Articles Book III - Pg 1300-1479 (Reunions etc) - triadoption

nlost arc plcascd lo cooperate and
give updated infornlalion. But locating
parcnts can IIC difficult or impossible.
Tl~e tccnagc moll~cr who gave her
cllild for adoption 20 years ago may
havc married and moved on. Nanlcs
and places of rcsidc~~cc may cl~a~~gc
and change again.
Ihoplc whose atloptions were arranged
i~~dependently (tl~rou~l~ the cfforts
of a doctor, la\c*yer or religious
leader, for cxnmplc, rather than m
agency) l~av extra difficulty in lcarning
about tl~cir past. Says Wyoming's
Slcinbcrg, "Oftcn, tl~cse pcoplc cotnc
toour agency because they l~avclleard
of ll~c sentices wc give lo our adoptive
parents and adoptcd children, and they
arc hoping against llope Illat we can
meet Illeir desperate nced to know.
Their reasons for searcl~ing are psycl~ologicnl
as well as medical. We try
loobtain infomation for Illem becatrsc
we feel it is in ll~c adoptce's bcst interest."
But not will^ n~ucl~ luck: "Our
lack ofsucccss has bcen nolal~lc."
Stcinberg and mcmbers of his staff
ask for wl~atcvcr infornlation is availaof
a possible predisposition to alcoholism
can be critical in shaping tl~e drinkble-name
of tla adoptec, birthday, ing habits of tllc adopted person.
birtllplace, name of ll~e doctor-and To obtain ll~c actual birth records,
thcn try to track down the doctor. "A tile eager or anxious adoptce may atlot
of Iimcs," Stcinberg says, "!be find
that the doctor lias left thc area, or llas
tenlpt to bypass the agency. Tl~e likclihnod
of success is not good. Since
retircd, or docsn't respond; or Illat l ~e adoption laws vary from state lo slate,
no longcr 118s records of thc adoption.
"\Ye also have come across cascs in
which doctors had falsified records
about tl~c parenls'backgrour~d in ordcr
to get the child placed. In one, the
doctor l~ad prcscl~tcd ll~c cllild as
nortller~l European, wl~crcas wc knew
Illat boll^ tllc biological nloll~cr and falllcr
wcrc of Spanisl~-American backmou~ld."
It is not rare to fill11 Illat
people llavc llidde~~ i~~fonnatiorl about
a fartrily l~istoly that i~~cludes mcntal
your luck may depend on whcrc you
arc. In Kansas, tl~e records arc relatively
open; in Hawaii, tllcy'rc not.
Uesidqs that, Ia\vs scldom are clcnr
about wlmt inforn~ntion or records arc
scaled, and who may l~ave access. In
Louisiana, for cxa~~~plc, ndoptccs wllo
arc at least25 ycars old may cl~oosc lo
llavc tl~c~r~sclvcs listed on a slatcwidc
rcfiislry. If birlll parents also rcdtitcr
ll~cir \villi~lgtless lo be rcachcd, cxcl~a~lgcs
of information or reunions
illness or alcol~olisn~. Yet k~~owlcdgc may be possible. In Pcnnsylva~~ia, tl~c
G8
Keeler-Wolf, llke mmy other
adoptees, Nret felt the need to
trace her biologlc hletory
whsn ehe becGe prcanint.
66 We feel we live
in the ominous
shadow of an
unknown past $3