This is a picture of my original birth certificate. The only reason the State of Indiana sent me this copy was because I proved to them that my birth mother was dead. (I sent them her death certificate.) Ironically, I never met my birth mother. Even today, adult adoptees in Indiana and many other states are not entitled to their original birth certificates. This harmless sheet of paper says my father was “unknown” and my name as “infant.” Nevertheless, it rightly belongs to me. If I never sent them a death certificate this would still be tightly locked in a damp file cabinet in Indianapolis.
I speak for all adoptees. We are not searching for a mother. We are searching for our roots. We are searching for our past.
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I was given false birth and baptism certificates…adoptees shouldn’t be treated as permanent children in need of lifelong supervision and protection. Eventually, we become responsible, mature adults, fully capable of making our own decisions about search and reunion through self determination. When grown, most adoptees think of their birth parents and circumstances surrounding their adoption with growing wisdom and in the spirit of forgiveness.
Hear. Hear.