The Nebraskan Safe Haven Law that has created much talk and controversy has finally been changed.

Safe Haven Laws allow a mother to leave her baby at a pre-determined “safe haven.” It differs a bit from state to state but safe haven locations typically include hospitals, fire departments, or police stations. By dropping off her baby at one of these safe haven locations, a mother avoids prosecution for abandonment. In many states, the baby must be a newborn. Again it differs from state to state but in many states the baby must be under three days old.

The big problem with the Nebraska Safe Haven Law was that they failed to set an age limit when the law was written. It was... more

Ever since I found out that Tom Burnett, considered to be one of the heroes from the September 11th tragedies that struck the United States in 2001 was a birthfather, I find myself thinking of him and his birth daughter each and every September 11th. I am sure that there were other people lost on September 11th who had some sort of personal connection such as adoptees, birth parents or birth family members, and adoptive parents but those stories aren’t as well known as the one of Tom Burnett.

On September 11, 2001 Tom Burnett was flying home from... more

I came across an article recently about a man who found his birth parents via MySpace. It’s kind of interesting that MySpace has become more than just a social networking website. It’s such a large and widely used website that it makes sense that you could potentially locate birthparents or adoptees. This is not the first MySpace reunion that I have heard about, just the first article about one. In the article we... more

Lately there have been many articles in various news publications about pending legislation to open adoption records so that adoptees would have access to their birth records. This would allow adoptees to have a greater chance of obtaining medical information and reuniting with their birth parents.

The state of New York is no different. If the pending legislation is passed in New York, adoptees born in that state will soon have the same right to their birth records like any other U.S. citizen.

Do you ever wonder why records were sealed in the first place? I have and this article attempts to address that.

New York began sealing adoption records in... more

While half paying attention to television Friday night, I heard this unique adoption/reunion story and was intrigued by the details I did hear, so I got online to search for more. I must preface this story by saying it is one of those stories that is so rare and unique.

Brandy Hersh, now 27 and Heidi Wickware, now 25 met about five years ago and instantly felt a connection towards one another and became best friends. Brandy reminisces about how their friendship started:

"When we first met, it was an automatic connection. I had told her that we were -- that I thought of her as such a good friend, like a better friend than some of the friends that I'd had for years... more

Illinois is trying to pass a bill that would make it easier for adult adoptees to get their original birth certificates, very similar to the bill in New Jersey. Republican Sara Feigenholtz is sponsoring the bill that would give many adoptees twenty one years old or older access to their original birth certificates. Birth Certificates have been sealed in Illinois since the 1940’s.

Feigenholtz herself is an adoptee. In the article out of the Chicago Tribune she talked about how... more

This story out of The Clarion Ledger in Mississippi provides an example of why open records are needed and why adoptees need and deserve easier access to their medical records.

In the article, we are introduced to Lauren McCrary, an adult adoptee. Lauren and her twin brother were adopted together after their birth in 1969. Raised partially in Mississippi and then partially in Texas, Lauren remembers being told that she was adopted around eight or nine. She says she never had any problems being or knowing that she was adopted, but as she grew up... more

A recent article out of the Mid County Chronicle discusses the registry that is through The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and the Texas Vital Statistics Central Adoption Registry. Through this registry adult adoptees can be reunited with birth parents or birth siblings who sign up looking for one another. The Registry began in 1984 and to date has registered more than 8, 100 people who were searching for one another including adult adoptees, birthmothers, birth fathers, and adult siblings.

According to Patricia Molina,... more

A story out of Liverpool recently caught my attention I was reading through my Google News Alerts. A young woman, Rachel Selby, will celebrate her twenty first birthday on March 22nd and she is hoping to locate her birthmother before then and invite her to her birthday party.

Searching occurs every day and is typically a challenge for birthparents and adoptees alike, but what makes this story a tad different is that Rachel was abandoned on the steps of a church in 1987 and discovered by two policemen. The police tried hard to find her... more

This week a Senate panel in New Jersey finally unanimously approved a bill (S611) that will allow adult adoptess to get their original birth certificates which are currently sealed by law. This bill will allow adult adoptees or the adoptive parents of a child to petition the state registrar for a copy of the original birth certificate which contains the names of the adoptee’s biological parents.

Open record advocates have spent close to thirty years lobbying for this bill, so it has been a long time coming. They recruited rap star, Daryl McDaniels, who is known to most as DMC from the group Run DMC to help them get this passed.

Daryl McDaniels is an adoptee who didn’t learn... more