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Effortto broadenadoptees’rightsto get birth informationgets PennsylvaniaSenatecomm... Page 1 of 3

PENN LIVE r Effort to broaden adoptees’ rights to get birth information gets Pennsylvania Senate committee’s approval

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A billto expand adult adoptees’ ability to get access to their original birth records moved through a Senate committee Tuesday, as part of a push by advocates to put legislation on the governor’s desk this year. (The Patriot-News, file)

Charles Thompson I [email protected] By Charles Thompson I [email protected]

Email the author I Follow on Twitter on September 16, 2014 at 4:49 PM

A compromise effort to give adopted persons dramatically expanded rights to seek the identity of their birth parents passed through state Senate’s Aging and Youth Committee Tuesday on a 9-2 vote.

Supporters are making a concerted effort to get the bill to Gov. Tom Corbett’s desk before the end of the 2013- 14 legislative session - scheduled to end next month - but acknowledged that will take some further negotiation.

The change would only affect those people involved in so-called “closed adoptions,” estimated at about S percent of the 30,000 adoptions processed each year in Pennsylvania.

Under current law, birth records in those cases are generally not available without the natural parents’ consent.

Prime sponsor Rep. Kerry Benninghoff’s bill, which passed the state House last year, would flip control of that dialogue around, by letting adoptees born in Pennsylvania request their birth records by right once they’ve reached the age of 19.

Opponents have expressed concern Beninghoffs bill swings the law too far in favor of adoptees, to the possible harm of natural parents who made conscious decisions to give their children up years earlier.

Sometimes these reunions are happy occasions, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape legal counsel Diane Moyer noted after Tuesday’s vote. But in other cases, “it’s not what they (the adoptees) expect.”

The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference has even raised the concern that a loss of guaranteed confidentiality could lead future expectant mothers who might otherwise consider adoption to have abortions,

That’s where Tuesday’s compromise comes in. http://blog.pennlive.com/midstate impactjprint.html?entry=/201 4/09/effortjo_broaden_ad... 9/17/2014 Effort to broaden adoptees’ rights to get birth information gets Pennsylvania Senate comm... Page 2 of 3

Senators passed an amendment sponsored by Sen. Robert Mensch that would give birth parents a three- year period to either agree to open up the original birth certificate, or file a denial of release form with the state.

If they do not file a denial within that time, the original birth certificate would be open to adult adoptees upon request. If the birth parents deny release, the birth records would only become available upon their death.

Mensch, a Montgomery County Republican, said he felt his language helps strike a better balance between the rights of adoptees and the parents who, for whatever reason, gave them up at birth.

Support for the amended bill was bipartisan, but not unanimous.

Sen. Judy Schwank, D-Berks County, called the issue a matter of “dvii rights” for adult adoptees. “People need to have legitimacy... You need to feel that you are a human being, similar to everyone else,” Schwank said.

But Sen. Sean Wiley, D-Erie County, argued Tuesday’s vote was premature given uncertainty about the state Department of Health’s ability to reach birth parents years after the completion of an adoption.

“In these committees, this is where we’re supposed to get the work done,” said Wiley, the ranking Democrat on the committee. “I am not willing to vote for legislation that is not in the best form it can possibly be leaving thus room... This is too big of an issue for so many people to rush.”

Sen. John Yudichak, D-Luzerne County, said he’d like to see counseling options made available to birth mothers who suddenly might be forced to relive the trauma of a rape or an otherwise abusive relationship.

But other supporters pressed for a yes vote Tuesday, in the hope of continuing a dialogue that could lead to passage before the end of the current legislative session.

Sen. Scott Wagner, R-York County, said he felt none of the issues raised by the bill’s critics are insurmountable, and accused some of his colleagues of contracting a “classic case of analysis paralysis.”

The bill passed Tuesday’s vote with only Wiley and Yudichak voting no.

Benninghoff, himself an adoptee who was present for the vote, said he was heartened by the committee’s action, and will keep working with Mensch and other get the bill in position for final votes this fall.

“Any progress is some progress,” Benninghoff said afterward. “I’m not giving up trying to see if we can still get something over the goal line before the end of the year.”

