In 2000 a law went into effect in Oregon that allows adult adoptees to obtain their original birth records. This lets adult Oregon adoptees know their birth parents’ names.
Most of these birth parents were told when they placed their babies for adoption that this information would be kept confidential.
On one hand, this gives adoptees information about their health and personal history. It can give them a sense of completeness. (A quote from an adoptee advocasy site: “Our laws and policies should not deprive one group of their rights in order to protect others from possibly having to face the consequences of their past choices” http://www.bastards.org/documents/birthparent-privacy.html)
On the other hand, it revokes a promise by the state towards the birth parents. (http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/04/17/p9s2.htm)
I can imagine it could discourage women in Oregon from putting their babies up for adoption. Imagine you are young and pregnant, and considering abortion or adoption. If you know that the child may come back into your life 20 years from now, whether you want it or not, this might just be the final straw to decide on abortion. In England, after adoption records were opened in 1975, the number of adoptions declined 39 percent over the following 8 years. (Granted, this could be because of many different factors).
Why not a mutual consent registries? These are databases listing parents who would welcome contact from a child they’d previously placed for adoption. So both parties have to want contact before it occurs.
What do you think all about this?