Beagle leads charge for adoption birth rights


2/12/2013 6:01:00 PM

By Press Release

State Senator Bill Beagle (R–Tipp City) announced that he, along with State Senator Dave Burke (R-Marysville), has introduced legislation to allow adult adoptees to access their original birth records. Current law denies access to birth records based on the date of a person’s adoption, with individuals adopted between January 1964 and September 1996 having no mechanism to access their records.
 
“It is time for Ohio to recognize the inherent right of people to know who they are,” Beagle said. “The current system of shielding records from people based solely upon when they were adopted has outlived its utility.”
 
The bill includes a contact preference form for birth parents to express their desire for contact with their children, and it would also encourage birth parents to include an updated medical history with the adoption file. The bill would not affect adoptions that occurred before 1964 or after September 1996 as the practices ordered by the legislation are already in place for those time periods.
 
“We are currently shielding information from a host of individuals that may include critical family medical history,” Beagle continued. “While this is an issue of fairness and equity, we should not forget that this is also a health issue for many adoptees who have no idea what hereditary risk factors are at play in their lives.”

 

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