Marley Greiner
09-07-2004, 07:04 PM
This is the next edition of the latest Bastard Byline.
Marley
News From Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization
September 2004 Vol. 1 No. 9
Please forward and redistribute by print or e-mail. Help spread the
word!
Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization advocates for the
civil and human rights of adult citizens who were adopted as children.
Millions of North Americans are prohibited by law from accessing personal
records that pertain to their historical, genetic and legal identities.
Bastard Nation campaigns for the restoration of their right to
unconditionally access their birth records.
BASTARD NATION MOURNS THE DEATH OF THE HONORABLE JEFF DOLBARE, STATE
REPRESENTATIVE OF ALABAMA
The Honorable Jeff Dolbare, State Representative of Alabama, passed
away Thursday, August 12, 2004, after a long and valiant battle with cancer.
Representative Dolbare was the sponsor of the successful adoptee rights
legislation in Alabama in 2000, when unconditional open records became the
law in Alabama. Representative Dolbare was truly a great man who took up
causes to help people who don't have a big voice.
We all owe a tremendous amount of gratitude to this wonderful man who
championed the causes of groups of people like ours who have an important
grievance with state law, but not the loud thundering voice or money to
influence the politicians.
Read more about Rep. Dolbare's accomplishments and view a photo
collage on the homepage of Alabamians Working for Adoption Reform and
Education (AWARE).
BASTARDS IN THE TRENCHES
PAT MARLER, BASTARD OUT OF OKLAHOMA
I'm Pat Marler, proud Bastard National and Activist for open records
in Oklahoma. Although I was born in Iowa and grew up in Nebraska, I have
been living in Oklahoma for the last 34 years. I am not working at the
moment and I love being a grandma to two cuties, 19 months. and 3 months. I
love animals too. At the moment I have 4 cats and one dog. That total
changes from time to time, when I come upon a stray animal.
I am an adopted person who always knew of my adoption. My parents
always told me I was chosen--and I really was! I was one of three babies in
a hospital nursery that couples "checked out" as being a suitable baby for
them. My parents saw all of us for 5 days straight and finally chose me. I
never did hear what happened to the other two infants.
I never talked about searching for my birth family until I was ready
to do it. I constantly thought about it though, especially when I had
children. My mother-in-law said only one thing to me when our first son was
born, "He's a little dark, isn't he?" That got me thinking about my
heritage. Upon finding my birthparents, I learned I had Cherokee blood.
A searcher helped me find my birth mother within a week. My birth
mother's first words to me were "What took you so long?" She had no idea
what to do to search and didn't think she had the right to find me.
After finding my birth parents, I worked four years trying to get my
original birth certificate from Iowa. They pushed me around from one place
to another, one county to another, until finally a woman whispered to me,
"Honey, why don't you write to Judge.....?" I did and he called me and asked
what I wanted out of the adoption file. I said, "Everything." I got the
relinquishment paper and the adoption decree, but there was no birth
certificate. So I called him back and asked him for that. He signed a court
decree and I finally received my original birth certificate. This four-year
process got me steaming!
I started looking around the Internet and found Bastard Nation's
website. It was the organization I was looking for! If fit me perfectly!!! I
didn't want some cutesy organization - I was angry!
I am a member and officer of Oklahomans for Open Records and Adoption
Honesty, Inc. (OORAH) that is working for unconditional open records in
Oklahoma. We are presently writing a bill to present in the 2005 legislative
session.
The hardest thing I have come up against while lobbying for open
records is looking into the lawmakers' eyes and knowing that they have
already made up their minds. They really aren't listening to you. Then you
just have to try harder or try a different angle.
My advice to other activists: If you are working for unconditional
open records, don't get sidetracked! That has been one of our biggest
problems. We see the need for change in so many areas of adoption that a few
of us want to do many things at once. Set your sights on the goal of
unconditional open records and don't give up!
