Should Adult Adoptees and Surrendering Mothers have equal access ?

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yes, absolutely and to deny mothers access to this Vital Record is a form of government cover-up and a violation of the 4th Amendment, as well as the 14th Amendment. It is discriminatory and violates the right to private documents...about oneself. The mother's name is on the OBC. She participated in the birth. Parts of her medical history are even on the OBC.

The 4th Amendment says" The right of the people to be secure in their person, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated and no warrants shall issue, but upon probably cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

The opinion I have regarding this issue comes from one of the attorneys in my family...an attorney who has handled private adoptions...and who believes that all 3 parties have the right to identifying documents about each other.. "The 4th Amendment applies because the 'papers" that contain the information regarding the birth of our children were taken, and sealed away from us. The birth of a child is both a public and private event, and the parent/child biological relationship created on the birth certificate is permanent, even if an adoption occurs. By seizing and sealing identifying records on the mothers and children, the gov't has interfered, illegally, with a private relationship."

Surrender of a child does not "seize the OBC"...only adoption does that. Only the act of adoption, which occurs months, even years after the surrender, actually seizes the OBC and seals it.

Mothers whose children are not adopted can still get the OBC. Their names are on it...even if the child was surrendered.

Other Vital Records, such as divorce or marriage records are not sealed from the persons whose names are on them, not even if the parties have re-married....no matter how unhappy the divorce was..no matter how much the parties may want to pretend it never happened(people used to try to hide previous marriages ).

Vital Records are stored and made available to persons who are determined by law and policy to have a ''direct and tangible connection to the document or the registrant(child)". They are usually found in an office connected to the Dept of Health, which is part of the Dept of Social Services(or Human Services, etc.)

This is part of the Executive branch of government.

Mothers did not agree to this government seizure of personal information, nor that it be hidden and false issue be given later on...in the name of the adoptive parents.......(the falsified BC).

the 4th Amendment is one that was used to argue the right to used birth control, in the USA. (Griswold v Connecticut US Supreme Court, 1965) and it deals with much more than police searches.

In all other situations, parents have the right to a copy or copies of their children's BC. I am not adopted as I am a natural mother whose child was lost to me against my will to a corrupt private agency in the 1960s.

But, I had never seen my real actual birth certificate, as I was just using a birth registration.

I asked my father, a man in his 80s, to get a copy of my BC, and he did. He went to the Hall of Records in the state where I was born. That was last year.... they gave it to him, and I didn't have to give him permission. He had that right by law.

In the state where I now live, I can get my husband's BC, and would be entitled to the BC of a number of other relatives, if they were born here...including any children born to me, and grandchildren as well....Show more

I am a mother without my child and since I am the mother that gave birth to my son
I believe that I have every right to his obc and he being my child that is listed on the
birth certificate I believe he has every right to his ocb as well before the adopters had
it amended he was my son

In other words mother and child have every right to the original birth certificate

I support adoptees right to their obc...Show more

The original bc should definitely be available to the adoptee and 'birth' parents. I don't know about private adoptions, but with foster care, you get nothing but the altered one. The mother/father have the original the whole time anyway.
I don't see why anyone would have a problem with it since it would be their own information on it... and if the adoptee is an adult they should be able to get that info.
Sorry if I seem dumb, I don't know much about private adoptions....Show more

Yes, of course we should have the Original Birth Certificates of our children, and should have been given them when they were born, as do all mothers. We were until we surrendered and the courts accepted the surrenders, the one and only mothers of our children. The 4th Amendment to the Constitution pledges that we are secure in our private papers, and they are not subject to illegal seizure, which this clearly is.

Further, in order to meet the requriements of equal access, accorded by the 14th Amendment, we also, as principles to the adoption process, should be given access to the same kind of information that the adoptees receive when they are seeking Open Access. That would, in the case of adoption, be the Amended Birth Certificate provided to the mothers, as it is in several states now and in the UK, AUS and CA. To deny the mothers equally identifying information on the child they surrendered the right to parent denies this right.

A woman who signs a surrender document is signing the right to parent the child. She is not forefeiting her right to ever know her child. As an adult, her child has the right to free association, as does the mother. These are not just terms that we are throwing around, but legal terminology.

I believe that by NOT including the mothers in Equal Access Legislations that adoptees are shooting themselves in the foot. We are a nation of LAWS, not feelings. If someone feels or thinks that mothers deserve to be punished, there are laws in place that keep that from happening. By working contrary to the Constitution and the Amendments to it, the legislations are doomed to fail. If the adoptees and those working with them don't know the laws and the legal ramifications of certain actions, the Legislators do!...Show more

Yes most definitely. This is one thing that the UK has got right although adoptees have to wait till they are 18 before they are allowed to have access to their OBC which is cheap to get. Mothers get the BC when they register the child's birth....Show more