CALIFORNIA OPEN

ADOPTEE CITIZEN HEROS, THEIR FAMILIES, AND FRIENDS
GOT RECORDS? MAX DOES!

Every adoptee who stands up and says "I'm tired as hell and I'm not taking it anymore!" Every adoptee who sacrifices time, money, sleep, job, family,and friends to restore the right of identity to adopted persons. Every first family, every adoptive family, friend, and every politician who who says "Enough is enough! No more secrets! No more lies!" All those tireless workers across the country who work constantly, without thanks or recognition, for us!

Jean Paton, adoptee. The "Mother of Adoptee Rights," Jean worked for 60 years and never gave up the fight.

Betty Jean Lifton, adoptee. Activist, author of Journey of the Adopted Self and other adoptee-empowering books. BJ introduced a generation of adoptees to the idea that it's OK to demand the right to our identities.

OREGON
Helen Hill,adoptee. Petitioner for Oregon's Ballot Measure 58. Helen made history by taking our rights to the people...and winning...making Oregon the first state in the US to rescind anti-adoptee laws. She also put sealed records on the cover of Rolling Stone.

Shea Grimm, theorist and activist. Shea created a rights based argument that wins. She worked tirelessly in Oregon to put our rights over the top


ALABAMA
David Ansardi, Sandra Pears-Wilson, adoptees; AWARE; Rep. Jeff Dolabare, not-adopted who took on that most conservative of states and won. Alabama Rep. Dolabare had an adoptee in his family, and he cared and adoptees won.














NEW HAMPSHIRE






















Sen. Lou D'allesandro, adoptive father; Rep. Janet Allen, adoptee; and the adoptees, first parents, and adoptive parents who kept the vision, making New Hampshire the third state to restore adoptee rights.


MAINE
OBC for ME/Access Maine, Bobbi Beavers (last row, 2nd from right),







STATISTICS (to be updated shortly)
Kansas and Alaska have never sealed records. Since 1998 4 states have restored the right of birth certificate access: Oregon through the ballot initiative and Alabama and New Hampshire through repeal legislation. In 2007 the Maine legislature re-opened records, and the law went into effect January 1, 2009. Below are unofficial statistics on those states. (There are no stats on Kansas and Alaska).

The Axis of Evil says that most adoptees are uninterested in their roots and records. Here's the latest stats on OBC requests in Oregon, New Hampshire, Alabama, and Maine.

OREGON
May 31, 2000-January 16, 2008
Records sent: 9,267
Contact preference forms submitted by birthparents: 503
Number asking for contact with adoptee: 391
Number asking for contact through an intermediary: 29
Number asking for no contact: 85
SOURCE: Oregon Center for Health Statistics..

NEW HAMPSHIRE
January 4, 2005-January 9, 2009
Records ordered: 1,181
Contact preference forms submitted by birthparents: 61
Number asking for contact with adoptee: 42
Number asking for contact through an intermediary: 7
Number asking for no contact: 12
SOURCE: New Hampshire Department of State Division of Vital Records Administration

MAINE

ALABAMA
May 15, 2000-February 14, 2007
At this time no statistics are published. According to the February 14, 2007 Birmingham News 3,885 adoptees have requested their birth certificates.
SOURCE: Dorothy Harshbarger, State Registrar for Vital Records.


Unofficial total for the free states of Oregon, New Hampshire, Maine, and Alabama:
May 31, 2000-January 16,2008
Records retrived: 14,210
Contact preference forms submitted by birthparents: 559
Number asking for contact with adoptee: 428
Number asking for contact through an intermediary: 36
Number asking for no contact: 133