Adopted Children: To Know Or Not To Know

It is a pretty safe bet to say that everyone knows what adoption is; it is also pretty safe to say that everyone knows, or at least knows of, someone who is adopted. However, I would definitely think twice before that people would know what was involved in the process of adoption.

Many adoptees feel out of place, they struggle finding a place to settle and when they do they often times feel as though they need to work to prove their worthiness. As an adoptive shield grows he as long The begins to question. He question why his birth parents didn 't want him and why he wasn 't good enough for them. He may begin to wonder why he act and looks the way he does. Being an adoptee can cause crippling anxiety, in the case of Lesli Johnson, " I went to therapy for the first time when I was 6 years old because I had begun to suffer from sleep issues and crippling separation anxiety from my mom." ( Johnson ). An adopted child has the right to know their birth parents; so that they can have some sense of self worth and identity, they can learn something of their past, and find acceptance in the way things are.

May cause different emotions for adopted child as they have the right to know their origins

Closed adoptions allow birth parents privacy and to remain unidentified. Closed adoptions can also help birth parents with the grieving process because closed adoptions provide a sense of closure and the ability to move on with their lives. They get a new beginning (“Open”). In an open adoption, the birth parents are involved in the child’s life, which can act as a constant reminder that the child is no longer legally theirs, which can cause more grieving and sadness for the birth parents (Byrd).

In the past, most adoptions were closed. Many older adults who were adopted as children have no idea who their birth parents were nor do they know anything about their medical or family history. One of the most common reasons behinds closed adoptions were that the birth parents wanted to keep their identifies a security, for a variety of reasons.

Some people believe that it is the biological parents’ personal choice to stay hidden based on their situation. In defense of the birth mother and father, it is understandable that open adoption does not make

Not many children who are put in closed adoptions get to know who they are and their family history. Closed adoption children do not get to know any of their historical background, and this sometimes gives children self-esteem issues (“Adoption Emotional Issues”). They can also deal with loss and grief issues at times because they do not have their biological parents around to help raise them. It is not until the age of eighteen for the child to legally find their biological parents on their

A fifth source that will convey the psychological effects that open adoption has on the adopted child is the book, Psychological issues in adoption written by David M. Brodzinsky and Jesus Palacious. This source will give the reader insight on the effects than an open adoption has on the child that was adopted. This source will allow the reader to see real testimonies of children that were adopted through an open adoption, and will also allow the reader to better understand open adoption from the child’s point of

About twenty years ago my Uncle Hosea had a son named Javion. He was the first boy out of all the girls my uncle had conceived, which made him very proud. However, due to some underlying circumstances, he was taken away from his mom and put into the system. He was somehow adopted and never seen again, nor has any information been given out to our family to help locate him. He had entered closed adoption, which is an irreversible system where parents give up their rights to know any information and right to ever take part in their children 's lives. The child is given a new home and grows up thinking the family raising them is their biological relatives. They never know anything about their true family or where they come from. They are mislead by this system of closed adoption, restricted from truth their own beginning, and lose touch with the family who brought them into this world. Children suffer tremendously from closed adoption, and because closed adoption has tougher policies, takes away many of children’s rights, puts a strain on biological families, distributes limited background family information, and strips identity, it should be abolished.

In multiple cases involving young teenagers, they talk about how finding their birth parents helps them to know who they are. Even though many adoptees do not want to find their birth parents because of they fear rejection, that could just show their commitment to actually finding their birth parents. To start, “three years ago, Florence Ladden Fisher was in an automobile accident. Her last thought before the crash, ‘I am going to die and I do not know who I am.’ Mrs. Fisher, a wife and mother now in her early 40’s, had spent almost 20 years searching for what she called her ‘true identity.’ She was an adopted child. She has found that ‘most people, especially adoptive parents’ cannot understand the compelling need for identity experienced by many of the adopted children” (Nemy). This was from the New York Times article, “Adopted Children Who Wonder 'What Was Mother Like?'”, and it shows exactly how much finding your birth parents can impact your identity. Also, stories like Tom McGee show some of the real reasons people try and find their birth parents. Later in the same article about Carol Barbieri, it said, “Adoptees like Tom McGee of Oceanport said the fight to obtain access to their original birth records is more about finding their identity--knowing who they are and their medical history--than it is about reuniting with their biological family” (Cervenka). So, Tom McGee wasn’t

Parents deserve the protection from unwanted contact. “unsealing records that birth parents believed were private will force them to relive what many describe as the most painful experience of their lives. They say their objections have been drowned out because the people most affected can't speak for themselves because they don't want to be identified” (Akin, 2014, para. 6). Strong needs for privacy may rely on the birth parents, this also sometimes helping the mother move on. Parents are sometimes unable to hold appropriate relationships or boundaries that are set by adoptive parents. Challenges arise that create decisions to keep the records sealed. The birth parents want little to no contact/information given. Access to original birth records, even if given general information, can help prepare the adoptee for future actions and precautions they must take. “adoptees have the right to know their own medical histories, which could help them prepare for illnesses or genetic diseases in the future.” (Gazette, 2015, para. 14)...”The DSS is authorized to release non-identifying information about biological parents, if the information is available, to children after they turn 18.” (Leader, 2016, para. 10). Giving medical information to adoptees can help them understand their backgrounds and medically related history. These pieces of important medical history can lead them to take safety precautions when given a certain situation. They are knowledgeable to any medical conditions and the risk they hold, these being carried through their biological heredity medical history. Preventive care is administered to counteract any chances to long-term health, this potentially affecting the adoptive family when holding life-threatening conditions and not knowing how to react. Such details play a crucial role when maintaining decisions for the

‘People are realizing that closed adoptions do more harm than good, because adoptees tend to imagine one of two extremes about their birth parents — they’re either famous, exotic royalty or celebrities, or they’re villains with loose morals’.

Where we come from is a huge issue. Just as scientists debate the origin of man and the universe, adopted children can have questions about their genetic roots. Questions like: “Why do I look like this?”, “Why do I have these health problems?”, and “Why do I have these emotional issues?” go unanswered if biological parents are never known. In a study of adoptive families, parents were asked how they felt years after their open adoptions. One

Plenty of information about adoption is misunderstood or not known at all. Numerous individuals do not know the difference between a closed adoption and an open adoption and the pros/cons that accompany these different types of adoption. “Confidential (closed) adoption is where the birthparents often do not know the identity of the adoptive parents and could not maintain any contact with the child or adoptive family after placement.” (9-NP) The problems in a closed adoption are more than just a lack of information. (5-31) One situation that most people take for granted is knowing his or her family history. This is something that adopted children in closed adoption don’t get. (5-30)Nearly all the time, files are physically sealed in a closed adoption. (3-NP) Up until the late 1980’s closed adoptions were considered a regular occurrence. (3-NP) Harold Grotevent, a University of Minnesota professor, has been working with 35 adoption agencies for the last 2 decades and has said there’s been a clean-cut swing from closed to open adoption. (6-NP) “Open adoption refers to the sharing of information and/or contact between the adoptive and biological parents of an adopted child, before and/or after the placement of the child.” (9-NP) Open adoption has become a considerable alterative to abortion or single

For those who are a part of the adoption world one of the most hotly debated issues is whether birth records should be open or closed to adoptees. With this issue comes strong feelings on both sides. In most states adoption records are fully sealed and inaccessible, unless the adoptee petitions the court. In 16 states these records are fully or partially available upon request with no court involvement, and also may depend upon when you were born. In a few states records are completely prohibited and the adoptee will never have any access to them. Alaska and Kansas have always made original birth records available.