The Adoption Files

The Georgia Alliance for Adoptee Rights was founded by Jamie Weiss and Courtney Humbaugh to advocate for the rights of all Georgia adoptees to unrestricted access to their original birth documents. 

Georgia Alliance for Adoptee Rights can be found at:

Gaallianceforadopteerights.org*

[email protected]

FB.com/gaadopteerights

Instagram.com/gaadopteerights

Mentioned in the show

Georgia adoption law: Dfcs.georgia.gov/services/adoption, also Georgia Code 31-10-14 and Georgia Code 19-8-23(3)(A). Links to the relevant laws can be found by going to adopteerightslaw.com, clicking FInd Out under Who Holds your Truth, then click on Georgia

Accessing Georgia adoption records: Dfcs.Georgia.gov/sevices/adoption      Birth Family Search. 

Greg Luce: Greg Luce is an adoptee and attorney who founded Adoptee Rights Law Center and is the president of Adoptees United, Inc. 

Adopteerightslaw.com: Excellent site with easy to use links to state laws and information on current legislative efforts*

Adopteesunited.org: A non-profit organization dedicated to pursuing equality for all adopted people*

Tennessee Children's Home Society/Georgia Tann: Georgia Tann and the Tennessee Children's Home Society were involved in the trafficking of children for adoption during the first part of the twentieth century. A number of books, articles and documentaries have been produced discussing this and the ongoing influence of Tanns actions on the modern adoption industry. 

Organizations aligned with the Georgia Alliance for Adoptee Rights:

Adoptee Rights Law Center*

Adoptees United*

The Family Preservation Project*

Signed, Sealed, Adopted*

Saving Our Sisters*

Resource:

Adoptee therapy: grow beyond words.com

*please consider making a donation to any or all of these organization to help them continue their advocacy work

Disclaimers:

The host is not a lawyer.

Please join me as I speak with Jamie Weiss; professional photographer, writer and adoptee rights activist. She is one of the co-founders of the Georgia Alliance for Adoptee Rights. Jamie Weiss was born in Virginia, but adopted in the state of Georgia. 

Jamie can be found at:

signedsealedadopted.com

[email protected]

fb.com/signedsealedadopted

instagram.com/signedsealedadopted

Mentioned in the podcast:

Georgia Adoption Law: Georgia is a closed state. Adoptees are not allowed unrestricted access to records. They may participate in a reunion registry, or appeal to the court.

Georgia Adoption Reunion Registry: ga-adoptionreunion.com: There are several adoption reunion registries in Georgia. This is the only one licensed with the state of Georgia. They are a non-profit contracted by the state to administer the states mandated registry. Contact with family only occurs if the people concerned have given written consent. Assistance is fee based.

Georgia Alliance for Adoptee Rights   gaallianceforadopteerights.org: GAAR. The alliance is a coalition of state and national organizations fighting for Georgia adoptees rights to unrestricted access to their original documents

Virginia adoption law: Virginia is a closed state. Adoptees must provide the court with good cause in order to have records released. 

Ancestry.com: The largest commercial DNA testing company. 

Resources:

growbeyondwords.com: a resource for adoptees seeking adoptee informed therapists

Disclaimer: All opinions expressed are just those: Opinions. 

Please join me as I speak with Emma Stevens, domestic adoptee and author of the newly released memoir, The Gathering Place.  Emma's book can be found on Amazon, including on Audible, where Emma narrates her book. 

Emma is a U.S. domestic adoptee from birth. She has survived layers of trauma that have put her on multiple journeys. She developed the inner strength and courage to surmount the many struggles she faced. Emma is dedicated to helping redefine the narrative of adoption to include the entire complex truth. 

Emma has an undergraduate degree in journalism and has completed Master's level course work in psychology, specializing in Marriage, Family and Child counseling. 

@emmastevensthegatheringplace for both FB and Instagram

@emmastevensTGP for Twitter

Amazon link: The Gathering Place: An Adoptee's Story by Amazon.com  Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HH8PDGL/ref=cm-sw-em-r-mt-dp-H7K29VVG86PP0VH7GGV4

Mentioned in the interview:

Colorado law: www.courts.state.co.us. Fill in access to adoption records in search bar

Gabor Mate: Dr Mate is a physician and author who has written and spoken extensively on childhood trauma

ACOA: Adult Children of Alcoholics. adultchildren.org  A support group and educational service for adult children of alcoholics

AA: Alcoholics Anonymous  www.aa.org  A support group for people struggling with alcohol addiction

Twelve Step Programs: Twelve step programs to help individuals recover from maladaptive coping strategies originated with Alcoholic Anonymous. These programs incorporate steps to help people learn new ways to cope with challenges as varied as alcohol and drug addiction to compulsive shopping. 

Paul Sunderland: paulsunderland.org. Therapist Paul Sunderland is known for his work with people in recovery, and frequently speaks on relinquishment trauma and substance abuse. 

Implicit Memory: https://biologydictionary.net/implicit-memory. Implicit memory has many facets, but is most commonly referred to as unconscious memory.

Anne Heffron: www.anneheffron.com. Anne Heffron is an adoptee, author and teacher. 

