I am writing in support of S5169A.
Although I am not a resident of New York, I am a mother who lost a child
to adoption in 1964 (reunited in 1986) and am very passionate about the
absolute right of every person to his or her own personal birth information. I
have spent the past 30 years of my life, full-time since retirement 12 years
ago, advocating for adoption reform, adoptee and parental rights, and providing
Search Angel services free of charge.
I have personally facilitated more than 1,500 adoption reunions in the
past 12 years. Since the advent of
autosomal DNA (atDNA) testing, within the past five years, we are now solving
searches at a mind-boggling rate. I
personally average five searches a week, and I am only one of hundreds of
Search Angels. In this new age of
information technology, there simply is no credible reason to keep adoptees’
birth records locked up in bureaucratic secrets and lies.
From my experience and knowledge, more than 95% of the mothers are happy
to be found and look forward to having their lost children back in their lives.
But, ultimately this bill is not about search and reunion; it is about
the absolute right of adoptees to be free of state-imposed discrimination and
oppression by the sealing of their OBCs. What they choose to do with it is
their personal business. The public and the State have no more right to intrude
in their personal lives and question their motives for wanting their personal birth
information than we do in anyone else's who was not adopted.
This is such an important piece of legislation that is way overdue for
passage. As a basic human right, adopted
people deserve the opportunity enjoyed by every other citizen of saying,
"I know" instead of "I wonder." We have the examples and
experiences of several other states that have restored dignity, justice and
respect to people whose records were sealed because of adoption - OR, AL, ME,
NH, RI, IL, OH, CO, WA, NJ, HI, MO, PA, MT, among them - where tens of thousands of adopted
persons have received their original birth certificates with no negative
repercussions whatsoever.
I hope that NY legislators will now step up and do the right thing.
Priscilla Stone Sharp
Mother of Loss to Adoption/Search
Angel/Adoptee Rights Advocate