OORAH on the Web
Pat Marler and OORAH were recently featured in an article published on
Sunday, September 5th in the Tulsa World.
IN THE NEWS
HOW DO THEY ABANDON INFANTS? LET US COUNT THE WAYS.
The Alan Guttmacher Institute has released a state policy survey on
infant abandonment. Four states, Vermont, Hawaii, Alaska, and Nebraska do
not have an infant abandonment law. In July, Massachusetts enacted a measure
allowing infant abandonment under certain circumstances. This bill becomes
law in October, 2004.
In 45 states, infants may be relinquished up to a specified age. The
age ranges from 72 hours all the way up to one year in North Dakota. In 16
of these states, others besides parents may leave infants. And in 28 states,
the law expressly provides anonymity to the person leaving the infant. All
45 states determine the places and/or personnel designated to accept an
infant.
Four states require infants to have an ID bracelet, 11 states require
medical information, and 15 states mandate Investigating missing child
status.
For a complete state-by-state run down, please go to:
http://www.agi-usa.org/spib_IA
CALLING ALL BASTARDS
Bastard Nation member Ann Donlon has become the Vice President of the
Hagerstown Public Access Corporation, a nonprofit organization recently
formed to offer area citizens and groups an opportunity to utilize mass
media.
"I want some bastards on my channel! It is my fervent hope that
Bastard Nation - collectively and/or as individual members - will seriously
consider the not-very-expensive undertaking of making programming to educate
the public about adoption, search and reunion, and - of course - adoptee
rights (and the lack thereof)
For more information, you may email Ann Donlon at tld3@erols.com or
Google "PEG channel" or "public access television."
UNLOCKING THE HEART OF ADOPTION
A Screening and Silent Auction to benefit Sheila Ganz's amazing film,
Unlocking the Heart of Adoption, will be held on October 14, 2004 from 6:30
to 9:00 p.m. at The Crest Theatre, 1012 "K" St., Sacramento, CA. Sponsors of
this event are Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization, California
NOW, Post Adoption Center for Education & Research and California Open.
Read more about Unlocking the Heart of Adoption at Sheila's website.
REGDAY - OCTOBER 2, 2004
RegDay is an annual event to increase public awareness of the
International Soundex Reunion Registry - a free humanitarian service better
known as the ISRR. ISRR is a non-profit mutual consent registry dedicated to
reuniting adult family members separated by adoption, divorce, or other
dislocation. Lauded in the nationally syndicated "Dear Abby" column, the
ISRR has reunited thousands of adults all over the world.
Learn more about the ISRR from the official ISRR web site at
http://www.isrr.net. Volunteer for RegDay at the National RegDay web site:
http://www.regday.org.
DNA PROJECT TO HELP SEARCHES
A new DNA project that could reunite adoptees and birth parents was
announced in USA Today, August 17, 2004. Linda Hammer, who hosts a
Florida-based weekly radio program called The Seeker, is launching an
ambitious new project: a DNA bank where samples from adoptees and birth
parents who are searching for one another can be added to a central database
to be compared with other samples for possible matches.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/2004-08-16-dnaadopt_x.htm
AN ANCIENT TEAR
Carol Schaefer, author of The Other Mother has written a new book
called An Ancient Tear. This book was inspired by the thousands of
heartbreaking stories of child loss Schaefer has heard since publication of
her acclaimed memoir The Other Mother. An Ancient Tear is a compelling story
of how a mother's wounds of losing a child through death, miscarriage,
abortion, and adoption can be healed through a connection to and with
spiritual realms. http://www.AnAncientTear.com
LEGISLATION
CALIFORNIA
Senate Bill 1357 brings numerous changes to current law governing
independent adoptions, birthfather rights, post-adoption contract agreements
between birthparents and adoptive parents, and rights of foster parents and
relative caregivers to participate at various stages of juvenile dependency
cases in order to expedite the adoption of children currently in foster
care. Opponents of the bill include Concerned United Birthparents,
California Open, and 7 Native American Tribes of California.
