Ohio: HB 61 Sponsor Hearing Report- House Judiciary

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Wednesday (February 20, 2013) I attended the Ohio House Judiciary Committee Sponsor’s Hearing for HB 61, which would restore the right of OBC access to Ohio adoptees  born between January 1, 1964-September 17, 1996.  Those born after that date currently have access at the age of 21 (at 18 their aparents can access), unless a birthparent has filed a  Disclosure Veto with the state. Ohio Vital  Statistics does not know how many DV’s are on file (!), but the number is probably minuscule   Washington State, which has a similar law, reports only four DVs submitted since 1993, and all of them last year. Lawyer dirty tricks?  Senate Bill, 23 is HB61’s companion bill. . Both have bi-partisan support. Ohio Right to Life, opposed for decades  to OBC access for 1964-1996s, due to its belief that access to those old records would compromise “the state’s promise of anonymity” in adoption; thus causing women  to seek abortions now,  has dropped its opposition. ORTL President Mike Gonidakis told the press recently, “Historically, Ohio Right to Life has opposed efforts to disclose identities of birth parents.That position has thawed, for lack of a better term..” Goindakis credits the Internet with some of the change saying that “you can find Continue Reading →

Washington State HB 1525: Demand House to Amend Disclosure Veto

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The Washington State legislature  is currently running two OBC access bills:  HB 1525 and SB5118. (original bill)  These are not Bastard Nation bills. Originally both contained language that maintained current Disclosure Vetoes in place and continue the option for future use.  Last week the Senate amended its bill and removed all DV language current and prospective.  (Sub bill)  The House has not followed suit. Washington State activists have  asked for immediate action from to urge the Washington House to amend its bill bu removing all DV language as well. The House offers a template on the HB 1525 bill page  to send your opinion.  Posts are limited to 1000 characters, so it has to remain short.  Here is what Bastard Nation sent: Bastard Nation: the Adoptee Rights Organization urges sponsors of HB1525 to amend the bill to align with SB5118: remove current language (and law) that authorizes biological parents via a Disclosure Veto, to bar the state from releasing the OBC to his or her adult offspring.. HB1525 sponsors have it half right. They find something inherently wrong with vetoes, yet feel an obligation to maintain them. This may justify bad past legislation but does no justify denying WA State adoptees the restoration of their right Continue Reading →

Another Dead Russian Adoptee: Maksim Kuzmin/Max Alan Shatto

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Russian media reports that another Russian adoptee has been murdered by his forever family. Best coverage so far comes from RT (Russian Television) and the Siberian Times.  A few minutes ago, The Dallas Observer’s Eric Nicholson picked up the story in his blog.  Although I’m seeing accounts from  the Australian , British, and Israeli press,  US media is so far silent, but I suspect that will change in a few hours. RT reports that on January 21, a Russian adoptee identified as Maksim Kuzmin, 3,  living in Texas, died after a brutal beating at the hands of his adoptive mother. An autopsy showed that he suffered from severe trauma to his head, limbs, abdomen, and internal organs.  The autopsy also indicated that he was full of Risperdal, a  controversial anti psychotic drug approved by the USDA for treatment  for schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder in children over the age of 10,  but it has recently been used in the treatment of autism. The  English-language Siberian Times identifies the boy by his adoptive name Max Alan Shatto.  The article (no byline) says that Maksim was born in the Komi Republic in the far north of Russia, west of the Urals.  Natalya Vishnevskaya, chief doctor at the Pechor Orphanage, identified the boy as coming from her children’s home, but did Continue Reading →

Below and Beyond Offensive: Gotcha Day book review

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Gotcha Day, the perverse label given by clueless adopters to the day they received their Bundle of Joy, is universally considered offensive by all but the most blindly entitled inhabitants of AdoptionLand..  Now there’s a book by the same name:  Gotcha Day: a Celebration of Adoption. Some of us have been posting 1-star ratings of the book on amazon.com.  I just posted mine:  This book is below and beyond offensive.  Gotcha is something you say when you catch a pesky mouse or stomp on a cockroach that been running across your kitchen floor for the past week..  It is not a term that should be used to “celebrate” adoption or the “gotten” adoptee. I understand why people would want to commemorate the day, but Gotcha is obscene. If I could give it less than one star, I would.Full disclosure.  My adoptive parents used to commemorate the day I was placed with them.  It was known as Betsy Day (that’s the name I went by most of my life–nothing wrong with the name, but it’s not me, and I reverted to Marley, derived from my original name, Marlene). Betsy Day was  low key-not  Gotcha!  I cannot imagine either of my parents (or my Mama Dot who Continue Reading →