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Representatives of both PCAR and the Catholic Conference called the amended bill a step in the right direction for them, but said they needed to do a more detailed review of the new language.

Corbett has not adopted a position on the bill, an administration spokesman said.

© 2014 PennLive.com. All rights reserved.

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AevEsnIs motto National study backs open adoption records a A—I IS November 12. 2007 1200AM By Mackenz;e Carpenter Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Share with others For ‘ears, its been one of the most hotly debated, emotional a in circles: Should Enjoy aIrqs of 1030% issues adoption adult adoptees have the “15cmyou back tally right tot heir onginal birth records? Lb Tweet 3’i Share i,’,A-.’2. Share Inn A study released today by a Boston-based adoption research institute says open records for adoption do not result in Print Email Readl.atcr increased abortion rates, decreased adoptions or fmctLlred adoptive families.

LATEST IN NATION ‘‘Allof tlit-arguments put forth by people vIto titioh adopt ion Fsesvn lawr.aker to ross seo,irity fc’tm records should be sealed simply aren’t born out by the facts,” about l200ers ago

said Adan t i’enina n, executi”e director of tile Evan B- Donaldson Adoptitin Institute. vh cli has lnng US poverly declines in 2013 advocated for refomis in adoption laws, policies and practices. including open records, about I2houn ago

COO M,ercans betas rig ilie stody reiewed past and current state laws: legislative histories: and the existing body of f.rs we epaid last shoot 12 hoots ago research on how sealed and open records impact affected parties. Ntnicerct paoners I US grew o2013 about 12 hoots ago ‘I’hc reality is, in states with open records laws, there are fewer abortions, not snore, and the

nosttber of adnptinns increase,” Mr. l’erttnan said, “ibis study gets at tile core of tile sirgitmetit for Fedecal a’,do regu’alort d’aw awräcers wratn On adopted people and equal access to birth information,” ‘gst.o’ swfld detect about l2hoe.’s ago

For exatttple, in Oregon -- one of six states that has re-established access to birds records for NaT,oral Br,ets 2 frrs win pads to le’nj astronauts about 12 hoe’s ago adopted people since tggó — abortions have declined since the law vent into effect, at a rate sintilar to that in England and \Vales when adoption records were opetted, the study found. Adoption rates Fotir Quick Qttest ions also increased in Otrgon. Howmany online media services such as Nettlix, hub or Pandora do you subscribe to: In Kansas and Alaska, thich have always provided people with access to original birth certificates,

the abort ion rate is lmcer than tlie national rate, and the adoption rate is also htgher than it is D 1-2 nationally, the study noted. o 3 o “Sealing records are a living ‘mbol of the had old days, when we hid unwed mothers, and o Mosethan 10 stereotypes about them ruled the day,” Mr. Pertman said, such access not only is a civil rights issue, o None lie added, bitt provides important information about an individual’s mental and physical health history. Submit

Pswt’edby “Now we can reshape public polity in a way that gentunely helps the millions of people involved.” ue,’s, I CivicSoenre

AOvERTISEMENT Thunvas Atwood, president of the National Council for Adoption, which advocates a “sntttual crHtsent” policy rather than mandated open records, said he was skeptical about the Donaldson Institute study’s findings,

http://www.post-gazette.comlnews/nation/2007/l I/ 12/National-study-backs-open-adoption,.. 9/17/2014 National study backs open adoption records - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Page 2 of).

“Vet’can’t dnnv that correlation from the data, silice there are so many factors involved in abortions,” he said.

‘Vonsimply can’t argue openness has an effect on the numbers of abortions. ‘today, a woman can

choose open adoption if she “-ants, so von’IY not increasing tlie ntimber of women who are aNe to choose adoption, beca use they already have that opt ion right now. But if you take away the confidentiality option, you are still depriving some women of their ability to choose adoption, because sonic women feel they have to have confidentiality in order to choose it.”

“We believe one side should not he empowered by the law to force itself on the othcr side,” lie added, “It has to he h’ mutual consent.”

