Wednesday, June 06, 2007

I hate the thought of my daughter searching, says an aparent.
I hate the thought that she would have to. So I hope we succeed.

Mia and Theresa bring to our attention the ongoing discussion in CT regarding open recods. This editorial in the Hartford Courant repeats every misguided notion about the relationship between open records and reunion, birthparent desire for privacy and, apparently, adoptee's increased potential for stalking compared with the general population. It also promotes the idea that a voluntary registry will solve the problem, yet there are two problems with this. The first is practical: many people are not informed of the necessity for registering. The second is principle: utilization of a registry does nothing to acknowledge this information as a right.
I haven't posted a comment there yet - adoptees and natural mothers have done a fantastic job presenting the case and critiquing the editorial and I don't want my position as adoptive mother to somehow usurp their rightful roles as complainants or step on anyone's toes in any other way. Yet aparents, our voices are lacking in these debates and discussions, and fair or no (no), we have the potential to be a powerful lobby for our children's and their adult counterparts' rights.

***
I'm thinking of reading Marianne Novy's Reading Adoption and wondered if anyone had or would like to join me.

7 comments:

Ungrateful Little Bastard said...

That book looks really interesting and I'm adding it to my wish list. I'm a little too distracted to read it right now but it definitely has my interest. It's funny because I'm about to make a post about an adoption themed fiction book that I'm very curious about.

Oh! And totally post over at the Courant if you want to. The more voices the better I say.

Anonymous said...

I haven't read it, but yes, I'd like to join you. It's been on my "to read" books for a long time. I don't have it yet though. And I read slowly -- not because I'm a slow reader, but because I don't have much time to read at all. Only a little bit of time before bed.

And I have to get the book. :)

Anonymous said...

Really interesting about the volunteer registry...

Thanks for the info.

jamie

abebech said...

I need to order it too. I'll let you know, and I won't spoil it (of course, I also read very slowly, partially because I can't read for myself until well after bedtime too).

Anonymous said...

I ordered the book a few days ago through amazon, but through one of their booksellers since otherwise it's very expensive. Or you could go the interlibrary loan route.

Just to let you know.

abebech said...

Thanks, Judy. I do need to start looking for it less expensively. Loan won't work for me as I can't read without a pen in my hand (a sin I should not confess to a librarian, I'm sure).

Anonymous said...

It looks like the least expensive with the Amazon used booksellers is $24.95. I looked a bit online elsewhere and didn't have any luck.