Indiana: Anonymous Medical Records – Not Rights

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Excuse my impatience, but just give Hoosier Bastards their goddamned OBCs and be done with it! The  newest trick pony spinning  on the Indiana merry-go-round  is HB 1029 sponsored by freshman Rep. Sharon Engle (R-Attica).  The bill, if passed, according to the Lafayette Journal Courier,  would allow the relatives of adoptees and pre-adoptive siblings  access to birthparent medical histories. Current law permits adoptees birthparents, adoptive parents, relatives of an adoptive parent, state or country child and family services-related officials, adoption agencies, and courts to petition for the release of medical information.   (I have no idea why a court would have to petition  itself  to get the records.  Maybe it’s an Indiana thing ,A similar bill was stuck in committee last session. Here’s the synopsis of the bill taken from the Indiana Leg page.  Scroll down the bill page page and you’ll see the entire bill.  Notice that there is only a minimal change in current language. Synopsis: Adoption history information. Adds a relative of an adoptee and a pre-adoptive sibling to the list of interested persons who may obtain medical history information and file a petition with an appropriate court to request the release of medical information, nonidentifying information, or identifying information. Requires that a petition requesting release of medical, nonidentifying, or identifying information Continue Reading →

Presentation to Adoption Lawyers on OBC Access in Ohio

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On January 17 I delivered a semi-formal presentation before a  group of mostly Columbus, Ohio adoption lawyers on the subject of adoptee rights,  OBC access, and a bill that is scheduled to be introduced in the Ohio legislature later this year that would  equalize (I hope) access for all Ohio’s adopted citizens. That is, pull back to  pre-1964 unrestricted access.I want to make clear here (and did there) that this is not a Bastard Nation bill.  It  is brought by Adoption Equity Ohio and at this time none of us know what the final language will be. Consequently, neither BN nor myself  currently supports or opposes it..  We are particularly concerned with the status of the 1996  disclosure veto, which can legally muck up unrestricted access in any state unfortunate enough to be saddled with it.  As chair and co-founder of Bastard Nation, I was  invited to present to the group. This invitation was an opportunity to meet local adoption lawyers to discuss adoptee rights. Discussion afterwards indicted  a lack of hostility to the repeal of the current black hole. My observation over the years, in fact,  has been that OBC access with few exceptions has become no  big deal..  I hope it stays that way. Below is  formal version of my talk.  Ohio Continue Reading →

Reuben Pannor, 1922-2012

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Pioneer adoption reformer and adoptee rights advocate Dr. Reuben Pannor died yesterday at the age of 90.  I never had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Pannor but am familiar with his work and the great honor he bears in the reform movement. Below is is Reuben’s obituary, written by his son Jonathan and posted on the CUB list by Karen Vedder. I had no idea what an interesting man he was inside and outside of adoption). Reuben “Ruby” Pannor, a social worker and pioneer in the field of open adoption, died on December 22nd, 2012, at the age of 90. A man overflowing with kindness and empathy, Reuben was universally loved by family, friends, colleagues, and all of those in the “adoption triangle” (birthparents, adopted persons, and adoptive parents). Reuben and his twin brother Harry were born on July 4th, 1922, to Rose and Isidor Pannor in the small village of Slobodka, in Lithuania.  The twins and their younger sister Esther spent their early childhood surrounded by generations of extended family. In response to growing anti-Jewish sentiment prior to World War II, Reuben’s immediate family immigrated to America when Reuben was eight years old. Reuben grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York, where his Continue Reading →

International Adoption: In Who’s Best Interest? A Video by Peter Dodds

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Oh crap!    I was just called into work at short notice and won’t have any time to write today  it looks to be (from past experience at this location) a 15 hour job including travel So, I’m positng a video that Peter Dodds has put together on International Adoption:  In Who’s Best Interest?  .I will add to this entry later, but I’m out the door now.

Who Got the Vote in AdoptionLand Poll: Results are in!

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The results are in on Bastaradette’s Unscientific Who Got the Vote in AdoptionLand  Poll.  Not surprisingly Romney lost  to Obama by a landslide of  37-1. Due to the Blogger poll set-up, I had to do three separate “ballots” for  Bastards, Bio Parents of Bastards and Adoptive Parents of Bastards. Forty-seven Bastardette readers replied.  Here are the results: Bastards  (Total votes:  33) Obama 27 (81%) Romney 0 Stein 1  (3%) Johnson 3 (9%) Vermin Supreme 0 Other 0 Nobody 2 (6%) Biological Parents of Bastards  (Total votes: 10) Obama: 8 (80%) Romney 0 Stein 1 (10%) Johnson 0 Vermin Supreme  1 (10%)Other 0 Nobody 0 Adoptive Parents of Bastards (Total vote: 4) Obama 1 (25%) Romney 1 (25%) Stein 1 (25%) Johnson 1 (25%) Vermin Supreme 0 Other 0 Nobody 0 Totals:  47 votes (rounded off) Obama: 36 (72%) Romney 1 (4%) Stein 3 (6%) Johnson  4 (8%) Vermin Supreme 1 (4%) Other 0 Nobody (4%) Interesting how Bastards and their Bios voted so closely.  The one adoptive parent vote for Romney skewed the percentages, but Obama still came out with a 72%  victory,  which I suppose means that adoptee rights advocates think Obama and  Democrats in their state legislatures are Continue Reading →

The Bad Seed: Give Me My Shoes!

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I got a really late start, so Ill just post a clip tonight from everybody’s favorite adoption film The Bad Seed.  This is one of my favorite scenes:  Our Rhoda figures out the jig is up.  One of Bastard Nation’s Founding Foundlings knew  this scene so well that she could perform it at the drop of a shoe. I’ve written about mp personal experience with Mrs Daigle here. RIP Clyde