Pennsylvania, Adult Adoptees Still Waiting for their Rights

26 years after their rights were taken away, PA-born Adult Adoptees are still asking "can we have our birth certificates now?"  Can you imagine not having access to a birth certificate with accurate, factual, birth information on it?  Such is the reality that over 6 million Americans, Adult Adoptees born in the United States, face.  6 states have restored equal access of their Original Birth Certificates to Adult Adoptees (Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Alabama).  2 states never participated in the sealing of these birth records (Alaska and Kansas).  A handful of other states have intermediaries and tiered systems that allow access to some or allow access with minimal restrictions (e.g. Tennessee and Delaware).  Far too many states still require Adult Adoptees to petition the court for their Original Birth Certificates.  Pennsylvania used to be one of them.  Now, Pennsylvania has no Original Birth Certificate access at all.

SB 1360, now known as Act 101 of the 2009-2010 session, was recently signed into law by Govenor Rendell on October 27, 2010 and will take effect in 180 days from that date (April 25, 2011).  Among other issues the bill addressed, the new law replaces the confusing court systems and passive mutual consent registry for Original Birth Certificate and other information access and replaces it with a new system through DPW--also eliminating Original Birth Certificate access and replacing it with conditional access to a "birth certificate summary."

Some History
Pennsylvania did not always have unequal rights for Adult Adoptees born in Pennsylvania.  Birth certificates were amended and sealed based on the historical practice of doing so, in order to hide the "illegitimate" labels placed on the birth certificates of individuals born to unmarried mothers.  This practice of labeling was in effect in Pennsylvania at least up until the late 1960's.  However, birth certificates were still able to be accessed by Adult Adoptees who wrote in to request it.  These documents did not become unavailable to the Adult Adoptee to whom which they belonged, until 1985 with the passing of a bill whose prime sponsor was Representative Freind.  Individuals who were present to witness Adoptee Rights in Pennsylvania during this time period recall that Representative Freind was dedicated to lowering abortion rates on a state level after the passing of Roe v. Wade, passing a series of bills known as "the Abortion Control Act."  It is stipulated that the motivating factor behind removing an Adult Adoptee's right to access their own birth document is that it would in turn lower abortion rates. 

According to the PA House Journal, surrendering mothers spoke out to their legislators against this bill.  How it would lower abortion rates was also a mystery as the idea of being able to promise surrendering mothers "anonymity" at time of surrender is not supported by law or practice.  Birth documents are not sealed at surrender, they are sealed at the decree of adoption which could be months or years after the surrender takes place.  Individuals who are surrendered to adoption but are never adopted, such as those who age out of the foster care system, never have their birth certificates sealed.

Yet, the bill passed and over 26 years ago, Adult Adoptees born in the state of Pennsylvania lost their right to view their own birth certificates.  They were now bound to a confusing system of petitioning the courts and registering with a passive mutual consent registry.  Since 1985, about 1600 surrendering parents have registered with the registry (those whom I have corresponded with who have used it describe it as confusing and not widely publicized).  Statistics of Adult Adoptee inquiries are not recorded as Adult Adoptees cannot register the release of their names to their Original Parents using the registry.  The registry also has not recorded how many successful matches have been made over the past 26 years.

Throughout the 90's, several bills attempting to restore access to Adult Adoptees were penned by Senator Greenleaf and were never passed.  Representative Benninghoff penned HB 1978, a bill that placed Adult Adoptees back under the Vital Statistics Law, was penned in 2009 and died in committee at the end of the 2009-2010 session.  During the same session, SB 1360 was penned by Senator Greenleaf and passed.

The Bill
Upon reading SB 1360's draft, Adoptee Rights Reformers were concerned about the separate issues the bill addressed and how they were being mixed together.  The bill provided not only for legally enforceable open adoptions but also provisions for Adult Adoptee access to information about themselves.  Open/closed adoptions and open/closed birth records are two separate issues with two separate histories.  As apparent in Pennsylvania alone, the history of adoptions shows an inclination towards more openness, while the history of birth record access shows an inclination towards more closure.

Given that these are two separate issues, reformers were concerned that not enough attention could be given to each issue if they shared a bill.  For an adoption to be presented as legally enforceable to a mother considering adoption, full attention should be paid to the wording of the bill and for Mother's Rights Advocates to be able to share their thoughts and experiences.  For the rights of Adult Adoptees to be given the best chance possible, time should be spent listening to the voices of Adult Adoptees.  Instead, provisions for contact agreements in adoptions for Minor Adoptees (children) were included in a bill that also impacted the rights of Adult Adoptees to access information about themselves.

Looking back at the House Journal on the discussion of the law that closed birth record access 26 years ago, one will read that Adult Adoptees were referred to as "children" over 30 times.  Not being seen as an adult, referred to as an adult, and acknowledged as an adult is an issue Adult Adoptees face all over the United States.

Reformers requested that HB 1978, a bill in the House of Representatives that would allow Adult Adoptees equal treatment under the law in accessing their birth record, be amended onto SB 1360.  It did not happen.  HB 1978 will be assigned a new bill number this session.

The Law
The law still contains a mixture of petitioning the courts for non-identifying information, release of the names of the Original Parents, and contact agreements.  The Department of Public Welfare will maintain the health and social information sharing registries as well as all of the forms to apply for information.

"The birth parents may, at the time their parental rights are terminated or at any time thereafter, place on file with the court and the Department of Health a consent form granting permission for the court or the Department of Health to issue a copy of the summary of the adoptee's original birth record, which summary discloses the identity of the birth parents, at any time after the adoptee turns 18 years of age or, if less than 18 years of age, to the adoptive parent or legal guardian."

Adult Adoptees want and deserve the actual birth certificate, not a "copy of a summary" of it.  Adult Adoptees who want to try to get a copy of their Original Birth Certificates can try the passive mutual consent registry until April 25th, with the Division of Public Records.

I am not a lawyer, I am interpreting this bill to the best of my ability.  I encourage everyone to read the bill found here.