ILLINOIS: Feigenholtz Owns It! The website, that is.

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Not that we’re surprised, but… WGIL-AM, Galesburg, Illinois has confirmed that the New Illinois Adoption Law.com, orphan webpage is being paid for by Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, sponsor of HB 5428, the bill that gutted the right of adult adopted folks there to obtain their own original birth certificates without jumping through more hoops than a hula hoop factory. On fire. We reported earlier (directly below this entry) that Feigenholz’s “assistant” Melisha Mitchell, owner of the search company White Oak Foundation and alleged author of the bill was listed by Whois as the domain owner. From WGAL: Website helps adopted adults with birth certificates: State Representative Sara Feigenholtz, sponsor of the bill, says she’s paying for the website herself, because she didn’t want the state budget mess to delay it from going up. There is certainly nothing illegal or unethical about them putting the information online. In fact, it’s sorta nice to have a one-stop place, written in their own words, to show how many ways the two have have screwed Illinois’ adopted class. What is problematic, though, is how the duo’s names are conspiculously absent from press releases and other media hype about the page. You’d think White Oak deputy Continue Reading →

ILLINOIS: Sun-Times Endorses Benedict Bastard Sara Feigenholtz

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The Chicago Sun-Times came out with its endorsements the other day and gave a half-hearted high five to Sara Feigenholtz (new doo to the left), based in part on her “improvement” of the rights of adoptees. Read it for yourself: 12th: Incumbent Sara Feigenholtz has been a powerful voice in Springfield since 1995 for improved health care, human services and the rights of adoptees. In the race to represent this liberal North Side district, Feigenholtz faces a bright and promising young challenger in Dave Lenkowski, a moderate Republican and high school teacher. At a time of budget cuts, Feigenholtz’s advocacy for those in need is more important than ever, though Lenkowski is right to demand more fiscal discipline from veterans like Feigenholtz. Maybe the editorial board took Sneaky Sara’s word for it–that she “improved” the rights of adoptees–instead of checking to see what her new law really does: kill our rights. To ameliorate this error, we suggest the board go directly to the new website New Illinois Adoption Law.com aka New Illinois Adoption Law for Dummies.com, see for itself, and then rescind its endorsement. If you are not a member of the Sun-Times editorial board and are adopted, go directly Continue Reading →

Donate to Dave: Help Dave Lenkowski Take Down Sara Feigenholtz!

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I failed to mention in my blog below that even if you’re not in the 12th District or don’t live in Illinois, you can still help Dave Lenkowski beat the Sara Feigenholtz anti-adoptee machine by donating to Dave’s House campaign. Dave’s is a viable threat to Feigenholt’z fiefdom. He’s holding his own, but he needs our help. If I were in Chicago tonight I’d be at the Big Lenkowski Fundraiser. From Dave’s Facebook page (I’ve edited two announcements together): The Nihilists and Little Lenkowski Urban Achievers will be there to greet you at the door for what is sure to be a great night. Feel free to bring whomever you’d like to the Big Lenkowski Fundraiser tonight at 600 N. Lake Shore Dr. (44th floor). Starting at 7:30, $35 will get you all the the Greek food, Koney Dogs, and drinks your heart desires. Actions have consequences. Don’t let Sara Feigenholtz get away with pimping our rights to special interests. Say it loud and say it proud: Hey Hey Ho Ho! Sara Feigenholtz has got to go! I sent a small donation to Dave today and will be sending more soon. Donate to Dave here. His campaign page is here. Continue Reading →

Illinois: Dave Lenkowski Beats Out Sneaky Sara Feigenholtz with Trib Endorsement

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Good News!!! Republican Dave Lenkowski, running for Sara Feigenholtz’s Illinois House District 12 seat, has won the endorsement of the Chicago Tribune. The endorsement reads: 12th District (North Side) — This is difficult because we like Democratic Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, who has been in the House since 1995. She has a top position — chairman of the human services appropriations committee — but she has not been assertive enough in demanding that her party leaders change the way they do business. Our endorsement goes to Republican Dave Lenkowski, who worked in business before he became a high school teacher working with at-risk kids. He acknowledges Republican governors and lawmakers share in the blame for mess. He would be more aggressive on education reform. Feigenholtz will likely win — the GOP didn’t even field a candidate here in 2008. If she does, we hope she turns good intentions into a more assertive challenge of the status quo.The Chicago Sun-Times has not yet issued an endorsement in this race. When it does, we’ll report it here. In the meantime, you can read the pre-endorsement candidate questionnaires submitted by Lenkowski and Feigenholtz to both papers. Not surprisingly, neither candidate addressed adoptee rights. I Continue Reading →

Attention Illinois Original Birth Certificate Rejects! Act Now!

