adult to apply for their OBC and receive a copy of it by paying the same fee that they do for their amended birth certificate. They faced opposition from Catholic Charities and Lutheran Family Services who put up HB1112, a “Mother May I” bill that would require that the adopted adult get a court order and go through the same process that is currently set in place for records. Host Elisa Brietenbach talks with Lynne Dickinson-Snyder, an adoptee about the fate of the…