SB 1413 was passed and signed into law. It is an expansion of the
existing Safe Haven law (SB 1368 in 2000) This new law now allows third
parties to anonymously transport and provide newborns, 72 hours old or
younger, into the hands of personnel at designated drop off locations. Prior
to passage of SB 1413, third party abandonment was a crime.
NEVADA
What Happened to Adoption in Nevada?
By Jean Uhrich
The Nevada Committee on Children, Youth and Families met for a work
session on August 12, 2003. What I witnessed there was puzzling.
For seven long years, the families of adoption tried to get a
legislative hearing. In March 2003, they were finally heard before the
Senate Judiciary Committee. What did they want? Adult adoptees asked
lawmakers to allow them to see their own birth certificates. A simple
request for anyone who is not adopted. But the Senate Judiciary Committee
decided that this issue was too complex to deal with in the short 120-day
session. It called for more study and sent the proposed legislation to the
Senate Children, Youth and Families Committee.
Once there, the issue of open records was shuffled aside into a
one-woman show, called the Subcommittee on Adoption. After committee member
Senator Maggie Carlton viewed all the exhibits and heard all the testimony
and policy on best adoption practice, she indeed brought forward the
recommendation for adoptee access to their original birth certificates.
But once the full committee met in work session on August 12th, the
open records issue was blatantly absent from the agenda. It disappeared.
Instead, the committee voted to allow researchers access to the identifying
information held in adoption and foster care records. Just think!
Researchers could view the records but not the subjects of those very
records - the adult adoptees.
Committee member Senator Valerie Weiner raised concerns about identity
theft as a reason not to acknowledge the rights of adult adoptees to have
their original birth records.
That's the pot calling the kettle black! Sealing records to adult
adoptees IS identity theft, and the thief is the State of Nevada. When you
are adopted in Nevada, why must you be barred from knowing who you were
before the adoption?
Access by adult adoptees to their own state-held records was law in
Nevada for over 100 years. What happened to Nevada adoption between 1953 and
1973? It wasn't a black kettle. But it was a simmering black market adoption
ring.
It is time to unravel this dark puzzle and bring back truth and
honesty to adoption practices.
Does Jean's letter fire you up? Learn more about Nevada Open and join
their efforts to overturn Nevada's violations of adoptee rights.
Where The Action Is
Stay tuned for updates and action alerts!
GET INVOLVED:
Nevada Open Website
OORAH - Oklahoma Open Records
Missouri Open
Florida Records Equality Effort (F.R.E.E.)
California Open
Arizona Open
Arkansas Open Needs Volunteers for Future Efforts!
Virginians for Adoption Reform and Education
Louisiana Adoption Advocates
GRANNY ANNIE'S 8 STEP PROGRAM TO FINDING PROPOSED ADOPTION LEGISLATION
IN YOUR STATE
Granny Annie encourages everyone to partake of her 8 step program once
a week during the legislation session.
1. Go to Google and type in "[name of state] Legislature." Every State
Legislature has a website.
2. At the State Legislature's website, look for the link to CURRENT
LEGISLATION and bills and go there.
3. Now look for a "SEARCH" feature on current legislation page. It's
going to be there somewhere!
4. You can search by the number of a bill, the name of a
representative or by keyword. You will probably need to search by KEYWORD.
5. Do NOT key in the word "adoption" or "adopt" because you'll get a
ton of bills adopting everything under the sun.
6. GOOD KEYWORDS : adoption of children; original birth certificate;
adoptee rights; confidential intermediary; infant abandonment; safe haven;
adoption records;
7. Good keywords should bring up any pending legislation. You usually
will have your choice: a SUMMARY or the FULL TEXT. Try the summary first. If
the bill is indeed one you are interested in, then you might want to follow
through by going to the full text. Don't be put off by "legalese." It isn't
bad at all - it's just very wordy English. You get used to it after a while.
