We stand with adoptees.
Mothers of Adoption Loss Who Support Restoring Unrestricted Rights to Adult Adopted Persons To Request Their Original Birth Certificates
Who are we?
We are women who lost children to adoption facilitated by Catholic-run organizations during the closed adoption era in America (approx. between 1945 - 1975). We formed in late 2020 specifically to assist the adult adoptees working in the state of Connecticut to restore their rights to their original birth certificates, a document that usually names us, their birth/first mothers. At the time we formed, lobbyists representing Catholic Charities in Connecticut testified that they were our voices, we needed their protection, and we wanted to deprive our children of their original birth certificates. Scared teenagers no more, we now demand our voice and want our relinquished sons/daughters to have the same rights as everyone else. We spoke up publicly and unrestricted rights were restored to all Connecticut-born adoptees on July 1, 2021. Since then, we’ve scaled our efforts so that we can mobilize quickly for any other state wishing to leverage our voices in their strategy to restore adult adopted persons’ unrestricted rights to their original birth certificates. We will continue to lend our support as requested.
Why We Support Adoptee Rights
Equality
We believe it is a basic human right to know who you are and where you come from, and that everyone should be able to discover this in the most dignified way possible.
Privacy
Genetic secrecy is over. Technology has officially outpaced the law. 1 of 4 Americans have done a consumer-DNA test. It is more private to restore rights to adult adopted persons to request their original birth certificates than to not.
Healing
We heal when we are able to exercise agency and choice over our own lives. The government has no place in the middle of any relationship today that adult men/women/non-binary persons may choose to forge with us whether we gave birth to them or not. We can decide directly with them, as two adults, what is best for each of us.
How can you help?
We provide powerful testimonies to state legislatures considering bills that restore unrestricted rights to adopted persons. Part of what makes our testimony so impactful is the list of signors we append to our testimonies so…
If you are a mother who lost her child through any Catholic-run organization and you support adoptee equality, please sign our form below. When you sign, you help make us agile which allows us to mobilize our collective voice quickly and efficiently to support advocates in their states working on adoptee rights legislation.