AD’,ERr’SEt,lEtJ I

Most states proluhit adoptccs from ohi aining birth ccii ificates and oilier informat ion frum the i coins adoption files unless a judge approves their request. Child Guard

In Pennsylvania, post legislative proposals to open recorc]s to adult adoptees have been faced with Online strung opposition from the Catholic Confeft’ne and some adoption gniups, which rh d9uad,, fly corn argued it would break a prnm iso made to mothers “-ho sought confidentiality when giving their 09’cat Weos::e. children tip for adopt mu. COPA Cornpt!ance Verificat on Pareta Not’, hoi’ever. the Catholic Conference is a new version supporting which drops the mandated open Consent. records language. Senate Bill702, introduced by Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-Montgomnen’,vo,,ld allow open records only if all of the parties involved give their consent.

Nl;uckcnzieCarpenter can be reached at mranterrt—gazette.eom or 412-263-1949,

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Adoptee rights ADVER715tOE 147 May 10. 2014 1200AM

‘floisyear, nmnv Americans learned through the film Share w-thotners R:boy Le’ by io’g line ‘PhiI.iiuena” about a mother” ho longed to hear about her 1421 1 I FIc,aIP-rrPri’:eEb adopted•awav child while he longed to meet her. As Mothers ‘‘ ‘ - Sesm ‘-Pare SM’1’

Lit. - Teeti - S’I Day approaches, many women itsthe United States fe-elthe Share Same vav.

Print Email Readlater SHOP NOW (oistran io popular belief. they were nut promised a j

cnn fident ialiiv, and ma iv of them did not tvant to lose thci

clii1(1ren hut felt they had no choice in a time when their families, their schools, and/or their economic situation pot LATEST IN LETTERS

extreme pressure on them to relinquish their children. met me a I-ri to’ ScouM 5 noepeodooco about I2hoem ago

Most viewers of film were by acts the repelled the of the convent thai kept Philoinena and her son Lets end the ‘in God We Tmsr religious nonsense from knowledge of each other. Pennsylvania has a lass that dees something similar, keeping steal 12 Soara ago

adoptees from getting their original birth certificates, a right all other citizens have, and tInts from - Keec LI chsch ard cut of govTvnen: - . . . . . G learning theIr original names. [liii nght now In Peniosylvaisia,HB 162, which would restore Ibis right steel 12 hcu ago to adult adoptees, has passed the Pennsylvania House and is silting in the stale Senate Coniniiilee The Pan Auitt2y sn&j.d crare Es sirange b,z on Aging and outh. waiting fur a vole. This bill passed tile \ [louse commitlee unanimously and was fac system tliorcsuiglslvdiscussed at a hearing by the Senate Committee, hut since tlseisthe comnutlee about 12 hours ago leadership has changed. tM’.y do so ‘rany onve’s (a: to isa turn s-?,ats? aba l2hoats age ifyoti are a constituent of the new chair. Sen. Rand’ Vtilakovieh (he represents the 40th District, The Wesem Pennsy:vala Casseivartygameos which includes part of Butler and Alle henv counlies). and you care about the American Plstlomenas wea gfttotiden.s and equal rights (or their adopted-awavadult dsildren. ask him to schedule a vole on HB 162. about l2tmus age

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Bills in Pa., N.J. would open adoption records Page 1 o14

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Susn,, Perry of che,’y H:flw,I?iho, gmiJtfdJirjtttot Grace Goittlesk. and daughter Jane Geittlrsk duiit’g a OI3 StfmnIOr tathJ Ptre/ Las edccar2d passage at theN J rnbrcea treNrfl &7 Adeeflisa Hera

• - —— •‘st % k 0 Sin.H. P.rrniey, inqusrerstaffWnfe, Lutest Sea’s Ildc,, • r- LAST UPDATED: Sunday. February 23,2014.11 59 PM , .0) POSTED: Sundsy, Febnjary 23 2014. 5.22 AM knowing itlirjinquirer Not the identity of her real mother was always a painful, unresolved GALLERY: Bills in Pa, N.J. would open adoption issue, but when Susan Perry was diagnosed with melanoma. reconds fInding out became a medical necessity.

