January 26, 2015
The battle may be only halfway over, but adult adoptees from Indiana already feel they have won a very important victory. Last week, the Indiana State Legislature voted 46 to 3 in favor of a proposed bill, SB352, which when passed would give adult adoptees from Indiana’s “closed records” period access to birth records which have been sealed to them.
The bill was authored in the Senate by Sen. Brent Steele (R), and signed by Sen. Mike Delph (R) and Sen. Lonnie Randolph (D). Passing the Senate means the bill will now travel to the Indiana State House of Representatives for committee consideration, and hopefully, House floor for a vote in the spring.
Advocates from Hoosiers for Equal Access to Records, a non-profit formed to push for adult adoptee access legislation in Indiana, praised the Senate for hearing the concerns of adoptees.
“We’ve been working to get justice for adoptees for years, and I can’t tell you how gratifying it is to see legislators lining up to support us on this issue,” said Pam Kroskie, President of HEAR. “With the continued support of the House and the Governor, we will be able to achieve our dream of being able to find out the most basic parts of our identity—our birth name, where we were born, who our parents were. We believe we shouldn’t have to give up those civil rights, just because we are adopted,” Kroskie said.
Indiana now has two classes of laws for adoptees. Adoptees adopted after 1994 have access to their records as a matter of law. Adoptees from 1941 through 1993, Indiana’s “closed records” period, are forced to use a difficult and expensive intermediary system for getting their records—causing many to quit their search in frustration, or never start. The new law will equalize the law for all adoptees, Kroskie said. Having their adoption files and original birth certificate will help adoptees with everything from feelings of closure, to having a complete family medical history, to eliminating the paperwork problems that come from having an adoptee’s “amended” birth certificate, Kroskie said.
To keep a direct line of communication with the public and legislators, HEAR has created a website that offers updates on the bill and an interface for easily writing legislators with messages of support, at http://www.indianahear.org.
About HEAR
Hoosiers for Equal Access to Records, Inc. (HEAR) is a non-profit organization dedicated to removing the shame and secrecy surrounding Indiana’s closed adoptions period. It calls on adoptees, birth/first mothers, adoptive parents and adoption placement professionals to band together to improve adoption education, and promote adult adoptees’ access to their original birth certificates.