Category Archives: Adoption

Tuesday, the Missouri Senate Health, Mental Health, Seniors, and Families Committee held a hearing on it’s greatly flawed SB 351. (text, status/history) Bastard Nation, through our long-time member Carla McBrine as able to submit our opposition testimony in person. Unfortunately, the committee voted the bill out of committee (I haven’t been able to find the roll call vote) and the bill is headed for the Senate. At this time, we don’t know if it will be scheduled for a vote. The session ends May 13. TESTIMONY SB 351: access to identifying information for adoptions original birth certificate Missouri Senate Health, Mental Health, Seniors and Families Committee March 29, 2011 OPPOSE Privilege is the opposite of rights Bastard Nation: the Adoptee Rights Organization is the largest adoptee civil rights organization in the United States. We support full, unrestricted access for all adopted persons, SB 351. Under current Missouri law, the original birth certificates of all Missouri adoptees are sealed and cannot be released to the adoptee except by court order and only with the consent of both the biological and adoptive parents. This 4-signature consent represents the most restrictive OBC access law in the United States. For as long as we Continue Reading →

Connecticut currently has two OBC access bills in the hopper. The first, HB 65 is a placeholder which has yet to be written. The second is HB 890 which would open OBCs prospectively for adoptees 21 years old and older adopted after January 2, 2012 contains a disclosure veto. HB 890 is scheduled for a hearing tomorrow before the legislature’s Select Committee on Children. We sent this letter opposing the bill to committee members this afternoon: Bastard Nation: the Adoptee Rights Organization, is the largest adoptee civil rights organization in the United States. We support full, unrestricted access for all adopted persons, upon request, of their own true, unaltered original birth certificates (OBC). We oppose HB 890, a bill that would prospectively the OBC to adoptees, with disclosure veto restrictions, to persons 21 years of age or older, whose adoptions were finalized on or after October 12, 2012. This bill is scheduled to be heard tomorrow, February 8, 2011 by the Select Committee on Children. Bastard Nation. opposes HB 890, and urges you to vote Do Not Pass. HB 890 creates a nonsensical tiered discriminatory system of OBC access for Connecticut adoptees based on their date of birth, date of Continue Reading →

I grew up with Spike Jones in the house. Even after probably a thousand listenings of Cocktails for Two, I still find it hilarious. Especially the 1945 video I’ve linked here. I intended to put up All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth, but then I ran across Mommy, Won’t You Buy a Baby Brother, which I’d never heard before. It’s oh so appropriate for a Merry AdoptionLand Christmas.

What would you like for Christmas, little bastards and bastardettes? I realize the hour is drawing nigh, but it’s not too late to add to your loot list. To help you out, I’m posting some toy commercials from the 1950s and 1960s. I mean, that’s when a lot of us were born, and since we adoptees never grow up… There’s enough here for consumer, feminist, and parent do-gooders to carp about until next year. Darcy the Cover Girl: the woman your little girl will want to be. Yikes! Images of Betty Draper dance in my head. OK, I’ll fess up! At a certain point in my life, Bridgette Bardot was someone I wanted to be. I scared my mother. The trucks are pretty cool (and loud). Interesting how cars are OK for girls to play with as long as they are for Baby Go Bye-Byeing tasks, not to bring home the bacon. Some things never change. I like the Maverick swag from Kaiser Quilted Wrap, too, When I wasn’t pretending to be BB, I was Bret Maverick. In fact, my entry into the world of literati occurred at the age of 12 when I wrote a screenplay about Bret’s childhood Continue Reading →

December 21 is the Winter Solstice December 21 is the day I was placed with my adoptive parents December 21 is the day, decades later, my natural mother died

CNN reported At Thanksgiving, Some adopt a turkey rather than eating one. Like in any proper adoption, volunteers must pass a screening process. Although it’s not a requirement, a majority of them are vegetarians or vegans. The individuals must have an adequate facility to care for the bird, such as a barn or a sizable yard. The organization prefers adoptive “parents” who don’t have other domestic animals or children who might chase turkeys. The nonprofit will deliver the turkey to the adoptive homes. In fact, it seems that adopting a turkey is more humane and professional than our current adoption process: From the Adopt-a-Turkey Project we find more (my emphasis): Since 1986, Farm Sanctuary has rescued more than 1,000 turkeys, placed hundreds into loving homes through our annual Turkey Express adoption event, educated millions of people about their plight, and provided resources for a cruelty-free holiday. For a one-time $30 donation, anyone can sponsor turkeys residing at Farm Sanctuary. Sponsor a turkey and receive a special adoption certificate in your name – or give sponsorships as gifts for family and friends. Donations are also needed to support our lifesaving efforts to promote a compassionate Thanksgiving and protect all farm animals. Continue Reading →

This will be short tonight since I got a late start. This morning I reconnected with a cousin on Facebook I’ve not spoken to for years. I have lots of family pictures, and scanned a few of them tonight for FB and her. Looking at these old pictures reminded me that once upon a time we weren’t adopted. I don’t mean the obvious: that time between birth and finalization. But when we were older, when even if you knew you were adopted you didn’t know about the political and personal consequences and disabilities. There’s a kind of innocence about about those days, (if you were fortunate) before you figured out that you were a pawn in a lot of other people’s games. People you’d never heard of and didn’t care about then–or now. Sealed records and adoption secrets may be our agenda, but we, as individuals and as a class, are part of so many more public agendas: abortion women’s status, welfare, political platforms, , taxes, “privacy,” race, class, gender, christian conversion, infertility, child abuse, custody disputes, high tech repro, political correctness, immigration, trafficking, child abandonment, globalism, neo-colonialism, imperialism, State Department deals. You can probably think of more. Leave us Continue Reading →

OK, I spent hours writing a blog tonight. I tried to fix a broken link and the whole thing except for the last couple paragraphs just went poof right off the screen and the “new version” automatically saved itself. I ‘ve had it. In a separate post, I’ll put up a short piece and go to bed I’ve had it. I will try to reconstruct tomorrow.

Here’s a 1963 clip of Ghoulardi. Without him there would be no Bastard Nation.