Tag Archives: South Carolina

South Carolina. OBC Bill Introduced: Retains infantile restrictions

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On November 10, Rep. Robert “RJ” May pre-filed HB 4566 in the House.  The bill amends the state’s current law, passed in 2018 (which started out clean and went down dirty) that permits adoptees, age 18 and over whose adoptions are finalized after July 1, 2019, to obtain a non-certified copy of their OBC  “and “evidence of adoption,”  but only with the consent of the biological parent(s)  That consent is authorized through the submission of a  “Contact Preference Form or other notarized documents. In practical terms, the 2019 law can’t be utilized until 2037, except in cases of older child/foster adoptions. Those adopted before the effective date are forced to file a petition to a state court, a procedure that has a near-zero success rate. Continue Reading →

South Carolina: An OBC to get a driver’s license?

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I want to preface this blog by saying that I am no expert on the South Carolina situation.  I am pretty sure, though, that I have interpreted the law correctly. I’m posting this entry as a smaller part of the big picture of sealed adoption records in the age of the national security state. While our battle  is always about equal treatment under law and due process, in the restoration of our right to our original birth certificates,  there are serous practical and political consequences that grow out of our lack of access. Last night, Anne Piper Boyd, one of Bastard Nation’s Facebook friends posted a section from the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles homepage regarding application identification requirements to obtain a driver’s license in the state.  It seems if you are adopted, the BMV–at least in theory– demands proof!  The following  is an identification requirement  posted on  the BMV website  for  residents (native-born and new)  to obtain a South Carolina driver’s license (my emphasis) If your name has changed since birth, you must provide all legal documents (adoption records, marriage certificate, certificate of naturalization, court ordered name change) supporting all name changes from birth to present. For more information Continue Reading →

SAFE HAVEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA: IT’S A GOD THING

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We’re all familiar with the idea that adoptees are God’s Gifts–to adopters that is. How many times do we read sappy stories in the newspapers, especially around Mothers Day and Christmas, about how we have fulfilled other people’s lives. Created their joy and happiness. Are God’s little gifts. I don’t remember my own adoptive parents talking like that. Ever! (As a sidenote my birth mother adopted two children and my birth father adopted his stepson, and neither of them ever treated these kids like they were little miracles either.) But then, that was back in the old days when adoptive parents didn’t feel they had to brag their good deeds 24/7, adoption wasn’t a major part of dinnertable discussion, and adoptees, if they were smart, kept their mouths shut. Alas! No more! Now adoption has been outted as THE celeb-trendy way to make a family. It’s as popular as Walmart with everybody boasting about their baybee saving–as if stranger infant adoption were about rescuing us from the jaws of the trash compactor. One of the more pernicious aspects of all this is the idea that we, as a class, were created by God for some good purpose–unlike the rest of Continue Reading →