The case for unsealing original birth certificates to adoptees

Paul Kimball
·2 min read
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Governments and individuals are increasingly grappling with changes in family, including the listing of three parents on a child's birth certificate. DepositPhotos (courtesy)
Governments and individuals are increasingly grappling with changes in family, including the listing of three parents on a child's birth certificate. DepositPhotos (courtesy)

Most adoptees in California do not have access to something very basic, their original birth certificate. This is because the state has sealed those birth certificates, causing adoptees to spend their lives in shame and secrecy verses truth and transparency.

Present laws, passed in the 1930’s, are well intended but outdated. They were designed to protect birth mothers, adopted parents and provide a stable home for the baby. They did not account for the fact that the babies grew up without the same rights as non adoptees.

Adoptees have an amended birth certificate on which the names of their adopted parents replace the names and additional information of their birth parents. This is a false document. Adoptees deserve the same access to their original birth certificate as any other citizen. They deserve to know who they are. Not knowing causes major psychological issues that can last a lifetime.

Many birth mothers were shamed into putting up their babies for adoption and told to never look back. Most birth mothers want to know that their baby is okay. They were under enormous stress during their pregnancies. Concerned United Birthparents (CUB) is an organization that supports Birthparents. They support the unrestricted access of adult adoptees to their original birth certificates and consider it a civil right.

There are more than 6,000 genetically related diseases. Adoptees without original birth certificates are denied access to their medical heritage. This can lead to unneeded health complications and premature death. As adoptees age, many will never find out their truth.

An original birth certificate is more than a piece of paper, it is a record of a person’s true identity.

There is hope. Many states, including New York and Oregon, have unsealed birth certificates to adult adoptees. Thousands have received them. This is huge and healing to birthmothers and adoptees.

It’s time to do this in California.

Paul Kimball is a music teacher in the Lincoln Unified School District. He is also the author of "We are all Human Beings/ An Adoptee Ponders," which examines his life as a biracial adoptee, his search for and reunification with his birth parents. 

This article originally appeared on The Record: California must unseal adoptees' original birth certificates