8. Now look for the "STATUS" of the bill. You will get a chronological
list of all actions taken on the bill thus far.
MEMBERS' CORNER
Congratulations to Bastard Nation birth mother Brenda Romanchik, who
has been selected as one of this year's recipients of the Angels in Adoption
Awards. The awards are bestowed each year by a Congressional committee.
Brenda is the Director of Insight: Open Adoption Resources and Support, an
organization which provides triad members, professionals and the general
public with information on open adoption. Brenda is the author of several
adoption-related titles covering topics such as open adoption and birth
parent resources. Read more about Brenda here. Congratulations!
Prayers for a speedy recovery to Lindsay Woodside who is recovering
from surgery.
Condolences to Fr. Jack Sweeley upon the death of his father.
Happy dances for Bastard Nation birth mothers Maryanne Cohen and
Sheila Ganz!
Maryanne met with her son Mike for the first time this month. Maryanne
writes: "As I was driving to meet Kris and Mike for dinner, the rain that
had been falling all day cleared, and a huge Technicolor rainbow appeared in
the sky. If it had been a movie, that would have been too over the top and
corny for words!! I am very, very happy and blessed."
Sheila Ganz also had a first meeting with her daughter this summer.
Sheila says, "My daughter knows that though I was not able to keep her -
that she is loved and wanted. We are now in touch on a regular basis and are
building a relationship."
BASTARDS' GREAT BOOKS DISCUSSION
Great Books reviewed by our own literary Bastards Cynthia
Bertrand Holub, Marlena Villers, Toff Phillippo, Pam Zaebst, and Anita
Field.
Long Days Journey Into the Dark Side of Adoption
Eugene O'Neill discovers he is adopted and not related to his
dysfunctional family and rejoices, in this autobiographical play, but then
searches and finds his birth family are also a bunch of failed actors,
drunks, druggies, and depressives. Typically Irish.
Lethal Secrets of The Old Man and the Sea
A dirty old sailor who makes extra rum money down at the sperm
bank is made to walk the plank by a whole town of his offspring when they
discover they are all half-siblings.
Birthbond, Crime and Punishment
Raskolnikov becomes a Late Discovery Adoptee and finds, to his
horror, that the old woman he has killed was his birthmother.
Dear Birthmother, It's Me Margaret and Sabine
Collection of letters from adoptee Margaret to the series of
women mistakenly identified as her birthmother. This unique gift book
presents each letter in its own sealed envelope addressed to the god-like
Sabine. Is Sabine a social worker, a PI, a CI, or just a figment of the
primally wounded Margaret's imagination? (Available only through
court-order.com)
The Bad Seed Gone With the Wind
Evil adoptee, Rhoda, sets fire to Atlanta; pleads insanity. "The
genes made me do it," she tells the jury. Rhoda sentenced to life
imprisonment in the maternity ward of the Georgia State Penitentiary. As
she's dragged out of court, she's heard screaming, "I don't know nothin'
about birthin' babies."
Join our Bastard Great Books Discussion. Share your bastardy
insights with us. Tell us about your favorite Bastard Great Book. Write to
bn@bastards.org or anitafield@sbcglobal.net.
JOIN BASTARD NATION
Want to make a difference in how adopted people are treated and viewed
in society? Want to support the efforts of the only adoptee-led national
organization dedicated to promoting the equal treatment and dignity of
adopted citizens? Want to enjoy all the benefits of membership? Join Bastard
Nation!
Fill Out an Application now at http://www.bastards.org/members
Learn: http:// www.bastards.org
Join: http://www.bastards.org/members/
Fight: http://www.bastards.org/alert/index.html
Talk Back: e-mail us at bn@bastards.org
JOIN BN TODAY!
BASTARDS OF THE WORLD, UNITE!
YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT YOUR SHAME!