Perry, 63, of Cherry Hill. began looking 13 years ago but sealed-record laws in New Jersey prevented access to her original birth certificate, the gateway to a person’s genealogical, medical, and other information.

“I realized adopted people really have no rights,” said Perry, now battling stage-four melanoma. “With many people, there 1Foist I wuvcd Nt’i L’sSI r,,’,Cs: is a real wish to know something about your genealogy and to Tragic end for know your roots. It’s really the first chapter of your life.” transgendercd teen in Bucks

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p Perry has worked with the New Jersey Coalition for Adoption Reform and Education (NJ CARE) over the last decade for passage of the adoptees’ birthrightbilLThe measure would allow adopted adults over 18 in New Jersey to secure their original birth certificates from the state registrar. Video: Goliath grouper downs shark Snone bite Pupp,es Lan,c Pu’ Seven other states have passed access legislation for From $49.95 adopted adults since 1999. TwoS Kansas and Alaska - have Buyino never sealed adoption records. Source: Phullycops guns spark probe Pennsylvania sealed records in 1925 in the interest of preserving birth parents’ anonymity. In 1984, the state enforced additional restrictions on adoptees’ abilityto access their original birth certificates by closing loopholes in the Vital Cops: .%Tava workers I ‘ Records Code. ) nab repeat robber “Most states stilltreat adoptees differentlythan non-adopted Suyitnoj I persons,” said Carolyn Hoard, 74, of West Grove in Chester County, who testified in support of an adoptee billweaving its 5lronworkersto way through Harrisburg. “It’san inequality.” plead guilty?

Hoard placed a son for adoption in 1964, but the two were unable to reunite before his death at 37 from meningitis. II Child Guard On! State Rep. KerryA. Benninghoff (R., Centre) introduced HB childguardcniint 162 over the summer to give adoptees who are at least 19 OfficialWebsite. COPP, who were born in Pennsylvania access to their original birth Compliance Verificatioi record without redactions -the same access all other Parental Consent. Travel 1)euls Pennsylvanians have.

“Iwant to see Pennsylvania be a leader in this area,” Benninghoff said, “We celebrate all births.”

The Pennsylvania House passed it, 197-0, in October, It has a hearing before the Senate Committee on Aging and Youth Also a’s l’hUIy.co,n chaired by Sen. Bob Mensch (R., Montgomery) on 18, $305 & up -. Flights from March BusiNEss: Philly on American, RI? and, ifapproved, it could get a fullSenate vote and head to Jersey slots linked to see all travel deals Gov. Corbett’s desk by summer. Nevada for bigger jackpots usTEo BY TRBJOO Son,t t.,.s. i,s a,,Xt-,,,.iI “I’mhopeful that the Senate willbe inspired to take action on bill the after the hearing.” Benninghoff said on Friday. “I’m HEALTH cautiously optimistic.” Jumpstart fitness: Targeting problem Weekly Circula is areas New Jersey’s billmirrors laws in Oregon, New Hampshire, Alabama, and Rhode Island - that provide adult adoptees

access to their original birth certificates, It also gives birth SPORTS mothers the option to express a nonbinding contact ESPN’sStark: Amaro not safe hasty preference. The measure could be voted on as early as r Tuesday in the Senate; the Assembly posted it for a vote on FOOD LION: Thursday. Nothing Tastes Better ENTERTAINMENT Than A Good Deal BRAND NEW But a coalition with vast politicalsway is fighting it: the state Phillywoman smprtse winner in chapter of the American CivilLiberties Union, New Jersey Ireland Right to Life,the state Catholic Conference, and the New Jersey State Bar Association. They oppose the billover FOOD issues of privacy. Right to Lifeclaims compromising birth n A handcrafted brew parents’ privacy could lead to an increase in abortions, for Philly’s working class RITE AID: with Us, It’s Personal Perry and other advocates say it’sa matter of civilrights, in EXPIRES This SATURDAY which a minorityis being denied the same right as the

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Bills in Pa., N.J. would open adoption records Page 3 oft+

see Morocirculara majority. They say the bill would also bring New Jersey into — Worker satisfaction at a the 21st century, because people now find one another isecurit through Facebook, websites such as Ancestry.com, so-called search angels volunteers who help birth parents find adopted children . and private investigators. 5toj; L’WIIHILLILJ Get the latest Pliilly Lam Qaily Headlines newsletter cc reed a 5gi.prae Proponents claim only a small percentage of birth parents - ss less than 5 percent nationally don’t want to be found.

