Adoptee Rights: What is it and how did we get here?

Adoptee rights is a civil rights movement working for equal treatment and protection under the law. For decades, adult adoptees have been denied access to their own original birth certificates— a basic vital record no other class of citizen is denied. Our movement seeks to end this discrimination and simply restore adoptees' right to their own original birth certificate.

1930

Dual Birth Certificate System Established

1930

A nationwide dual birth certificate system is established as a national standard, requiring the replacement of adoptees' original birth certificates with amended versions in all 50 states.

This system originally aimed to shield adopted individuals from societal stigma associated with illegitimacy, but was never intended to prevent adoptees from accessing their original birth certificates.
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1931

Protocol Recommendation Published

1931

The American Journal of Public Health publishes the proposed protocol for handling adoptees' birth records1 and this protocol is adopted by all states.

The protocol explicitly recommended that adoptees retain access to their sealed files, including their original birth certificates.
"...and such sealed package shall only be opened upon the demand of said child, or his natural or adopting parents, or by the order of a court of record."

Source: Howard, S. L., & Hemenway, H. B. (1931). Birth Records of Illegitimates and of Adopted Children. American Journal of Public Health, p. 647.

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1935

Push for Complete Sealing Begins

1935

The institution of private adoption begins advocating for the complete sealing of original birth certificates from all parties involved.

This marked the beginning of a major power play for information control by private adoption institutions, which would spread across the nation.
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1935

Era of Legalized Secrecy

1935 - 1998

With the exception of Alaska and Kansas, laws were enacted across the nation denying adopted individuals rights to their original birth certificates.

During this period, adoptees were denied access to their original birth certificates regardless of age or circumstance. The last state to enact a law denying the rights of adopted persons was Alabama in 1991 and notably they were the second state to restore their rights again in 2000.
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1970s

Reform Movement Emerges

1970s

As the impacts of secrecy became evident through lived experiences, a reform movement begins to take shape.

Adult adoptees and their allies, which included mothers who had lost children to adoption and whose voices were being co-opted by the institution of private adoption, begin organizing to advocate for restoration of access to original birth certificates.
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1998

Oregon Restores Access

1998

Oregon takes the lead in restoring adoptees' access to original birth certificates.

This marked the first major victory in the modern movement to restore adoptee rights to original birth certificates.
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1998+

Gradual State-by-State Progress

1998-Present

Thirteen additional states follow Oregon's lead, restoring full rights to adult adopted individuals to access their original birth certificates.

Despite this progress, the majority of states still maintain sealed records policies that deny adoptees access to their original birth certificates.
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Now

Ongoing Advocacy

Present Day

Adoptee rights advocates continue working to change public policy against deliberately engineered cultural misunderstandings.

Advocates face the challenge of overcoming the framing of adoptee access to their own vital records as a threat to birth mother privacy, a narrative created by the private adoption institution during the closed adoption era.
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The Goal

The goal of adoptee rights advocacy is simple: to restore adult adoptees' right to request an uncertified copy of their own original birth certificate. Nothing more. Nothing less.