OBC Access


World Premier of “A Simple Piece of Paper” at Cleveland International Film Festival

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.



Debunking OBC Access Myths and Fears; Abortion Rates Will Go Up

Have the abortion rates in those states gone up since OBC access was restored which would indicate that women fear this lack of mythological privacy in adoption? If a women knows that someday her relinquished child will be an adult and could access his or her original birth certificate with her name on it, will she abort the pregnancy rather than give birth? Abortions rates say NO! Adoptee Equality Proves to be NO Threat to Unborn Babies!






What NOT to do when Speaking About Adoptee Rights ESPECIALLY to Legislators

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!!


New York State Public Hearing for Adoptee Rights; 1-31- 14

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.



Talking About Adoptee Rights To Legislators or Anyone Else Part III

“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.”


Talking About Adoptee Rights To Legislators or Anyone Else Part II

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?”


Talking About Adoptee Rights To Legislators or Anyone Else

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.


Adoptee Rights Bills to Support in 2014

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.