Assemblyman David I. Weprin (D-Fresh Meadows) held a Press Conference at the steps of New York City Hall with the New York Statewide Adoption Reform’s UNSEALED INITIATIVE to support the passing of Assembly Bill A 909, co-sponsored by Senator Andrew J. Lanza (R-Staten Island) as Senate Bill S 2490, which would allow adult adoptees to request from the Department of Health, a noncertified copy of an original birth certificate and a medical history form if available.
Senator Andrew J. Lanza (R-Staten Island) stated, “New York State adoptees are currently denied their original birth certificates and in turn knowledge of their original families, ethnicities, medical histories and more. Adoptees deserve access to this uniquely personal information which belongs to them. No one should be denied the right to obtain information about themselves concerning medical or other personal information of the nature involved here.”
Senator Velmanette Montgomery (D-Brooklyn) stated, “I am proud to be a co-sponsor of this legislation. It is very important to me for all people, especially adoptees, to have ready access to their birth certificates and birth family medical records for their health and the well being of their families”
Amending the existing New York adoption laws will provide adult adoptees with the same access to information that a non-adopted person has the legal right to obtain. In addition, adult adoptees will be able to learn about their religious and ethnic ancestry as well as acquire medical information that can be used to prevent health illnesses which may be connected to genetics and their family history.
Assemblyman David I. Weprin (D-Fresh Meadows) stated, “The United States prides itself in being a place in which all citizens have equal access and opportunity under the law. When the status of adoption prevents adoptees from obtaining their birth records and knowing vital medical information that can be used for preventive care or to treat hereditary diseases, then, it infringes on a person’s individual freedom as a citizen as well as the health of society as a whole. Therefore, our state adoption laws need to be reformed to recognize that adult adoptees deserve to have the same rights as other citizens in acquiring equal access to their records.”
Assemblyman Steven Otis (D-Rye) stated, “Assemblyman Weprin has worked hard to balance the wishes of birth parents with the needs of adult adoptees to access medical and other family history that can literally save their lives and enhance their well-being. I applaud his leadership and urge our colleagues to pass the Adoptee Bill of Rights.”
Joyce Bahr, President of Adoption Reform’s UNSEALED INITIATIVE said, “No other group of U.S. citizens has their identities withheld by the state. The Bill of Adoptee Rights gives all adult adoptees the right to non-certified copy of their birth certificate as well family medical records and does so with respect to birth parents who will have the option to file a contact preference if they choose so. Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, Alabama and Rhode Island have all passed open records legislation and Kansas and Alaska are the only states that never sealed records. Pertinent medical history is never obtained by many adoptees who died but could have possibly been helped with such information. Sealed records are a violation of human rights. We therefore, urge the Assembly and the Senate to pass the Bill of Adoptee Rights.”
