Articles Book III - Pg 1-117 (Adoptees) - triadoption

moral support and 1cg:tl a d vicc for a
strtrggle th:tt ir now in thc courts.
Tlrc outcomc of rl~is battle will alfcct
up to five n~illion adoptecs in
tltis country 1)lus tr~illio~~s more of
tl~cir n:~tural and atloprive p:trcnts.
..
llrc issuc is r:tisit~g [~assior~s on
both sides.
U1',11101'7'10N RI~l.'ORI).S
scarclt tvorksltops, traclc exl)cricnccs. Pro: ,\t.af,\at~tl ~~~ostotl~cr:~~lc~~rtee IICS, and wl~atcvcr hoq~ital and
and discuss IIIC problems, adjust- groups c~~rtccde tlt:n records sho~lld
adoption-agency filcs are available.
nlents and internal conllicts tltat be- rcmain closcd to tninors bcc:~ure of Tl~i> tncans cndlcss pl~o~ic calls, Iep
set tl~e atlol)tcc wl~o starts looking the emotional rtraitls :lrtd pitfalls tltat
work and lcttcr writing.
for his or her natural parents. uftct~ conte tvitlr a search. Where
Hospitals and agcncics usually
I-low, for instancc, docs an ad00- adultsare concerned, l~owcvcr,,~~.st~ turn a dcaf car. Wllcn adol~tion
tcc dcal with :tdoptivc parcnts who nrgucs t11:1t scalcd rc~-crrtls infringe
sourccs do leak information, tltcy
understandably resent the searcl~l U~IOII basic civil and l~umao rights-
sornctimcs dcccivc. "Even nuns have
What is tl~c best way of gctting including thosc promising equal
licd to adoptccs," says ALMA mcmbcr
through to social agcncics and bu. protection under tlte law for a11
Karl Zimlncr, who had a succcssful
rcaucrats WIIO often trcat searchers citizens, and guarantees against loss
reunion ;il his natural parents
with wllous disdain? if tlle scarcl~ of rcligious frccdom.
aftcr a scarch lasting a year and
succccdr, what docs IIIC adoptcc say Con: Opponents-mostly adop-
a half. Tllc adoption agcncy gave
to a natural parent?
tive parents as wcll assotnc adoption
ALVA'S nabcttc Dalsl~rinlcr tllc first
I3y providing :tnswcrs, cncouragc- agencies and social workers-insist
names of hcr natural parcnts and
mcnt and hope, ALMA is hclpinq: that adoptccs alrcady llavc legal ac-
told hcr both wcrc dcad. Sltc ltircd a
adoptccs ~nin what cvcryonc clsc ccss for "good cause." 'rl~is broadly
dctcctivc wlto turncd up two glaring
takcs for gr;lntcd: tl~c scnsc of lteri- includes special nccds for tncdical or
discrcpancics: her fatllcr's namc was
tagc tl~at ansV,vcrs tlrc most basic and psychiatric I~irtorics. Bcyond sucll
incorrect and lter motl~cr was, in
l~auntitig of l~uman questions. "Who instances, up )otlcnts claim that
fact, alivc.
am I?"
adoptccs sllou 1 d lcnvc wcll enougl~
After all tl~c searching, dcad ends
Witltout it, adoptce I ' u y ~ g alone-if only out of lovc for tllcir
and dirappoirttmcntr, tl~c final rc-
2 . . I-tasry?t~, ..., . . an ~l.atA n~ru~bcr, claints adoptivc parcnts. "Your rcal parcnts
union can bc exhilarating-or hcartshc
is likean island.
E
"I wattt to touch arc the pcoplc wl~o raised you,"
breaking. Florcncc Fishcr's was
\ tltc n~ainlat~d-to ask 'Who? Why?' " columrrisr Ann Landers advised onc
both. Whrn first confronted, her
sl~c rays. Anita .--- .McCartl~ . .- - another adolxcc. "Don't go poking around.
motltcr dcnicd all. Sl~c eventually
2 .+t.stA trtcmlcr, adils: '7' ---? IC rcal me You may regret if."
admitted tl~c relationship, but thc
V,
lies frlrzcn inside. My children have lgrtorirtg suc11 argultlents. Inany
gulf bctwccn motlter and daughter
Y
b only l~alf of tl~cir lteritag-thcir fa- adopters do start tltc searcl~-and
proved too witlc to bridge. Latcr,
thcr's. Is ntine any less importal~r arc itntncdiately faccd with ntyriad
though, Fisl~cr did forn~ a lovirtg
-. C bccausc I was adopted?'
problentr. First, wltcrc to bcgin?
rclationsltip with l~cr natural fathcr,
0
;c,
Ikyond its supportive role, Al.rlA I-low does onc takc that first step
a Hollywood stuntman.
is also ic:tdirlg a nationwiclc crusade across tl~c bleak, blank ycars that
Yct, wl~etl~er good or bad, tltc
for t11c rigl~tsof adoptccs- xoviding
new rclationsltip is ala~ost secondary
cluud tllc adoptce's past? Most adoptccs
don't wen know their placc of
birtlt: and adoptive parents, the
printe starti~~g point, oftcr~ rcfusc
tltcn~ tl~c infor~natiut~,
lic about it
(JS i:lurence. Fis11w:s rtlotlter did).
Armed wit11 2 few clues, tllc adop-
tcc's next step is rumlnagiog tl~raugl~
city-hall recortls, telelrlto~~e tlirccto-
to the scnsc of fulfillment tl~c adoptcr:
gains by simply cornplcting tltc
scarclt. "It is the truth of tl~c past one
is searcl~ing for, not :I relationship
wit11 anutl~er sct of parents," strcsrcs
I~~t~y.Jc~rr~Liftort.irt 'liuicr ilont, an
~CCOUIII of Iter SIICCC~S~UI
attempt to
tracc llrr natural parcots.
Dcspitc tllc sytnl~arhic sucl~ stories
cvokc, the struggle for adolrtccr'
rigl~ts will not bc wort overnight.
Opposition is strong and makes a
poignant casc for the rights of ado()-
rive parents thcmsclvcs. Tbcy Itavc
raiscd cl~ildrcn.v,tl~eirowt~, with thc
understanding that thc vcil of sccrccy
would ttcvcr be liftcd. Now rltat
may changr. And many of them fecl
betrayed and l~urt by a child-theirs
by cvcrything but blood-who sccms
to nccd a grcatcr scnsc of family than
tlicy provided.
Yet, little by littlc. lcgal opinion is
swinging toward the adoptcc. In
Fcbruary 1977, in the most significant
court decision so far, a New
jcrscy superior court forccd an adop.
tion agency to scarclt for the natural
oarcrtts: if unsucccssful, the agency
must give thc'rccords to thc adop.
tee, unlcss the statc sltows "good
uusc" wily be sltould not have
them.
A sccondCor~stitutional chal!engc
will bc dccidcd in New York federal
court this summer. Thcrc, tg ALMA
rncmbcrs have brought a class-action
suit, dcmandir~g acccss to thcir rccords.
If tltcy win, the prcccdent will
invalidate tlie laws that scal rccords.
'ilpart fron~ davcry," the ALhth
membcrs argue in tl~eir court corrtplaint,
"thcrc is no orhcr instancc in
our law in wl~iclt 3 contract made
among adults on bind thc cltild oncc
hc rcachcr ltis majority."
Florence Fisl~cr ~nakcs another
point: The original ptlrpclscs of sealing
adopriorr rccortis wcrc not only
to protcct but11 scts of parents but