Editors: Anita Walker Field and David C. Ansardi
c. 2004 Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization
Please share Byline: Bastard Nation with your friends and colleagues
and with your other e-mail lists. Cross-posting is encouraged. You also have
our enthusiastic permission to print out Byline: Bastard Nation and share it
with those not on the internet.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed
Marley
News From Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization
September 2004 Vol. 1 No. 9
Please forward and redistribute by print or e-mail. Help spread the
word!
Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization advocates for the
civil and human rights of adult citizens who were adopted as children.
Millions of North Americans are prohibited by law from accessing personal
records that pertain to their historical, genetic and legal identities.
Bastard Nation campaigns for the restoration of their right to
unconditionally access their birth records.
BASTARD NATION MOURNS THE DEATH OF THE HONORABLE JEFF DOLBARE, STATE
REPRESENTATIVE OF ALABAMA
The Honorable Jeff Dolbare, State Representative of Alabama, passed
away Thursday, August 12, 2004, after a long and valiant battle with cancer.
Representative Dolbare was the sponsor of the successful adoptee rights
legislation in Alabama in 2000, when unconditional open records became the
law in Alabama. Representative Dolbare was truly a great man who took up
causes to help people who don't have a big voice.
We all owe a tremendous amount of gratitude to this wonderful man who
championed the causes of groups of people like ours who have an important
grievance with state law, but not the loud thundering voice or money to
influence the politicians.
Read more about Rep. Dolbare's accomplishments and view a photo
collage on the homepage of Alabamians Working for Adoption Reform and
Education (AWARE).
BASTARDS IN THE TRENCHES
PAT MARLER, BASTARD OUT OF OKLAHOMA
I'm Pat Marler, proud Bastard National and Activist for open records
in Oklahoma. Although I was born in Iowa and grew up in Nebraska, I have
been living in Oklahoma for the last 34 years. I am not working at the
moment and I love being a grandma to two cuties, 19 months. and 3 months. I
love animals too. At the moment I have 4 cats and one dog. That total
changes from time to time, when I come upon a stray animal.
I am an adopted person who always knew of my adoption. My parents
always told me I was chosen--and I really was! I was one of three babies in
a hospital nursery that couples "checked out" as being a suitable baby for
them. My parents saw all of us for 5 days straight and finally chose me. I
never did hear what happened to the other two infants.
I never talked about searching for my birth family until I was ready
to do it. I constantly thought about it though, especially when I had
children. My mother-in-law said only one thing to me when our first son was
born, "He's a little dark, isn't he?" That got me thinking about my
heritage. Upon finding my birthparents, I learned I had Cherokee blood.
A searcher helped me find my birth mother within a week. My birth
mother's first words to me were "What took you so long?" She had no idea
what to do to search and didn't think she had the right to find me.
After finding my birth parents, I worked four years trying to get my
original birth certificate from Iowa. They pushed me around from one place
to another, one county to another, until finally a woman whispered to me,
"Honey, why don't you write to Judge.....?" I did and he called me and asked
what I wanted out of the adoption file. I said, "Everything." I got the
relinquishment paper and the adoption decree, but there was no birth
certificate. So I called him back and asked him for that. He signed a court
decree and I finally received my original birth certificate. This four-year
process got me steaming!
I started looking around the Internet and found Bastard Nation's
website. It was the organization I was looking for! If fit me perfectly!!! I
didn't want some cutesy organization - I was angry!
I am a member and officer of Oklahomans for Open Records and Adoption
Honesty, Inc. (OORAH) that is working for unconditional open records in
Oklahoma. We are presently writing a bill to present in the 2005 legislative
session.
The hardest thing I have come up against while lobbying for open
records is looking into the lawmakers' eyes and knowing that they have
already made up their minds. They really aren't listening to you. Then you
just have to try harder or try a different angle.
My advice to other activists: If you are working for unconditional
open records, don't get sidetracked! That has been one of our biggest
problems. We see the need for change in so many areas of adoption that a few
of us want to do many things at once. Set your sights on the goal of
unconditional open records and don't give up!