While not mentioned in the interview, I am now including the website for adoptee-centric therapists as an additional resource adoptees may wish to explore. the site is growbeyondwords.com

*Disclaimer: the host of the podcast The Adoption Files is not a lawyer. All discussion of relevant law should be considered the opinion of the host and her guests. The laws are discussed to the best of our ability. All opinions voiced on the podcast are simply the opinions of the host and the guests and are not meant to malign any person or persons. Unless you consider the Adoption Industry a person. Then all bets are off. 

Daryn Watson was born and adopted in Alberta, Canada. Daryn is an Adoption Reunion Coach and also writes a blog, The Adoptee Mind. He has been a guest on Jennifer Dyan Ghostons podcast Once Upon a Time in Adopteeland, and on Julie Jackson and Richard Castles podcast Cut-off Genes. 

Daryn can be found at Adoption Reunion Coaching on Facebook, and on his blog, The Adoptee Mind (also on FB) 

Mentioned on the show:

Once upon a time in adopteeland: www.onceuponatimeinadopteeland.com, episode 43

Cut-off Genes: cutoffgenes.libsyn.com, episode 502

Alberta Ca Adoptee Access to Original documents: Alberta.ca, enter Adoption Records in the search bar

Manitoba Law: vitalstats.gov.mb.ca; enter adoption records in search bar

Journey of the Adopted Self, by Betty Jean LIfton

The Primal Wound by Nancy Verrier

Redaction Veto/clause: a legal mechanism that allows parents, and sometimes adoptive parents to prevent adoptees from accessing identifying material in their adoption records. If a redaction clause exists and has been filed, all identifying material is redacted. Laws governing when these redactions can be signed and how long they last vary by province or state.

Zombie Veto: a redaction clause that remains in effect even after the parent dies. 

Paul Sunderland: Paul Sunderland is an internationally recognized expert on addiction issues and speaks frequently on the intersection of adoption with the incidence of addiction. His work can be found in print, and on Youtube. 

Gabor Mate: Gabor Mate is a physician who has written a number of books on addiction, trauma, childhood development and stress. 

Anne is an adoptee from Nebraska. She is currently at work writing a fiction-ish novel that treats adoptees from an adoption-informed perspective. She is also participating in an anthology related to her membership in the group Flourish, headed by Pam Cordano and Anne Heffron. 

Mentioned in the show:

Adoptee Chameleon: adoptees are sometimes described as chameleons, given we often learn to conceal ourselves in order to fit into our environment

Kansas laws regarding adoptee access to documents: www.dcf.ks.gov/services/PPS/pages/adoption-records-and-search. Kansas allows adoptees unrestricted access to their own original birth documents. 

Nebraska laws regarding adoptee access to documents: dhhs.ne.gov/Pages/Vital-Records-Service-Options.aspx. Nebraska does not allow adoptees unrestricted access to original birth documents. They have a complex, confusing set of regulations governing release. 

The District of Columbia; laws regarding adoptee access to documents: The District of Columbia does not allow unrestricted access to adoptions that took place after 1 September, 1937.  

Zombie Veto: a veto that maintains restricted access to identifying information even after the death of the parent who has signed a non-consent or redaction veto. *

Adoptee Rights Law Center: an excellent resource regarding the status of state laws regarding adoptee access to original birth certificates, established and maintained by lawyer and adoptee Gregory Luce. 

23 and Me: a commercial DNA testing company that provides information on health, ethnicity and genetic matches.

Salvation Army Booth Memorial Hospital: maternityrecordswest.salvationarmy.org  maintains records from the maternity hospitals once run by the Salvation Hospital. Adoptees born in these hospitals can request and receive redacted non-identifying information about themselves so long as the records still exist. 

Lutheran Family Services: www.lfsneb.org

Paul Sunderland: Adoption and Addiction Full Lecture, youtube.com

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

Adoptees Connect: adopteesconnect.com

*Since the recording of this episode, I re-read the laws that allow adoptive parents in Nebraska to deny access to identifying information to adoptees. I had originally misunderstood the law to be a Zombie Veto. While Nebraska adoptive parents may block adoptees from receiving identifying information during their lifetimes, the veto expires after the adoptive parent who filed the veto dies. The adoptee must be able to demonstrate to the state that the adoptive parent in question is deceased. The state promises to make a "reasonable effort to determine if the person is deceased", adoptees have reported that the states efforts are not very vigorous and have missed deaths that occurred in other states. 

Kirsten Weatherford was born and adopted in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania has some very odd eligibility requirements for adoptees seeking access to their documents. Join me as Kirsten and I talk about these requirements, her personal journey in requesting her adoption file, and her efforts to be present for young adoptees. 

Kirsten is the author of the book Finding My Way Home. She was a guest on Haley Radkes podcast. Kirstens can be heard on episode 168 of Adoptees on, as part of the Estrangement Series. Kirsten has a blog, nomoremisfit.com, and can also be found on Instagram @nomoremistfit

Mentioned in the show:

Pennsylvania law: health.Pa.gov. Enter:  Information for adoptees in the search bar

KidsPeace Pennsylvania Foster Care and Community Programs(Facebook page): an organization hired by the state of Pennsylvania to provide intermediary services 

Benaroya Research Institute: Benroya is a research group looking into the causes and cures for autoimmune disorders. 