Martha Gelarden, 60, an independent studio artist from krey S pC eraer’ C Yes 0 Nc Collingswood, said she never tried to hide from her son, Adam, whom she gave up for adoption 39 years ago. AN INQUIflER ORIGINAL liRe

“If Iwas so afraid ... why did I keep my name?” Gelarden said. ‘The adoption agency had my e-mail address. I never DISCOVER THE thought I had the right to search (for my son] because I had IMPROVED MOPE signed away my rights.” INQUIRER Gelarden and her son, who lives in Chicago. reconnected five LEARN years ago after he e-mailed her. They have stayed close MORE since, sharing a love of art.

On the proponents’ side are State Sen. Diane Allen (R., Burlington) and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D., Hudson).

‘More and more states are doing it,” said Allen, who has sponsored the New Jersey bill for the last 17 years. “Birth parents and adopted children are finding each other through private investigators and having to pay for it. They shouldn’t have to do that.”

The legislation has gone through various iterations over three decades in Trenton only to fall short of votes, get tweaked,

or be conditionally vetoed, as Gov. Christie did with it in 2011.

Christie sided then with opponents who insisted that birth parents’ names be redacted from birth certificates. He also sought a provision for biological parents to request not to be contacted by their adopted children, and to instead use a confidential intermediary to facilitate contact.

Advocates for adoptees say that having full access to records with full names of birth parents - was vital to assuring a complete medical history and that redacting names ran counter to that. Some criticized Christie a potential Republican presidential nominee in 2016- of appeasing his party’s far right and conservative wings. Christie’s press office issued no comment last week on whether his position was the same.

But Marie Tasy of New Jersey Right to Life - the state’s largest antiabortion organization . appeared before an Assembly panel on Feb. 10 and urged lawmakers to consider Christie’s alternative of using an intermediary.

“The governor’s conditional veto was a really fair balance to protect rights of all parties in an adoption,’ Tasy said in an interview. “There are still incidences where the birth parents

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are stillguaranteed privacy such as maybe with a rape victim.Not all reunions are pleasant.

“We believe that a birth parent that does not want contact should have the right to remain anonymous,” Tasy said. “When you remove the option of privacy in an adoption, more women may choose abortion,”

The New Jersey State Bar Association, the state’s largest organization of lawyers, judges, and legal professionals, also favors using an intermediary.

But Perry, whose husband, Tyson, testified on her behalf because of her medical condition, has a different take, Her mother did not want a relationship after the two made initial contact in fall 2003, but she recently reunited with two sisters,

“Youdon’t have a right to have a relalionship with someone else,” she said, “but as an adult, you should be free to work

that out without state interference. I don’t want an intermediary poking into my business.”

The New Jersey Catholic Conference wants the current bill amended so if a birth parent prefers not to be contacted, that request would be honored and the state registrar would redact the person’s name on the original birth certificate.

“Reunions between adoptees and birth parents should be only after mutual consent,” said the group’s executive director, Patrick Brannigan.

But contact has eluded Rodney Shinners of Short Hills,N.J., who’s been tryingto find the son or daughter his ex-girlfriend gave up for adoption nearly 50 years ago. He’s been hampered by not knowing the baby’s gender or date of birth - only the year, 1965.

Shinners, 73, eventually married and raised a family, but he

never got over it, “Iconsider that child a child of mine as much as my four sons,” Shinners, retired from the maritime industry, said,

For him and others in their later years, and for those who

have fallen illlike Perry, time is critical,Shinners hopes his lost child can find out about his or her originwhen the adoptee billbecomes law in New Jersey and reaches out to him,

“I’mlikea fisherman out there on a boat and I’veput out all NIh fr’ends this bait hoping for a bite,” Shinners said. “This has haunted me for decades,” L .nrroji,J

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