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William
F. Bolan, Jr., J.D.
Executive Director
Statement In Opposition of S1093/S620 Which Removes
Privacy Rights In Adoption From Birth Parents
The New Jersey
Catholic Conference the public policy agency for the Catholic Bishops of New
Jersey urges the State Senate to oppose S1093/S620 which opens adoption
records retroactively and prospectively.
The bills permit an adopted person 18 years of age or older; a direct
descendent 18 years of age or older of the adopted person if the adopted person
is deceased or the adoptive parents or guardian of a minor adopted person
access to birth records that has been sealed in some case for decades.
The New Jersey
Catholic Conference has a particular concern for the thousands of birth parents
who surrendered their babies to Catholic Charity agencies with confidentiality
as their legal protection and guarantee.
The need for confidentiality prevents them from testifying before this
committee and we are compelled to speak on their behalf. Many have gone through life depending upon
this confidentiality and have chosen not to share this part of their past with
their spouse and children. This
legislation shatters this guarantee and would be devastating to them.
The guarantee of
confidentiality for each party and their right to privacy are principles that
should be preserved in the law. Open
access to records can often cause deep psychological stress and profound life
disruptions. Under present law licensed
adoption agencies can assist adopted persons in being reunited with a birth
parent, but consent is required by both parties and professional counseling is
often made available to those adopted persons who desire reunion.
We are eager to
encourage reunions between birth parents and adult adoptee but only when both
sides consent to the reunion. We support
the enactment of a mutual consent registry whereby adoptees
and birth parents can make it known that they wish to contact each other. The registry could then act as a broker for
that contact. In this way the right of
all parties can be protected. The
registry could also make available non-identifying information about medical
and social characteristics of birth family members and family health
histories.
Today’s adoption
environment is very different then 50 years ago. Open adoptions are encouraged and many
mutually accept this method of adoption allowing for some type of contact
between birth parent and adoptive parents.
Adoptive parents and adoptees receive medical
history of the birth parents. But these
bills would retroactively strip the rights of birth parents to privacy without
any prior notice. This lack of effective
notice for those who were guaranteed this right under the laws that existed at
the time of adoption is fundamentally unfair.
We urge this legislature not to renege on the
guarantee of the law accorded to birth parents for over fifty years. We believe that maintaining confidentiality
as provided by law in the past and in the future is essential. Without such measure we are concerned that
many will seek desperate measures such as abortion or even abandonment.
We urge you instead to establish a mutual consent
registry which can be used by consenting adults who no longer have concerns
about revealing their identity without eradicating the existing law. This registry could also address the
legitimate concerns of an adoptee obtaining medical history information by
providing access to non-identifying developmental and medical history
information as well as social characteristics of birth family members.
The New Jersey Catholic Conference urges the Senate
to vote NO on S1093/S620 without considering the benefits of a mutual
consent registry.
Representing the Archdiocese of
Diocese of
Our Lady of Deliverance Syriac
Catholic Diocese