OORAH on the Web
Pat Marler and OORAH were recently featured in an article published on
Sunday, September 5th in the Tulsa World.
IN THE NEWS
HOW DO THEY ABANDON INFANTS? LET US COUNT THE WAYS.
The Alan Guttmacher Institute has released a state policy survey on
infant abandonment. Four states, Vermont, Hawaii, Alaska, and Nebraska do
not have an infant abandonment law. In July, Massachusetts enacted a measure
allowing infant abandonment under certain circumstances. This bill becomes
law in October, 2004.
In 45 states, infants may be relinquished up to a specified age. The
age ranges from 72 hours all the way up to one year in North Dakota. In 16
of these states, others besides parents may leave infants. And in 28 states,
the law expressly provides anonymity to the person leaving the infant. All
45 states determine the places and/or personnel designated to accept an
infant.
Four states require infants to have an ID bracelet, 11 states require
medical information, and 15 states mandate Investigating missing child
status.
For a complete state-by-state run down, please go to:
http://www.agi-usa.org/spib_IA
CALLING ALL BASTARDS
Bastard Nation member Ann Donlon has become the Vice President of the
Hagerstown Public Access Corporation, a nonprofit organization recently
formed to offer area citizens and groups an opportunity to utilize mass
media.
"I want some bastards on my channel! It is my fervent hope that
Bastard Nation - collectively and/or as individual members - will seriously
consider the not-very-expensive undertaking of making programming to educate
the public about adoption, search and reunion, and - of course - adoptee
rights (and the lack thereof)
For more information, you may email Ann Donlon at tld3@erols.com or
Google "PEG channel" or "public access television."
UNLOCKING THE HEART OF ADOPTION
A Screening and Silent Auction to benefit Sheila Ganz's amazing film,
Unlocking the Heart of Adoption, will be held on October 14, 2004 from 6:30
to 9:00 p.m. at The Crest Theatre, 1012 "K" St., Sacramento, CA. Sponsors of
this event are Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization, California
NOW, Post Adoption Center for Education & Research and California Open.
Read more about Unlocking the Heart of Adoption at Sheila's website.
REGDAY - OCTOBER 2, 2004
RegDay is an annual event to increase public awareness of the
International Soundex Reunion Registry - a free humanitarian service better
known as the ISRR. ISRR is a non-profit mutual consent registry dedicated to
reuniting adult family members separated by adoption, divorce, or other
dislocation. Lauded in the nationally syndicated "Dear Abby" column, the
ISRR has reunited thousands of adults all over the world.
Learn more about the ISRR from the official ISRR web site at
http://www.isrr.net. Volunteer for RegDay at the National RegDay web site:
http://www.regday.org.
DNA PROJECT TO HELP SEARCHES
A new DNA project that could reunite adoptees and birth parents was
announced in USA Today, August 17, 2004. Linda Hammer, who hosts a
Florida-based weekly radio program called The Seeker, is launching an
ambitious new project: a DNA bank where samples from adoptees and birth
parents who are searching for one another can be added to a central database
to be compared with other samples for possible matches.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/2004-08-16-dnaadopt_x.htm
AN ANCIENT TEAR
Carol Schaefer, author of The Other Mother has written a new book
called An Ancient Tear. This book was inspired by the thousands of
heartbreaking stories of child loss Schaefer has heard since publication of
her acclaimed memoir The Other Mother. An Ancient Tear is a compelling story
of how a mother's wounds of losing a child through death, miscarriage,
abortion, and adoption can be healed through a connection to and with
spiritual realms. http://www.AnAncientTear.com
LEGISLATION
CALIFORNIA
Senate Bill 1357 brings numerous changes to current law governing
independent adoptions, birthfather rights, post-adoption contract agreements
between birthparents and adoptive parents, and rights of foster parents and
relative caregivers to participate at various stages of juvenile dependency
cases in order to expedite the adoption of children currently in foster
care. Opponents of the bill include Concerned United Birthparents,
California Open, and 7 Native American Tribes of California.
