Ohio History: Sealed Records Author said "parents don’t have to waste time on heredity"
A few days ago while going over testimony for Ohio’s HB61, I found a most astounding story from Ohio Birth Parent’s Group leader Kate Livingston. It was taken from her MA thesis, which documents through primary sources and interviews the involvement of Ohio Right to Life’s big role in the continued sealing of OBCs in the state. (As far as I know Kate’s thesis isn’t online. It should be!) Testifying that the intent in sealing records has never been to protect the “privacy” of relinquishing biological parents Kate quoted Rep, Edward Schumacher, chief sponsor of HB 202, the bill that sealed Ohio’s post-1963 records”. My bill closes the book on background, which is the way it should be handled. My law gives the child a clear [sic] slate. [Adoptive] Parents start right away providing the child with necessary guidance and direction. They don’t have to waste time on heredity. People lay too much stress on heredity. It’s advisable for children not to know they’re adopted. If they knew, they’d be seeking to find out why they do certain things. If a kid knows he’s adopted, he has a crutch. ‘Oh, that’s not my fault,’ he’ll say, ‘that’s my [birth] family’s fault.’ I closed the book because knowing isn’t Continue Reading →