Pushing on a Rope
adoptee rights legislation
Finally recognizing ‘a basic human right’ for NY adoptees
Dawn Millward didn’t expect anyone to respond when she Tweeted earlier this month asking adoptees to share the names they’d been given at birth, but the replies kept coming. Kristen. I was Kristen for 9 years before I was adopted and it was changed in 4th grade….” I was Megan Patricia Doyle for 6 weeks before … Continue reading
A victory for adoptee rights in NY
The voice on the other end of the phone 10 years ago was smug and self-righteous: “What you’re asking for is against the law. You should just forget it.” What I was asking for was a copy of my original birth certificate, the first record of my birth created before I was adopted, and New … Continue reading
Adoptee rights bill offers validation, truth
Thursday’s editorial in The Greenwich Time and Stamford Advocate couldn’t have said it better: “Give adoptees their birth certificates.” YES! It made my heart sing to flip the page and see the headline (extra points to the editorial writer for not referring to adopted people as children). And once I read it, and saw that … Continue reading
Let’s finally close the door on closed adoption
Adoptees like me who were relinquished during the era of closed adoption have a hard time explaining to others why the arrangement shouldn’t be glorified. Getting people to understand that the Pollyanna narrative around the arrangement is based on flawed assumptions and that growing up not knowing our true selves has caused emotional harm is … Continue reading
NY: Let’s finally get on board with adoptee rights reform
Editor’s note: Adoptees like me born during the era of closed records are effectively in a kind of witness protection program. We are typically not allowed access to our original birth certificates but instead get amended birth certificates, which list our adoptive names and the names of our adoptive parents. It is against the law … Continue reading
For adoptees, life as an inconvenient truth
Sandee sobs as she tells me her story. Adopted as an infant, the now 51-year-old flight attendant from Florida struggled for most of her life trying to make peace with being adopted and figure out her place in the world. She’s always felt like a fish out of water, but never before has she felt … Continue reading
What boobs!
Yesterday’s annual mammogram turned out to be an angst-laden event. No, not because there was any problem, thank goodness. Although standing topless in front of a stranger who is turning your breasts into pancakes is not the most pleasant way to start the day — especially when you keep wondering exactly how long a person … Continue reading
They’re looking into it … Christmas is coming, the check’s the mail. Oh hell, insert your cliche here
Got a letter from Albany this week. Yes, you could have knocked me over with a feather. Oh, not because I think Gov. Cuomo himself actually read my letter and its enclosed copy of my April 6 blog post urging passage of the adoptees’ rights legislation. I suspect some poorly paid intern plugged my name, … Continue reading
