FOR RELEASE: Jan. 30, 1997
Contact: Susan Lang
Office: (607) 255-3613
Internet: [email protected]
Compuserve: Larry Bernard 72650,565
http://www.news.cornell.edu
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Parents of adopted children in New York are overwhelmingly
in favor of laws that allow adult adoptees access to information in their
birth certificates about their birth parents, according to a new Cornell
University study.
"One major argument for keeping records sealed is to protect adoptive
parents who might feel threatened if their adopted children knew more about
their birth parents," said Rosemary Avery, Cornell associate professor of
consumer economics and housing and a specialist in family policy and foster
care. "Yet, these results indicate there is no justification for keeping
such information from adult adoptees, especially non-identifying
information. And there is no reason to believe that New York state
adoptive parents are any different from those in other states: they are
overwhelmingly supportive of opening sealed adoption records," Avery said.
As more adult adoptees pressure state legislatures to open sealed adoption
records on the grounds that they are unconstitutional and important for
healthy psychological development, Avery set out to determine how adoptive
parents felt about the potential legislative changes and how common open
adoptions were in the sample.
She surveyed 1,274 adoptive parents in 743 adoptive homes in New York. The
study, which is the first intensive study on this issue in New York, based
its findings on a diverse sample of parents who lived in rural and urban
areas, adopted through public and private agencies and adopted children of
various ages.
She presented her findings at the North American Council on Adoptable
Children in Dallas in August, and will publish them in a forthcoming issue
of Children and Youth Services Review.
Among her findings:
-- Adoptive mothers were more in favor of opening adoption records than
fathers: 83 percent of adoptive mothers and 73 percent of adoptive fathers
felt that adult adoptees should be able to obtain a copy of their birth
certificates; only 9 percent of adoptive mothers and 11 percent of adoptive
fathers felt they should not have access.
-- 78 percent of adoptive mothers and 66 percent of adoptive fathers felt
that all adult adoptees should have the right to obtain an original birth
certificate, regardless of when they were adopted.
-- About 17 percent of the adopted children in the study had some contact
with their birth mothers compared with 7 percent having some contact with
their birth fathers. Of those, about half have actually seen their birth
mothers and half have met their birth fathers.
-- White adopted children and "other" race children are far more likely to
have contact with their birth parents than black/African American children.
-- Children adopted by more educated parents were far less likely to have
any contact with a birth parent.
-- Older adoptive mothers were more in favor of opening adoption records
while white adoptive fathers, and adoptive parents with prior experience
with fostering or adoption were less in favor of opening adoption records.
Currently, only New Jersey upholds the policy of complete confidentiality
in adoption records, Avery said, and Hawaii, Kansas and Minnesota have open
adoption records with and without age limits; Alaska, Kansas and Tennessee
allow adoptees access to their original birth certificates and Washington,
D.C., Maryland, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Virginia and West Virginia hold
"good cause" hearings to determine whether to allow adoptees access to all
records.
In 42 states, including New York, the state requires that adoptees persuade
the court they have "good cause" for learning non-identifying information
regarding their adoptions; mere curiosity is inadequate. Non-identifying
information includes birth, age of birth parents, physical, medical and
educational histories of birth parents, race, ethnicity and age and gender
of biological siblings.
In 1994-95 the New York legislature debated whether to allow adoptees
access to their birth records regardless of when they were adopted.
Although those bills have since died, Avery said, she expects that they
will be reintroduced and hopes that her empirical data will facilitate the
dialogue.
Pending additional funding, Avery would like to replicate her study using a
national sample and to survey all three members of the adoption triad:
adoptive parents, birth parents and adoptees.
"At the very minimum, adoptees should have easy access to non-identifying
information about their birth parents," Avery concluded. "Such information
lets adoptive mothers and fathers parent better and should help them deal
with difficult child adjustment problems during adolescence. For adoptees,
greater opening might contribute significantly toward healthy development
during adolescence and lesson feelings of rejection and insecurity."
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