Maine adoption rules changing with new year (Dec. 26, 2008)
By Gillian Graham
Staff Writer
Beginning Jan. 1 a new law will allow adult adoptees in Maine to have access to their original, unaltered birth certificates.
The law establishes a process by which an adult adoptee can obtain a copy of their original birth certificate. Previously, all probate court records relating to adoptions on or after Aug. 9, 1953 were confidential unless a judge approved examination of the records, according to state law. When a child is adopted, the state issues a new birth certificate listing the names of the adoptive parents.
To receive their original birth certificate, adult adoptees must fill out an application with a notarized signature and pay a $10 fee, according to Elana Jellison, rulemaking coordinator for the state Office of Data, Research and Vital Statistics.
Starting in January, birth parents will fill out contact preference forms indicating they want contact, want contact through an intermediary of their choice, or do not want contact, Jellison said. According to the law, “A birth parent shall fill out a medical history form if that birth parent fills out a contact preference form.” Jellison described the medical history form as “pretty comprehensive.”
Bobbi Beavers of South Berwick is the Maine representative to the American Adoption Congress and co-founder of Original Birth Certificates for Maine (OBC for ME), a grassroots organization comprised of adoptees, birth parents and adoptive parents. She said the group’s initial mission was to pass legislation granting adult adoptees access to their original birth certificates upon request while empowering birth parents to indicate whether or not they wish to be contacted.
“We feel this is a basic human right, a civil right,” she said.
Beavers said Alaska, Kansas, Oregon, Alabama and New Hampshire offer unrestricted access to original birth certificates. Adoption rates are higher and abortion rates are lower in states allowing access to original birth certificates, according to OBC for ME. Access-to-birth-certificate laws are successful in a number of countries, including Finland, Israel, Scotland and the United Kingdom, according to the organization.
Beavers said the “adoptee human rights bill” took two legislative sessions to complete. The bill was first entered in 2006 but never made its way out of committee, she said. A number of amendments were attached to the bill and the group ultimately asked it be cancelled, she said.
In 2007 the bill, sponsored by Rep. David Farrington of Gorham and former Sen. Paula Benoit of Phippsburg, was approved by three-quarters of the House and two-thirds of the Senate, Beavers said. Gov. John Baldacci signed LD 1084 into law on June 25, 2007.
Farrington and Benoit spoke “eloquently” in support of the bill and educated other legislators about the issue, Beavers said.
“I spent a lot of time in Augusta, but I couldn’t be there every day,” she said. “It was very helpful to have them help educate the other legislators.”
Benoit, an adoptee who was denied access to her original birth certificate by a judge, said the legislation is less about reuniting families and more about providing access to original identities.
“I believe it’s important for everyone to know their original identity,” she said. “Everyone should have access to their original birth certificate.”
Benoit will apply for her original birth certificate next month. She said Cumberland County provided her with the names of her birth parents after she petitioned the court because they had died. She has since reunited with some members of her birth family who also served in the legislature.
Now that LD 1084 has been signed into law, OBC for ME has shifted its focus to serving as a support group for all three parties involved in adoptions, Beavers said. Many adoptees may not find the information they are looking for because information on the original birth certificates may be missing or inaccurate, she said.
“It is a process and it can be an emotional rollercoaster,” Beavers said. “Many of these people are going to have a big disappointment.”
Despite the potential for disappointment, Bettey Landry, an adoptive mother from Saco, said it is important for adoptees to know where they came from.
“I think children and adults need to know,” she said. “It’s an important part of who they are.”
Landry, who adopted five children and had long-term foster placements with two children, said her children always knew they were adopted. She said she has seen adults who have wondered about their birth families and others who have developed relationships with birth parents.
“I think it’s a wonderful thing when it does turn out OK and they can have two families in their lives,” she said.
Adoptive mother Jo Bradeen of Auburn said a search for birth parents can be a “double-edged sword,” but sees the new law positive step.
“I think many people spend a lot of money trying to find siblings and something about their past,” she said. “This law will make it easier for them.”
Sister Theresa Therrien, an adoption casework supervisor at St. Andre Home in Biddeford, facilitates meetings between adoptees and their birth parents when a reunion is requested. She said the agency does not provide confidential information about birth parents.
Therrien said her agency, which facilitates domestic and international adoptions and provides other parenting services, has provided information about the new law to adoptees and birth parents throughout the last several months. Most people had not heard of the new law and some birth parents oppose it because of privacy issues, she said.
While adoptees will have access to the names listed on the original birth certificate, Therrien said adoptees will be able to find birth parents even if they have requested no contact.
“I would hope the adoptee would be respectful of the parents’ wishes,” she said.
Cathy Robishaw of Falmouth, co-founder of OBC for ME, was adopted from St. Andre as a 10-day-old baby in 1968. She received non-identifying information about her birth mother from the home and later petitioned the court to see her original birth certificate. Despite a denial from the judge, she was able to locate her birth mother’s name in 1994 through other means.
Robishaw said her birth mother died of cancer in 1983, located her death certificate and identified the type of cancer she had. St. Andre had the mother’s health listed as “good,” but she knew from her own search to be on the lookout for cancer symptoms, which she later exhibited. She said the comprehensive health form will be valuable for adoptees, who often have no health history to provide to their doctors.
“This updated medical history asks for lots of history on family members and parents, and will really help out an adoptee,” she said.
Robishaw has come into contact with many adoptees and birth parents through meetings with OBC for ME and said reaction to the new law has been positive.
“People have come out of the woodwork,” she said. “Birth parents have been so thrilled they can finally fill out a new form to update their contact information.”
Robishaw submitted her request for her original birth certificate as soon as she as forms were available.
“This will be very interesting for me,” she said. “It’s been a long time coming.”
Applications for original birth certificates, contact preference forms and health history forms can be obtained online at:
http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/boh/maine_cdc_rules.html
http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/bohodr/ovrpage.htm
Walk-in service is available at the Office of Vitals Records, located at 244 Water St., Augusta.
For additional information, contact Elana Jellison at 287-1911 or elana.jellison@maine.gov.
Original Birth Certificates for Maine will host a meeting at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 17, in the community room at Norway Savings Bank, Route 1, Falmouth. For more information or to RSVP, call 671-1375 or email cmrcmr@verizon.net.
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