Documentary film maker Jean A.S. Strauss will be in Cleveland for the viewing of her new film “A Simple Piece of Paper”. Adoption Network Cleveland is proud to be the Community Partner for the world premiere of this film. Jean follows 18 citizens as they receive their original birth certificates following a change in Illinois law. In 2015, Ohio Adoptees will be able to do the same.
WHEN: Monday, March 24, 2014 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Adoption Network Cleveland 4614 Prospect Ave, Ste 550 Cleveland, Ohio 44103
WHO: Anyone interested in volunteering with ANC in any capacity.
Why should any adopted citizen have to fight the conflicting regulations put forth by their own government? All because some people are afraid of what adopted adults might do if they know the names of the person who gave birth to them? They might get passports and go on vacation.
On February 27, 2014, the New Jersey House AND Senate BOTH passed the Adoptees Birthright Bill AGAIN. All We Need is for Governor Chris Christie to Sign the Bill AS PROMISED.
Open Groups, Closed Groups and Adoption Discussion pages on Facebook for adoption support, question or just making noise and causing trouble. There are a whole slew of adopting groups and pages on Facebook, if you can’t find one that fits your needs, then you are just not social!
WHEN: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28 AT 10:30 AM
WHERE:Legislative Office Building in in Room 1D in Hartford, CT 06106
WHO: Access Connnecticut http://accessconnecticut.org/
There ALWAYS was a way for an adoptee to open up the sealed adoption records even IF ONLY by court order, then when Peter Kelly and John M. Czygier Jr., gave those VERBAL promises of confidentially to birthmothers while practicing adoption law in new York State, they LIED.
The Fight for Adoptee Rights is about CIVIL and HUMAN rights first and foremost. The opposition wants to make it all about reunion, but it is NOT. We do not demand that adoptees are restored access to their OBC because they want to find mommy, we demand it because adoptees deserve to be treated the same as non adopted. What an adopted person then DOES with their OBC is their choice.. so reunion is secondary. When we tell long stories about insane searches & happy reunions, then we feed into the mythology that the opposition wants. Do not DO IT!!
If the average number of friends every Facebook user has is 130, then 10,000 shares means that over 1 million three hundred people can be viewing the intimate details of a birthmothers “hidden” pregnancy before she is found by the one person who is looking for her. New York State’s A909bill would allow the communications between a birthmother and her adopted child to be exactly that – a communication between the parents and the adoptee.
We need to stop infantilizing adoptees over the age of 18. We should restore to adoptees the rights that all other adults in this state take for granted. Society has changed, and it is time for the laws to change accordingly. When the purpose of a law ceases to exist, so should the law.
“It’s not about a supposed myth of birthmother privacy and being afraid of one’s child; it’s really about treating people equally. Adoptee Rights legislation does not force an adoptee to obtain their original birth certificate. It simply restores this civil and human right to adopted people so that, if they wish to, they can access their birth certificate the same as all other people. Not different, not special, just equal.”
At the most basic level Adoptee Rights is about civil rights and being treated equally. I mean why should we have special laws for people just because they happen to be adopted after they were born? That’s just not right. So for many adoptees, they want to right to have this piece of paper because it is theirs.. it’s their original identity. It has their name on it. It’s their documentation and why shouldn’t they be allowed to have it?”
The thing is; I’m not a super woman. I don’t have better speaking skills than the rest of the world. I don’t do anything spectacular. I just talk to people about adoption and most specifically adoptee rights; a lot. These same conversations and discussions can easily be adaptable to speaking to ANYONE about adoptee rights; Congressmen, shop clerks, your neighbors, your mother, newspaper reporters… get the idea? Don’t be so worried about saying it “wrong”. These conversations are only wrong is your DON’T say or DO anything.
Ready to fight to free adoption records and restore adoptees civil rights? All the pending bills, all in one place! Send your letter, make a comment saying you did, and share the post to your own networks, The only way we will ever restore the civil rights of our friends and children is if we work on their doggedly and with purpose together.
Immediate help is needed in contacting the following 11 subcommittee members to reiterate that HB524 is a civil rights issue and urging them to vote ‘Do Pass’ on Monday on the GEAR supported language of the original opposed legislation as introduced by Buzz Brockway.