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If you were adopted in Illinois and your request for your original birth certificate under that state’s new Feigenholtz Folly obc “access” law (HB 5428) has been turned down, then Mary Fuller is looking for you! Mary writes: I’ve started compiling a list of those who have been rejected an OBC or to register with IARMIE. (Illinois Adoption Registry and Medical Information Exchange.) Please email me if you fall into this category. This is a result of someone contacting me who has been told he can’t register with IARMIE because he is a grandson. I’m too young myself although my birth mother is deceased and died shortly after the Registry went into effect. I fear that Sara and Melisha’s new law has left out too many folks. There was a big rush to get the bill through so those of us who could have been of help were shut out. You can read Mary’s latest blog about Illinois here. Note that although Mary is a grandmother, and her first mother is dead, she is not yet old enough and thus responsible enough to qualify for her own birth certificate–despite what Feigenholtz says to to the contrary on her own webpage. Continue Reading →

Consumer Alert! Demons of Adoption Candidates Ready for YOUR Vote

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Choices !Choices! Choices! What’s a Bastardette to do? Pound Pup’s Fourth Annual Demons of Adoption Award candidates have been announced. Each and every candidate is so demonically delicious that we don’t know who to vote for. (Perhaps Karl Rove would care to advise on how to vote for all of them.) An old favorite like LDS Social Services, Gladney, JCICS, Congressional Coalition for Adoption, New Jersey ACLU? Or up-and-comers like NPR’s Scott Simon, the Southern Baptist Convention, and my personal favorite, The American Adoption Congress.The AAC was nominated for failing to remove state reps who were openly working against open access for adult adoptees. I have no idea who nominated the AAC, but…members of Bastard Nation alerted the AAC as early as 1999 to what Melisha Mitchell up to in Illinois, but nobody with any clout seemed to care. Now Illinois has the worst “access” law in the country and the AAC finds itself waiting in the La città infuocata di Dite–Dante’s City of Dis– for the final count. I’m not sure who I’ll vote for yet. I had planned to nominate Elizabeth Bartholet (see sidebar to the right for three posts here), but suffering through my summer sloth, didn’t Continue Reading →

The Chicken or the Egg: Deformers Feed Their Opponents

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There’s been a lively discussion on my New Jersey: Deborah Jacobs lobs another foul blog. Ms. Jacobs, the executive director of the New Jersey ACLU, has been brave enough to enter the fray. One comment that has scored a sour note amongst our comrade mothers-in arms is her allegation that she has received scads of letters from anonymous “birthmothers” begging for anonymity. Ms. Jacobs writes: I also have a stack of letters in my office, most sent anonymously, from birth mothers thanking me for the ACLU-NJ’s work on this issue, talking about their experiences with adoption, and explaining why they desperately wish to remain anonymous. They include rape and incest victims, among others. They express terror at the prospect of an unwelcome knock at the door that will force them to revisit painful personal traumas of the past. I’m sure Ms. Jacobs meant well. I don’t think she’s a bad person at all. But, save for whistleblowers, Wikileaks and secret groups fighting Hitler, anonymity has no place in honest political and policy discourse, especially when it’s about one of the country’s most murky and controversial social policies. Adoption, though, with its built-in secrets and lies, makes anonymity acceptable for the Continue Reading →

Congratulations Dan Chaon: Ohio’s Adoptee Laureate Racks Up Another Award!

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Congratulations to Dan Chaon! Ohio’s unofficial adoptee laureate is the recipient of the 2010 Ohio State Library’s Ohioana Award in fiction for Await Your Reply: A Novel. Last year the book was named to Publisher’s Weekly Top 10 Best Books of 2009. In March, the American Library Association’s Reference and User Services Association cited it on its “best” list along with work by Margaret Atwood and Toni Morrison. Dan’s 2001 collection of short stories, Among the Missing described as “a gripping account of colliding fates, the shifty nature of identity in today’s wired world and the limits of family” was a National Book Award finalist. It was also named one of the year’s best books by the American Library Association, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, and Entertainment Weekly and made the New York Times Notable Book List. You Remind Me of Me (2004), Dan’s first novel, is an adoption-related (and so much more) examination of identity, fate, and circumstance. It was named one of the best books of the year by The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and San Francisco Chronicle. Dan, was born, adopted and reared in Sidney, Nebraska and lives in Cleveland Heights Ohio, He is the Pauline M. Delaney Continue Reading →

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The Fall 2010 issue of The Bastard Quarterly is now online. Go here. In this issue: The Animal Farm in IllinoisLetter from the Executive ChairKicking and ScreamingLegislative Review: Winter 2009-Summer 2010“Orphan”–The MusicalBastards on the MarchThe Other Korean ChickBastard Nation Statement on HaitiRemembering AnnetteBastardly Blog Review

Attention Pittsburgh-area Bastards, Families and Friends: Elizabeth Samuels to speak at Pitt on the history of sealed records at Pitt!

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Pittsburgh Consortium for Adoption StudiesUniversity of Pittsburgh School of Arts and SciencesSchool of LawWomen’s Studies Program Present: Elizabeth Samuels Professor, University of Baltimore School of Law Adoption, Identity, and Confidentiality:The History of Closed Records Thursday, September 3012:30 pm G-20 University of Pittsburgh Law School3900 Forbes Avenue Currently, when children are adopted, they are usually issued new birth certificates in which the names of adoptive parents replace the names of birth parents. Copies of their sealed original birth certificates have been unavailable to adult adoptees in most states for varying numbers of years. But recently many states around the country have considered, and some have passed, legislation restoring adult adoptees’ right to receive uncertified copies of their original birth certificate upon request. House Bill 1978, now in the Pennsylvania House Health and Human Services Committee, would restore this right, overturning the 1984 law that foreclosed access. Another bill in the House, H. B. 1968, takes a different approach: it would establish procedures by which a court or agency must locate birth parents and obtain consent before providing identifying information to an adoptee. Against the backdrop of these bills, this talk will discuss the surprising, often misunderstood history of adoptee birth records Continue Reading →