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California's Senate Bill 1274 Will Allow Adopted People Same Rights as Nonadopted

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Photo credit:   Adoptees United, Inc. By Lynn Grubb, President, Adoptee Rights Coalition California born-and-adopted people have been waiting a long time for unrestricted access to their original birth certificates.  Ever since 2019, when New York restored unrestricted access to adoptees , ending 83 years of inequality, Adoptionland has been holding it’s breath that California would follow suit. California’s current laws are some of the most restrictive in the country and endorse shame and secrecy from a bygone era. With  95 % of adoptions having some form of openness , California adoptees rightfully expect to be treated as equal citizens. Under current law, the only way to obtain an adopted person’s original birth certificate (OBC) is to petition a judge for a court order after proving good cause. It was a happy day when on February 16, 2024, California Senate Bill 1274 was introduced by Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman , Chair of the Senate Health Committee. Sen. Eggman is a mental h

"Caught in the Middle" by Guest Blogger, Julie Ryan McGue

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  “Caught in the Middle” By Julie Ryan McGue The needle on my inner compass leans towards positive. So, when I consider my adoption, I tease out two things for which I can be grateful. In the Baby Scoop Era during which I was adopted, the firm policy at Catholic Charities was to place multiples in the same adoptive family. I can’t imagine advancing through life without my identical twin sister as a collaborator, confidante, and co-conspirator. And I’m glad I waited until I became a middle-aged woman with scores of lived experiences before tackling adoption search and reunion. Adopted together as infants, we seemed always to have known about our adoption. Ours was a closed adoption, so our adoptive parents were given no information about our first family. Two years later, our parents adopted a little boy, and then as so often happens, my mother’s infertility issues abated. By the time we became teenagers, my twin and I were the oldest of six, a blended family of three adoptees and three

National Adoption Awareness Month

*Adoptee Tik Tok *Legislative Summit 2023 in Indianapolis * Concerned United Birth Parents retreat 2023 *Celia Center adoption conference Nov 10, 11 2023 *Adoptee Rights 101 *Real ID complications (and passport update!) *Adoptee Remembrance Day- 11/30/23 *National Adoption Awareness Month  Show Notes:  NAAP Adoption Happy Hour:  https://naapunited.org/adoption-happy-hour  Preorder the book: "Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood."  https://www.amazon.com/Relinquished-Politics-Adoption-Privilege-Motherhood/dp/1250286778/ref=sr_1_1crid=2A50CHXAVR2JZ&keywords=relinquished%3A+The+politics+of+adoption&qid=1699013928&s=books&sprefix=relinquished+the+politics+of+adoption%2Cstripbooks%2C74&sr=1-1  Celia Center adoption conference:  https://celia-center-adoption-constellation.mn.co/plans/339536?bundle_token=9059baf90d541a7b894e633227303955&utm_source=manual%20noopener  Real ID Debaucle:  https://podcasts.a

Advocating for the Restoration of Adoptees' Original Birth Certificates in Indianapolis

I was honored to attend the Legislative Summit in August of 2023 and wrote about it at the  Adoptee Rights Coalition website . 

Adoption and ADHD

Back in 2015, when Lisa Esposito from US News & World Report, contacted me out of the blue for help in writing an article  about adoptees and their lack of medical history, I was excited that somebody in the media world cared about this issue.  However, being fortunate to have good health, I didn’t have any stories to share with her personally. So, I acted as a connector for her in the community. I recalled a few of the stories I had heard from adoptees who had life threatening medical issues and either could have been helped or were helped by speaking with birth family members to get important medical history.  Eight years later, I now have something to share. It is a late Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnosis. It is common for parents to be diagnosed shortly after one of their kids are diagnosed because ADHD is highly genetic. If a parent did not pass it on, it is very likely that a grandparent did. Our daughter took an on-line self-assessment and kept t

My Adoption, Search and Reunion Story in 40 minutes

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Letting Go of False Beliefs

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  I was recently chatting with Jennifer Ghosten, podcaster over at Once Upon a Time in Adopteeland and she mentioned something that has been on my mind. It was the topic of healing.    I have always been of the belief that we may never completely heal from complex trauma caused by relinquishment; in fact, the world has yet to recognize that adoptees as a minority group have complex trauma.    However, I am committed to move toward healing by facing my fears, examining my triggers and processing the grief surrounding my adoption.  Once we can uncover who we are genetically, learn and understand many of the missing pieces of our heritage, our work is not complete.   If you consider yourself someone who leans toward a growth mindset, then you may want to attempt to uncover any false beliefs you hold lurking around and cause suffering. We all carry around false beliefs that were taught to us by our families, society, religion and people we have close contact with.    In my own healing jou