Articles Book III - Pg 300-560 (Birthparents) - triadoption

. Giving ' up
':. f
' t . .
old , . trauma, new, cause
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i. ., * N. Y, Times pews ~kriicc
: '' NEW YORK - They have becn
called by man nnhcs: natural parents,
blologlca I' parents, gcnctlcpnr.
en& and Iately. "blrthparcnls." But
whatever thclr descrl tlon, thc
eoplc who gave up the I' r chlldrcn
Rave becn the forgotten Ihlrd of the
adoption triad.
Hlstorlcally, the unwed mother
has been stlgn~ntlzcd as a promlscuolts
woman, and tho father who dld
,not marry her regarded as 8 scoundrel.
Both kept thelr secret and, wllh ,
, .
surrendcr, severed nll ties to thelr .
.
offspring.
. Now, spurred by the wove of
odoptees searching for their or1 Ins,
blolorlcal ~arents are themse 4 vcs
P
s enkSng out and agllaUng . . for new
r
.
ghtr.
4
' Thby have thelr own nallonnl as-.
sociatlon Concerned Vnlted Blrlhparents,
~ UB;
! "We are not against the concept
of adoption but we fell that.we've
been excluded and treated as babv
machlnes." sald Lee Campsell, whb
founded CUB In July, 1976:'s~ a sup.
port and activist group for men and
women who have surrendered thelr
chlldren to adoptlon." It Is not a.
search group to help parents and
'-
chlldren flnd one another.
' The organlzatlon, which has
about 250 members, now has chapters
In Massachusetts, the New.
York-Northern Jersev area and the '
~csn~lyvanla~oulh llcrsey area and
Is plannlna branches In Bllnnesota
and - Califomla.
hlost of Its members are between
28 ond 35 years old of the gcneratlon.
Mrs. ~nmobefl. the natlonnl
pkslilent sald, "who durrendcred at
a tlme whcn It was still objectionable
tosublect o chlld to a ltletlme ol baatardy?'
Because CUB Is so new - the
New York-Northern Jersey branch .
met for the first tlmc last month- It
'.
records to chlldrcn who have turncc
. I8 and encourngd blologlcnl porcnl
to volunlarlly make ovallnblc lnlor
famlllcs, '
But be and thnt, there Is IIttI~
ngrcemcnl
Mrs. ~ampicll, a proponcntoflh~
most controverslnl changes, noult
grant the blologlcal parent a stront
volce in the cholce of the adopllvc
couole. .
Ilies.'in the anst. n lot oi cncrnv has
been expended 'mntchlngp~i~slc~
and ethnlc charnctcrlstlcs: I thlnk
It's more important to match phllos.
oohlcs. If the 'blrthonrent' Is adn.
mant about vlailal~on rlghls, shc
could be matched up wllh ndoptlvc
Dnlcnts who don't consldcr the Idea
abhbrrent. "
. .
hlarls Bleschner, secretary 01 thc
23-year-old New York Stale Adoptlvc
Patents Commlttce, snld she would
help her own adopted chlldren seck
thclr blologlcal arcnts whcn they
reach the ,age o f mnjorlty. But she
objected to visitation rlghls before
that time.
"Thc adopllvc famlly Is a total
.family wltholit Including the blologi
cal parent," she snld. "1f.a woman
wants to vlslt her chlld, she has no
buslness placing thnt chlld. Ellhcr
you're a parent or you're not. It's a
final kind of declslon; there's no
chnnnlne .~~~ vour mlnd In the mlddlc."
CUB memhrs strccscd that the
had no dcslre to rc.enter Ulclr chll
., - -
dren's - llves.
~~ ~
"Our purposc Is not to take our
chlldrcn oway " ciolcd hlor Ewlns,
co.ordlnator oilhe New Yor branch
and a rcglstcrcd nurse at hlouut
Slnni Hospllnl who ave bldh to a
son I8 .- venrs PCO. w f en she Was 23
ears o'ld.~"~he'ndo live pnrcnls
iavc parented hlm P aken care of
hlm whcn he was sfck. sent him to
scltuol shnrcd the joys of hls chlld.
hood. loved lllm. I do want to mcct
hlm.'nnd scc the face thnt mi~ht look
and coun- llkeminc, hut there Is nothlnifor hls
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adopted arenL5 to be frlghlcncd of
Members n reed that It is csscn- I - I wou~t;otl~y ., hope he'd be closer to
yd to open leafed blrth and adoptlo~~i Ihcm.
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