Adopted children should be able to see their birth records and find their birth parents, according to a report from the Evan B. Donaldson Institute, a national not-for-profit organization devoted to improving adoption policy and practice.

The report notes that evidence from the eight states with open adoption laws indicates that the arguments against open adoption records are fallacious. In those states, there has not been an increase or decrease in abortion rates or any evidence that birthparents become distressed when contacted.

"These states' experiences in providing this information make clear there are minimal, if any, negative repercussions," said Adam Pertman, director of the Institute. "The mythology ... is that you should be protecting someone from something. But that's not the reality. Adoptees are not behaving poorly, they're behaving very respectfully, and birth parents do not appear to be a frightened class that wants to hide."

The American Civil Liberties Union and some right-to-life groups have opposed open adoption laws, which are already in place in Maine, Delaware, Alabama, New Hampshire, Oregon, Tennessee, Kansas and Alaska.

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Labels: laws, open_adoption, birth_parents

Posted By: Aspen Education Group