SB 1413 was passed and signed into law. It is an expansion of the
existing Safe Haven law (SB 1368 in 2000) This new law now allows third
parties to anonymously transport and provide newborns, 72 hours old or
younger, into the hands of personnel at designated drop off locations. Prior
to passage of SB 1413, third party abandonment was a crime.
NEVADA
What Happened to Adoption in Nevada?
By Jean Uhrich
The Nevada Committee on Children, Youth and Families met for a work
session on August 12, 2003. What I witnessed there was puzzling.
For seven long years, the families of adoption tried to get a
legislative hearing. In March 2003, they were finally heard before the
Senate Judiciary Committee. What did they want? Adult adoptees asked
lawmakers to allow them to see their own birth certificates. A simple
request for anyone who is not adopted. But the Senate Judiciary Committee
decided that this issue was too complex to deal with in the short 120-day
session. It called for more study and sent the proposed legislation to the
Senate Children, Youth and Families Committee.
Once there, the issue of open records was shuffled aside into a
one-woman show, called the Subcommittee on Adoption. After committee member
Senator Maggie Carlton viewed all the exhibits and heard all the testimony
and policy on best adoption practice, she indeed brought forward the
recommendation for adoptee access to their original birth certificates.
But once the full committee met in work session on August 12th, the
open records issue was blatantly absent from the agenda. It disappeared.
Instead, the committee voted to allow researchers access to the identifying
information held in adoption and foster care records. Just think!
Researchers could view the records but not the subjects of those very
records - the adult adoptees.
Committee member Senator Valerie Weiner raised concerns about identity
theft as a reason not to acknowledge the rights of adult adoptees to have
their original birth records.
That's the pot calling the kettle black! Sealing records to adult
adoptees IS identity theft, and the thief is the State of Nevada. When you
are adopted in Nevada, why must you be barred from knowing who you were
before the adoption?
Access by adult adoptees to their own state-held records was law in
Nevada for over 100 years. What happened to Nevada adoption between 1953 and
1973? It wasn't a black kettle. But it was a simmering black market adoption
ring.
It is time to unravel this dark puzzle and bring back truth and
honesty to adoption practices.
Does Jean's letter fire you up? Learn more about Nevada Open and join
their efforts to overturn Nevada's violations of adoptee rights.
Where The Action Is
Stay tuned for updates and action alerts!
GET INVOLVED:
Nevada Open Website
OORAH - Oklahoma Open Records
Missouri Open
Florida Records Equality Effort (F.R.E.E.)
California Open
Arizona Open
Arkansas Open Needs Volunteers for Future Efforts!
Virginians for Adoption Reform and Education
Louisiana Adoption Advocates
GRANNY ANNIE'S 8 STEP PROGRAM TO FINDING PROPOSED ADOPTION LEGISLATION
IN YOUR STATE
Granny Annie encourages everyone to partake of her 8 step program once
a week during the legislation session.
1. Go to Google and type in "[name of state] Legislature." Every State
Legislature has a website.
2. At the State Legislature's website, look for the link to CURRENT
LEGISLATION and bills and go there.
3. Now look for a "SEARCH" feature on current legislation page. It's
going to be there somewhere!
4. You can search by the number of a bill, the name of a
representative or by keyword. You will probably need to search by KEYWORD.
5. Do NOT key in the word "adoption" or "adopt" because you'll get a
ton of bills adopting everything under the sun.
6. GOOD KEYWORDS : adoption of children; original birth certificate;
adoptee rights; confidential intermediary; infant abandonment; safe haven;
adoption records;
7. Good keywords should bring up any pending legislation. You usually
will have your choice: a SUMMARY or the FULL TEXT. Try the summary first. If
the bill is indeed one you are interested in, then you might want to follow
through by going to the full text. Don't be put off by "legalese." It isn't
bad at all - it's just very wordy English. You get used to it after a while.
