COLORADO'S DECLARATION OF DEPENDENCE

Posting for Anita whose computer suffers from extreme blogophobia!


COLORADO’S DECLARATION OF DEPENDENCE

By Anita Walker Field

Legislative Declaration # 1Colorado HB 05-1287 was passed in June and is awaiting the governor’s signature. Here is the first sentence of the Legislative Declaration:

"IN 2005, THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY DETERMINED THAT IT WOULD BE BENEFICIAL TO THE MEMBERS OF THE ADOPTION TRIAD TO ALLOW EACH BIRTH PARENT THE OPPORTUNITY TO INDICATE A PREFERENCE REGARDING FUTURE CONTACT INCLUDING THE OPPORTUNITY TO AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF THE ORIGINAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE AND TO AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF HIS OR HER OWN CONTACT INFORMATION, AND TO PROVIDE A METHOD TO MAKE INFORMATION ABOUT MEDICAL HISTORY AVAILABLE TO THE ADOPTEE."

How does it make you feel to know that from now on in Colorado birth parents will have the opportunity to authorize the release of an adoptee’s original birth certificate? Or not!!

I must be naïve. I always thought that the state was responsible for issuing all birth documents.

Not anymore in Colorado. Birthparents who irrevocably relinquished all legal rights to their biological children at least 21 years ago will now, all of a sudden, be making a comeback. They will be sanctioned to make decisions about what documents their biological offspring should or should not get from the government.The State of Colorado sealed the original birth certificates and it is up to the state to unseal them. It’s never been up to birth parents. Colorado has passed the buck. They’ve gone into hiding underneath the birth mother’s skirts. Their new motto is: "Well golly gee – it’s not up to us – it’s up to your parents."

So all you Colorado adoptees – don’t be angry with your legislators who want to be reelected. Be angry at your birth parents who don’t want to see you or to give you any contact information.

LEGISLATIVE DECLARATION #2:

With the new bill, Colorado is looking out for the best interests of all us angst-ridden adoptees who might wreak havoc on the entire state if we were given our original birth certificates as quickly as all of the other citizens. What? You don’t believe me? Just look here - it says so right in the second sentence of the Legislative Declaration of HB 05-1287"

"IN ADDITION, THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY FOUND THAT A DELAYED IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ACCESS TO A BIRTH PARENT'S CONTACT INFORMATION WOULD ALLOW MEMBERS OF THE ADOPTION TRIAD TO AVAIL THEMSELVES OF RESOURCES TO ADDRESS ISSUES THAT MAY ARISE FROM SEARCHING FOR OR REUNITING WITH BIOLOGICAL RELATIVES OR FROM MAKING DECISIONS NOT TO PURSUE CONTACT OR INFORMATION."

What a bunch of psychological blabber is this. "The General Assembly found….." What they really found is that it is probably easier to get re-elected if they pass the buck on the adoptee rights issue.Hmmm. I wonder who told the General Assembly that we adoptees need more time to address personal issues? No matter who you are – birth parents, adoptive parents, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, judges, lawyers, adoption agencies – none of you has a right to place yourselves between adopted adults and the state. The state alone must come out of hiding and face up to what it did over a half century ago. They sealed all the adoption records. Now it’s time for them to unseal those records to all adopted men and women so that we can once again be treated equally under the laws. It’s the right thing to do.

P.S. Colorado adoptees who believe that this bill is going to give them unconditional access to open records have been hoodwinked and I feel sorry for them.

Colorado adoptees who think that it’s okay to settle for less than unconditional access - you’ve not only dug your own graves but you’ve also helped to throw dirt on the rights of adopted adults in states all around the country.

Adoptees everywhere: If you agree that adopted adults should have unconditional access to the unaltered original documents of their birth, then consider joining Batard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization. Help us fight back!www.bastards.org/members/join