Welcome To Kentucky Adoption Reform
Established in 1980
Adoptee Rights Demonstration - Louisville, Ky Was a great Success.
The majority of legislators asked intelligent, thoughtful questions, and were surprised to learn that birth certificates are not sealed at the time of surrender, but rather at the time an adoption is finalized. Our photocopies of the adoption decrees provided to many Baby Scoop Era adoptive parents showing the identifying information of surrendering mothers was a bright light of truth shed on the urban legend of “birthmother confidentiality”.
Fundamental right to know: Judge Wade S. Weatherford, Jr., Seventh Judicial Circuit Court, SC, said in a ruling on an adoptee’s petition to gain access to adoption records: "Mankind is possessed of no greater urge than to try to understand the age-old question: ’Who am I?’ ’Why am I?’... Those emotions and anxieties that generate our thirst to know the past are not superficial and whimsical. They are real and they are ’good cause’ under the law of man and God."Judge Weatherford, Jr -
An Adoptee over 21 in Ky has to obtain a court order just to receive a copy of the Original Birth C
ertificate. They can file a petition for a search to be conducted for the birth parent, for contact, but if they do not want to make contact, they are unable to obtain the Original Birth Certificate only and if the birth mother denies contact then no information can be released.
Currently there are 9 states that have made success with their legislation efforts for access to the original birth certificate for adoptees.
Adoptees are unable to get the goverment documents about themselves that others do. We believe it is a civil right for adoptees to have access to their Original Birth Certificate without cause.
Ky State Capital. - Law Makers Meet Yearly - They have a short session in odd years and an long session in even years. Time for change.
Thanks Adoptee Rights for these comments:
The Adoptee Rights Coalition would like to acknowledge the long-time Adoptee Rights advocates in states where we will be visiting to protest sealed birth certificates. In 2009 for the Philly protest, we recognized long-time Adoptee Rights advocate,Priscilla Sharp for her tireless work on Pennsylvania’s sealed birth certificate laws.
In 2009 Priscilla’s in-person visit to her state representative started the ball rolling on PA HB1798. Priscilla is a long-time advocate for Adoptee Rights as well as a successful professional searcher.
This year we’d like to highlight Linda Cecil in Kentucky. Linda and her team have been working on Adoptee Rights since the 1980′s and in 1986 she finally managed to persuade KY legislators to agree to release birth certificates to adoptees with a waiver signed. Linda continues to advocate for all adopted persons’ in Kentucky to unconditionally obtain original records of their own birth.
Please help Linda continue her work on behalf of adoptees in Kentucky and sign her petition for equal rights in Kentucky