8. Now look for the "STATUS" of the bill. You will get a chronological
list of all actions taken on the bill thus far.
MEMBERS' CORNER
Congratulations to Bastard Nation birth mother Brenda Romanchik, who
has been selected as one of this year's recipients of the Angels in Adoption
Awards. The awards are bestowed each year by a Congressional committee.
Brenda is the Director of Insight: Open Adoption Resources and Support, an
organization which provides triad members, professionals and the general
public with information on open adoption. Brenda is the author of several
adoption-related titles covering topics such as open adoption and birth
parent resources. Read more about Brenda here. Congratulations!
Prayers for a speedy recovery to Lindsay Woodside who is recovering
from surgery.
Condolences to Fr. Jack Sweeley upon the death of his father.
Happy dances for Bastard Nation birth mothers Maryanne Cohen and
Sheila Ganz!
Maryanne met with her son Mike for the first time this month. Maryanne
writes: "As I was driving to meet Kris and Mike for dinner, the rain that
had been falling all day cleared, and a huge Technicolor rainbow appeared in
the sky. If it had been a movie, that would have been too over the top and
corny for words!! I am very, very happy and blessed."
Sheila Ganz also had a first meeting with her daughter this summer.
Sheila says, "My daughter knows that though I was not able to keep her -
that she is loved and wanted. We are now in touch on a regular basis and are
building a relationship."
BASTARDS' GREAT BOOKS DISCUSSION
Great Books reviewed by our own literary Bastards Cynthia
Bertrand Holub, Marlena Villers, Toff Phillippo, Pam Zaebst, and Anita
Field.
Long Days Journey Into the Dark Side of Adoption
Eugene O'Neill discovers he is adopted and not related to his
dysfunctional family and rejoices, in this autobiographical play, but then
searches and finds his birth family are also a bunch of failed actors,
drunks, druggies, and depressives. Typically Irish.
Lethal Secrets of The Old Man and the Sea
A dirty old sailor who makes extra rum money down at the sperm
bank is made to walk the plank by a whole town of his offspring when they
discover they are all half-siblings.
Birthbond, Crime and Punishment
Raskolnikov becomes a Late Discovery Adoptee and finds, to his
horror, that the old woman he has killed was his birthmother.
Dear Birthmother, It's Me Margaret and Sabine
Collection of letters from adoptee Margaret to the series of
women mistakenly identified as her birthmother. This unique gift book
presents each letter in its own sealed envelope addressed to the god-like
Sabine. Is Sabine a social worker, a PI, a CI, or just a figment of the
primally wounded Margaret's imagination? (Available only through
court-order.com)
The Bad Seed Gone With the Wind
Evil adoptee, Rhoda, sets fire to Atlanta; pleads insanity. "The
genes made me do it," she tells the jury. Rhoda sentenced to life
imprisonment in the maternity ward of the Georgia State Penitentiary. As
she's dragged out of court, she's heard screaming, "I don't know nothin'
about birthin' babies."
Join our Bastard Great Books Discussion. Share your bastardy
insights with us. Tell us about your favorite Bastard Great Book. Write to
bn@bastards.org or anitafield@sbcglobal.net.
JOIN BASTARD NATION
Want to make a difference in how adopted people are treated and viewed
in society? Want to support the efforts of the only adoptee-led national
organization dedicated to promoting the equal treatment and dignity of
adopted citizens? Want to enjoy all the benefits of membership? Join Bastard
Nation!
Fill Out an Application now at http://www.bastards.org/members
Learn: http:// www.bastards.org
Join: http://www.bastards.org/members/
Fight: http://www.bastards.org/alert/index.html
Talk Back: e-mail us at bn@bastards.org
JOIN BN TODAY!
BASTARDS OF THE WORLD, UNITE!
YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT YOUR SHAME!
Editors: Anita Walker Field and David C. Ansardi
c. 2004 Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization
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