NC Coalition For Adoption Reform

DID YOU KNOW	In North Carolina
An adoptee has/had NO VOICE and NO CHOICE?	Adoptees were/are a THIRD party to a contract signed by ADULTS
Only children adopted are not allowed to have their OBC?	ONLY upon FINALIZATION of the adoption, will their OBC sealed away from them.
Once adopted the adoptee enters into a type of witness protection program and never asked for it?	They are issued a ABC which as a vital record is a LIE. It contains the names of the adoptive parents as if they gave birth to the child. The county of birth is changed to where the adoptive parents live, NOT WHERE the child was BORN
An ADULT adoptee can only obtain a copy of their adoption records by petitioning the court?	An OBC is sealed FOREVER! Only by showing "JUST CAUSE" (for which there is no definition) can an adoptee possibly obtain a copy of their records
Birthmothers relinquished ALL of their rights to their child?	Birthmothers did not just relinquish SOME of their rights to the child - they relinquished ALL of their rights to the child.
Birthmothers CAN NOT LEGALLY be promised privacy or confidentiality?	Tennessee, and Oregon took birthmothers concerns regarding their privacy and confidentiality to the State Supreme Courts. Findings within both courts: "A decision to relinquish a child for adoption, however, is not a decision that may be made unilaterally by a birth mother or by any other party. It requires, at a minimum, a willing birthmother, a willing adoptive parent, and the active oversight and approval of the state. Given that reality, it cannot be said that a birthmother has a fundamental right to give birth to a child and then have someone else assume legal responsibility for that child. Although adoption is an option that generally is available to women faced with the dilemma of an unwanted pregnancy, we conclude that it is not a fundamental right. Because a birthmother has no fundamental right to have her child adopted, she also can have no correlative fundamental right to have her child adopted under circumstances that guarantee that her identity will not be revealed to the child." "A birth is simultaneously an intimate occasion and a public event --the government has long kept records of when, where and by whom babies are born. Such records have myriad purposes, such as furthering the interest of children in knowing the circumstances of their birth." "Neither a birth nor an adoption may be carried out in the absolute cloak of secrecy that may surround a contraception or the early termination of a pregnancy" "A birth is an event that requires the generation of an accurate vital record that preserves certain data, including the name of the birth mother." "Legitimate interests, however do not necessarily equate with fundamental rights"
OBC and adoption records are sealed on finalization of adoption - not relinquishment?	All records pertaining to an adoption are ONLY sealed upon the finalization of the adoption. Not when the birthparent relinquishes a child
Children relinquished but never adopted have access to their OBC?	If a child is relinquished and stays in foster care until 18, they will have access to their OBC, because it is NEVER sealed.
As an adoptee the NC Legislators look at you as a FOREVER CHILD?	An adoptee in North Carolina is referred to as a child throughout NC GS Chapter 48. And when NC Legislators speak about an adoptee they refer to them as 'children'
In North Carolina the county of birth is changed to where the adoptive parents live?	In NC, the county of birth is changed to where the adoptive parents lived at the time of the adoption. Therefore an adoptee does not even know the county where they were born. Also birth dates have been change by up to as much a few years on some amended birth certificates, so an adoptee may not even know when they were truly born
Birth certificates in North Carolina were sealed in 1945?	HB 248 Chapter 155 Section 48-7 on February 15,1945 sealed the OBC
County Register of Deeds ILLEGALLY pulled records PRIOR to 1945?	In most of the 100 counties of NC, the County Register of Deeds retroactively pulled ALL birth certificates of those adopted and sent them to Raleigh. There was NOTHING in the NC Statute which is LAW which stated this should be done.
The vast MAJORITY of birthparents DO want contact with the child relinquished?	In states where an adult adoptee has access to their OBC it has been proven the MAJORITY of birthparents want to have contact with the child relinquished to know they are alright.
Only a MINORITY of birthparents DO NOT want contact with the child relinquished?	In Oregon, New Hampshire and Alabama which have granted access to over 10,000 OBC's, and have a provision for a Contact Preference Form. In Oregon only 0.25% of birthparents requested NO CONTACT
Lifting Secrecy will NOT Increase Abortion?	In Oregon and Alabama since adult adoptees were given access to their OBC, abortions have declined much faster than in the Nation as a whole. Between 2000 and 2003, resident abortions declined 10% in Oregon, and 13% in Alabama, but only 2% in the nation as a whole.
North Carolina now has a confidential intermediary program?	On January 1, 2008 a confidential intermediary program was implemented in North Carolina. An adult adoptee 21 and over, birthparent, or adult lineal descendant can go to agencies and have them now do a search.