6
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2003
ADOPTION
FROM PAGE 3
confidential intermediaries some
times cannot put people together,”
Smith said. “We are not restricted
by state laws.”
The North Carolina Coalition
for Adoption Reform sponsored
ISRR’s annual “Reg Day” on Oct. 4
to answer questions and provide
information about the registry.
“We do support this. ISSR is the
oldest and largest mutual consent
registry,” NCCAR chairwoman
Roberta MacDonald said.
In many states adoption records
were not sealed until after World
War 11. “The adoption records have
not always been sealed. They have
been only to the general public,”
MacDonald said. “‘Nosy Neighbor’
laws started to tighten to protect
the adopted, the birth mother and
the adoptive parent.”
NCCAR is crafting legislation it
hopes to introduce by 2005 that
potentially would unseal those
records for adult adoptees those
who are older than 18 —and par
ents of minor adoptees.
Similar bills have been intro
duced in the N.C. General Assembly
in the past and have failed.
North Carolina law grants
adoptees access to nonidentifying
information, specifically their date
of birth, weight at birth, the age and
education status of their birth par
ents at the time of adoption, ethnic
background and any medical infor
mation taken at birth.
“Most people don’t even realize
adult adoptees can’t have access to
a birth certificate, that they have an
amended one,” MacDonald said.
An original birth certificate has
value that nonadopted persons do
not realize. MacDonald, an adult
adoptee, described the trouble she
had when trying to obtain a U.S.
passport with her altered birth cer
tificate, which doesn’t contain the
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names of birth parents or the
county of birth.
“I sent my birth certificate to the
federal government, and they ques
tioned my citizenship,” she said.
Nevertheless, there are many
who oppose opening records, even
for medical reasons.
The National Council For
Adoption, founded in 1981, is a
Washington, D.C.-based nonprof
it advocacy and education organi
zation comprised of member agen
cies and adoption lawyers.
Although supportive of mutual
consent registries, the NCFA
opposes the opening of records in
North Carolina.
“We believe that records should
be opened as a result of mutual
consent.... For many reasons peo
ple want to keep their confiden
tiality, it’s not worth opening
records,” said Lee Allen, the direc
tor of communications for NCFA.
He acknowledged that there is
concern about adult adoptees who
need access to their medical
records.
“We think that’s not a valid
argument. Medical science can
learn more from a blood test than
a medical history. Medical infor
mation reasoning just falls short,”
Allen said.
NCFA has provided testimony as
well as letters of opposition to the
opening of records in several states.
Allen said they wouldn't want
confidentiality to be a barrier for a
woman who is considering giving
her child up for adoption. “Nobody
should be thrust upon them with
out their consent.”
As state law reads, a mutually
consented reunion does not neces
sarily mean access to adoption
records that requires petitioning
a court. The success rate of being
awarded access to records varies
from court to court, and the
process can be costly.
“The statute allows an adopted
From Page Three
person to petition the court. ...
That can be a fairly expensive
process and generally kind of com
plicated without an attorney,” said
Edith Votta, director of post-adop
tion services at the Children’s
Home Society of North Carolina
Inc., in Greensboro.
Although records are not open,
in November 2001 open adoptions
became an option in North
Carolina. This gives birth parents
and adoptive parents the opportu
nity to sign agreements allowing
varying degrees of communication
and information exchange.
“Our experience is that it is
much healthier to have that con
tact. There are times that contact
can be really helpful,” Votta said.
Out-of-state registries such as
ISRR also remain an option for
parties involved in North Carolina
adoptions. North Carolina is one
of two states without a registry.
There are two options for reg
istries: a passive registry such as
the ISRR, through which parties
can register and be put in touch if
there is a match; and an active reg
istry, in which typically one party
searches for the other and the
found party is asked if he would
like to be contacted.
“Active registries work better,”
MacDonald said. “If an adoptee
registers, states have to make every
effort to contact the birth parent.”
Carolyn Hoard, legislative direc
tor for the American Adoption
Congress, said that a passive reg
istry provides only a remote chance
of a match but that people are wary
of someone knocking on their door.
“There are two arguments: that
birth parents were promised confi
dentiality and that if you allow
more access to records you will see
a rise in abortions,” Hoard said.
Votta said she favors a more
active registry-. “The reality is, right
now, people are knocking on doors
without an agency involved, but
people are knocking on the wrong
doors.”