Support resources:

Adoption Trauma Network on Facebook

National Association of Adopted People

Adoptees Connect

Adult Survivors of Foster Care

lGBTQIA+Adoptee

Adoptees, NPEs, Donor Conceived and Other Genetic Identity Seekers (facebook)

RAINN: not adoptee specific; provides support for survivors of sexual abuse

Al-Anon: not adoptee specific; a group for people impacted by others substance abuse

Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous: not adoptee specific; groups for people dealing with alcohol and drug addiction 

Please join me as I talk with Deborah Yemm, author of the blog Missing Mom. Deborah is the child of adoptees, who sought to honor her parents and find her own history by applying for documents from the states of Tennessee and Texas. Deborahs story:

Mentioned in the podcast:

Tennessee Childrens' Home Society: an orphanage that existed in the state of Tennessee during the first half of the twentieth century. The Society is best known because of the practices of Georgia Tann, who ran the Memphis branch. For more information, visit the website of the Memphis Public Library, which maintains an extensive archive on the childrens' home. www.memphislibrary.org

Georgia Tann: the child trafficking practiced by this woman resulted in a huge scandal that led to the state of Tennessee allowing access to adoption records to people adopted through the Tennessee Childrens Home Society during her tenure as director. 

Tennessee Adoption laws: Tennessee allows adoptees over the age of 21 to request their records. This does not guarantee you will be given your records. For frequently asked questions, visit: tn.gov, Tennessee Adoption Records FAQ. the place to find an application is at files.dcs.tn.gov. Some aspects of current law are due to change in July of this year. For more information on the law, you can visit adopteerightslaw.com. click Find Out, under Who Holds Your Truth, and go to the state of Tennessee and click. 

Salvation Army Childrens Services: Foster Care and Adoption Program: the Salvation Armys Childrens Services are headquartered at 2200 Hamilton St, Allentown, Pa 18104. http:/www.care4kids.net/  (610) 821 7706

Texas Adoption Laws: Texas law allows adoptees over the age of 18 to apply for a non-certified copy of their original birth certificate as long as the applicant can provide the names of the parents listed on the original, and, if I am reading this correctly, were placed for adoption through the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. You can visit the Texas Department of State Health Services at www.dshs.state.tx.us and type in Original Birth Certificate for Adult Adoptee for directions on how to apply 

Before We Were Yours: a book by Lisa Wingate, inspired by accounts of the Georgia Tann/Tennessee Childrens Home Society child trafficking scandal. 

The Baby Thief: a non-fiction account of the events that took place at the Tennessee Childrens Home Society and Georgia Tanns impact on the commercialiation of adoption,  by Barbara Bisantz Raymond

WPA: the Works Progress Administration was part of the New Deal, providing jobs to millions of Americans during the years 1935-1943. Employees worked on public works projects nationwide. 

Jamie Nagy is an Illinois adoptee. Jamie lives in Ohio, with her husband and their two dogs. Jamie has a Masters degree in English with an emphasis in Creative Nonfiction. You can read some of Jamies' work at adoptiontriaddance.wordpress.com, and by going to openprairie.sdstate.edu Composing a Literary Adoption Memoir and Self Through Creative Nonfiction Memoir Writing (sdstate.edu)

Mentioned on the show: 

Illinois laws regulating adoptee access to original records:Adoption Records - Adoption (illinois.gov)

Illinois Adoption Registry and Medical Information: Illinois Adoption Registry and Medical Information Exchange

American Adoption Congress: Home - American Adoption Congress

Bryan Stanton: @ATghostkingdom

Please join me as I speak with Oregon adoptee Christine Dechert. Christine participated in the advocacy movement that resulted in Oregon becoming one of only ten states in the US to have truly unrestricted access for adoptees to their original birth certificates. Christines family history is complex, as her mother was also adopted. While Oregons laws now allow adoptees to receive OBCs, the state of Montana, where Christines mother was born does not allow unrestricted access to adoptee documents. 

Mentioned in the podcast:

Oregon and Montana adoptee access to records laws: for a good review of the laws, visit adopteerightslaw.com. 

Adoption Triad: a term used to represent the three aspects of adoption; the families of origin, the adoptee and the adoptive parents. 

Reactive Attachment Disorder(RAD)* Reactive Attachment Disorder is defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as a condition characterized by "grossly abnormal attachment behaviors in early childhood, occurring in the context of grossly inadequate child care. There are many ways that the attachment issues can be expressed. The disorders diagnosis is pretty controversial when applied to adoptees.

 *This is just my opinion, but I believe it is often used to invalidate the trauma inherent in relinquishment by making the adoptee the "identified patient" and allow adoptive parents and our culture to avoid identifying the problems caused by erasing a persons identity and ignoring their grief. I believe that any time we hear the label of RAD being used to describe an adopted person, by non-adopted and non-adoption trauma informed individuals, we should immediately treat that label as highly suspicious.