I preface this by saying, “My God, New York legislators, did you not even think to determine the financial impact of this terrible bill?”
New York’s Bad Bill
With questions about New York’s not-an-OBC access bill, I thought I’d set out what the bill actually does—or actually fails to do for adoptee rights.
Bastards in the Room
It is through the emptiness of an answer that we sometimes obtain the truth.
And Then There Were Four
With legislative sessions winding down, four states are still active with OBC access bills. Three bills are clean. One, in North Carolina, is simply bizarre.
What’s the Adoption Institute Up To?
With its newly announced OBC2020 “organized advocacy campaign,” why won’t the Donaldson Adoption Institute commit to unrestricted OBC access for all adult adoptees, unequivocally and without compromise?
The Nutso World of New York Adoptee Rights
Not only does New York purport to seal adoption records and OBCs forever, but it also relies upon an archaic, punitive, and expensive court process to access anything remotely identifying.
OBC Access Bills: Update
A list of OBC access bills that are still alive in the 2017 session, plus bills that may have come and gone and are now either dead or barely hanging on.
The Long and Costly Tail of Compromise
Forty years ago, Minnesota enacted the nation’s first compromised system of access to original birth certificates. The damage continues today.
The High Price of Nope
The security and legal structures surrounding access to original birth certificates are immense, complex, confusing, and humiliating, specifically for adult adoptees who are forced to maneuver through such systems.
The OBC Tracker Project
I’m initiating a project today to collect stories and facts about the adoptee experience in getting what’s rightfully theirs. Including stories of people who don’t want to request anything.