Philosophy
Families Rising believes that every adopted person has the right, at the age of majority or legal emancipation, to receive personal information about his or her birth, foster, and adoption history, including medical information, and educational and social history. Families Rising supports efforts of adoptees to have access to information about and connections with their birth and foster families. Families Rising also supports adoptees’ efforts to find birth family connections through the use of DNA registries.
Practice Recommendations
Families Rising believes it is the responsibility of states, provinces, and all child-placing agencies to create, support and adequately fund adoption disclosure registries that actively seek birth relatives or adoptees, upon registration of any of these parties. If such active registries are not available, Families Rising supports voluntary mutual consent registries for adults as one way for adoptees to access information.
Recognizing that many adult adoptees have a need for more complete information about their birth families, Families Rising supports their right to this information and supports access to original birth certificates to any adult adoptee at age of majority.
Upon a showing of good cause, courts should have the authority to require disclosure of adoption information and birth records to adoptees, birth family members, and adoptive family members. States, provinces, and agencies must preserve birth and adoption records safely and accessibly for future retrieval.