Bastard Nation: Testimony in support of Missouri HB 1599

Missouri’s current OBC access laws do not reflect current adoption best practice and culture, and as we’ve noted above, the reality of technology and social media which has been eagerly embraced by adoptees and their families in search of information that is rightfully theirs, denied them by the state.

Consequently, over the years the Missouri legislature has heard many bills regarding OBC access. Some have gone nowhere and others have further complicated the already complicated access process. This time, however, HB 1599, its sponsor Rep. Don Phillips and its nearly 40 sponsors got it right. HB 1599 creates not only equal access for all Missouri-born adoptees but treats the state’s adoptees as equal with the not-adopted, who unlike the adopted are not forced to undergo an onerous legal process simply to get their own birth certificates. HB 1599 reflects the simple inclusive OBC access process that five states have enacted. (Oregon, Alabama, New Hampshire, Maine, and Rhode Island.) Kansas and Alaksa never sealed records. Continue Reading →