But many birth parents, like
Schlotfeldt, said they hope North
Carolinians won’t have to rely on
registries in the future.
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years there could be hope that
adoptees would have access to at
least medical information and a
copy of their original birth certifi
cate.”
Contact the Features Editor
atfeatures@unc.edu.
GRAD STUDENT
FROM PAGE 3
“You look ahead into the future,
but you can’t look too far ahead.
It’s easy to look ahead and panic,”
MacDonald said. “You can’t think,
‘Everything has to be done by
April,’ because you have so many
drafts before the final one.”
Now, he’s spending most of his
time writing case studies, which he
hopes to finish by Thanksgiving.
Because the data analysis is com
ing to an end, he said, it is becom
ing easier to connect the data back
to his original goals.
“It’s interesting ... because you
start to see the results of what
you’re doing,” MacDonald said.
“You have to be rigorous with your
methods, track your design and
keep going back to the original
questions so you don't drift off on
some irrelevant tangent.”
He added, “This is the time when
things start to come together.”
In addition to turning his
research into a finished product,
MacDonald also is beginning to
look for jobs. This is important,
but his research will keep him
busy for the time being, he said.
His work on the first full draft
will keep him in town for
Thanksgiving, but he plans to go
home to Detroit for three days dur
ing Winter Break. MacDonald said
that he normally would want to
take more time off but that time
during Winter Break will be crucial
to finishing the first full draft.
“Yeah, my parents are not
happy, but they also know I need
to graduate, so they understand,”
MacDonald said. “To graduate in
May will make it all worthwhile,
and that’s what I look forward to.”
Contact the Features Editor
atfeatures@unc.edu.
KNITTING UP A STORM
—
DTH/JOANIE TOBIN
Mandy Foster participates in the WW II re-enact
ment held Saturday in Hillsborough. Merchants
and community members gathered to commemo
rate the veterans of World War 11. The event was held inside
because of rain. For the full story, visit dailytarheel.com.
ARRESTS
FROM PAGE 3
Martin Vargas Rodriguez, 25;
Fernando Hernandez Martinez,
20; Ishmael Rodriguez-Chavez, 17;
and Marcelino Vega Hernandez,
27-
Each man was placed under a
SIOO,OOO bond at Orange County
Jail in Hillsborough and appeared
in Orange County District Court in
Hillsborough on Friday.
Although none have been
KINSTON
FROM PAGE 3
director for the Phoenix Society,
said she began to recover emotion
ally from her bums after she attend
ed her first World Bum Congress.
“We can fake it if we want to,”
she said. “You can limit relation
ships and how you interact with
people. Restoration came when I
was ready.”
Darlene Miller, a nurse who
International Education Week
November 17-21, 2003
Schedule of Events for
Monday, November 17
Putin vs. The 01igarch$: a Public Discussion
UCIS Conference Room, 223 E. Franklin Street, Noon
Carolina Undergraduate Health
Fellowship Information Session
Dey Hall, Room 307,6:00 pm
An Evening with Film Director Alex Rivera
Hanes Art Center, 7:00 pm
Sponsored by the University Center for International Studies
in conjunction with the Institute for Latin American Studies and the
Center for Slavic, Eurasian & East European Studies
www.ucis.unc.edu
Ktmi
fjKwr celebrating 1
■ food &C life J
IS HAPPY TO HOST...
The Roy Williams
Basketball
Show
Monday, November 17th
7-8 pm
and every Monday during
the Tar Heels basketball season
full menu
full bar
sushi bar
reservations accepted
Raffle for great prizes,
including basketball tickets!
201S. Estes Drive
University Mall
919.928.8200
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charged with breaking and enter
ing, police said, they might be able
to link the off-campus thefts with
the stolen goods.
Police are requesting that any
one who has had goods stolen in
the past month, especially elec
tronics, go to the police station and
speak with an investigator.
To speed the process, police ask
that people bring receipts.
Contact the City Editor at
citydesk@unc.edu.
worked at the burn center for two
years, said she debated coming to
the event after a fire destroyed her
son's house Thursday. But she said
the celebration was a positive
reminder that life continues.
“It’s a privilege to be here,” she
said during an open-microphone
portion of the event. “It’s a privi
lege to hear your stories.”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.