Legislative Committee Hearings on Adoptee Rights in New York State in 1976 And 2014

Two hearings on the subject of adoptee access to original birth records. "Sealed Adoption Records and the Search for Identity," the 1976 joint public hearing of the New York State Temporary State Commission on Child Welfare and the Assembly Standing Committee on Child Care and "Legislation to Allow Adoptees to Access Their Original Birth Certificate," the 2014 public hearing of the Assembly Standing Committee on Health looked at the same issue from thirty-eight years apart. The former...
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Two hearings on the subject of adoptee access to original birth records. "Sealed Adoption Records and the Search for Identity," the 1976 joint public hearing of the New York State Temporary State Commission on Child Welfare and the Assembly Standing Committee on Child Care and "Legislation to Allow Adoptees to Access Their Original Birth Certificate," the 2014 public hearing of the Assembly Standing Committee on Health looked at the same issue from thirty-eight years apart. The former report has had limited accessibility, and the latter has never been published in print. As New York hopefully grows closer to finally granting adoptees access to their own original birth certificates as a matter of right, these documents of the long struggle of adoptee rights activists are being made more available along with some supplementary material for context. Among the additional materials are short descriptions of most of the bills from 1975 to 2018 that concerned adoptee access to information: 1970s, 14; 1980s, 80+; 1990s, 60+; 2000s, 70+; 2010s, 35+. Documents showing the legislative history and intent of sealed birth and adoption records in New York State will be published in a separate volume.