Bassmama
11-20-04, 08:46AM
They FINALLY caught someone doing something with foreign children that used to be a regular & accepted practice here in the US. (I'm not referring to Michael Jacksonism!) Please read this- http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041120/NEWS01/411200326
As an adoptee, I did a search for my birthmother about 4 years ago. I belonged to an internet site along with birth parents, adoptive parents, fellow adoptees, & families of adoptees- both birth families & adoptive families. The main aim for almost every one of us was to find out the truth of our lives- who we were born to, how we came about, what our TRUE ancestry was (as much as we could, even if it was just one sided- the birthmother). Every single ONE of us that got information from agencies & lawyers that handled our adoptions uncovered multiple lies.
I was lucky- I was adopted through an agency run by New York State & was born in NY City. See, if a baby was born in one of the 5 boroughs that make up the city, their birth record was searchable in an index at the NYC library in Manhattan. Anywhere else in NY, the birth records are stored in Albany & the (asshole troll Richard Cranium) man that heads the dept. of records does not allow anyone without proof that they are professional geneaological (sp?) searchers to access them. Anyway, because my adoption was state-run, the process of my adoption was TIGHTLY regulated. All the legalities were followed to the letter. The lies in my case came in when I asked for my 'non- identifying information' to be sent to me: this tells a loose physical description of my bmom, the birth family, & anything else that the worker who writes it feels like putting into it. There were 2 outright lies & a few inaccuricies in it, but I found enough info to find her & 2 older 1/2 brothers & a younger 1/2 sister. My bmom & 1/2 sister are pretty close & finding out about myself changed me quite a bit- for the good.
Other adoptees- depending on the agency/lawyer that handled their adoption, have been told outright cruel lies, found that their birthdates were recorded incorrectly purposely, found out that the histories told to their aparents were total fabrications, and that (in MANY instances) their birthmothers were tricked into or forced into giving them up- including having agencies & hospital personnel outright kidnap them. Birthmothers came forward time & again with story after story along these lines- all verified. One of the BIGGEST 'official' agencies whose practice was to do all of the aforementioned was the Catholic Charities. It's UNREAL what they did. And some are still doing on a smaller scale.
But I digress-
Then you have the baby stealing rings that were prevalent years ago. Members of these rings would ride around on trains, walk the streets, & go into public places looking for babies that were unattended for even a second, then would snatch the babies & give them to 'waiting parents'- all for a hefty fee, of course. Young children were also snatched & sold the same way- and unscrupulous orphanage owners did the same thing. There are still unscrupulous people out there doing this, but it's MUCH harder, since society has finally gotten itself together with tougher laws & punishments for kidnapping. Every few years, something along these lines shows up in the paper- usually dealing with overseas babies. Parents have a choice between keeping their baby/child & haveing the family members starve, or giving them up & getting a small (to us) amount of money, while the 'go betweens' make money hand over fist.
To find out more, type "adoption" into your favorite search engine & go through some of the sites that come up, or check this site out- http://www.cyndislist.com/adoption.htm
In New York State, adoptees' files are stored in a place known by the agency that handled our adoption, or the lawyer that handled it. We are NOT allowed to access it, EVER. That means that the records of our lives & any other info is secret from us- but being paid for by our tax dollars. IOW- they have a 3+ inch thick file on me (that I had ILLEGALLY accessed- that's how I finally found my bfamily) that has my original birth certificate, writeups about my life & existance, and even baby pictures in it. I was adopted @ age 3 1/2 & have NO pictures of me before that age. I didn't know until I was 50 that I am almost pure irish, with some swedish- at least on my bmom's side.
BTW- I also have a brother 2 years older than myself that was given up for adoption, but was done privately. My bmom thinks that both he & my next oldest brother (her second child) were fathered by the same man. I'm not quite sure how to go about finding him- I DO have his DOB & birth certificate number & general vicinity of adoption, but not much else.
Anyway, just wanted to tell people about this aspect of what made me who I am now.... Thanks for listening, if you got this far.
SUE
As an adoptee, I did a search for my birthmother about 4 years ago. I belonged to an internet site along with birth parents, adoptive parents, fellow adoptees, & families of adoptees- both birth families & adoptive families. The main aim for almost every one of us was to find out the truth of our lives- who we were born to, how we came about, what our TRUE ancestry was (as much as we could, even if it was just one sided- the birthmother). Every single ONE of us that got information from agencies & lawyers that handled our adoptions uncovered multiple lies.
I was lucky- I was adopted through an agency run by New York State & was born in NY City. See, if a baby was born in one of the 5 boroughs that make up the city, their birth record was searchable in an index at the NYC library in Manhattan. Anywhere else in NY, the birth records are stored in Albany & the (asshole troll Richard Cranium) man that heads the dept. of records does not allow anyone without proof that they are professional geneaological (sp?) searchers to access them. Anyway, because my adoption was state-run, the process of my adoption was TIGHTLY regulated. All the legalities were followed to the letter. The lies in my case came in when I asked for my 'non- identifying information' to be sent to me: this tells a loose physical description of my bmom, the birth family, & anything else that the worker who writes it feels like putting into it. There were 2 outright lies & a few inaccuricies in it, but I found enough info to find her & 2 older 1/2 brothers & a younger 1/2 sister. My bmom & 1/2 sister are pretty close & finding out about myself changed me quite a bit- for the good.
Other adoptees- depending on the agency/lawyer that handled their adoption, have been told outright cruel lies, found that their birthdates were recorded incorrectly purposely, found out that the histories told to their aparents were total fabrications, and that (in MANY instances) their birthmothers were tricked into or forced into giving them up- including having agencies & hospital personnel outright kidnap them. Birthmothers came forward time & again with story after story along these lines- all verified. One of the BIGGEST 'official' agencies whose practice was to do all of the aforementioned was the Catholic Charities. It's UNREAL what they did. And some are still doing on a smaller scale.
But I digress-
Then you have the baby stealing rings that were prevalent years ago. Members of these rings would ride around on trains, walk the streets, & go into public places looking for babies that were unattended for even a second, then would snatch the babies & give them to 'waiting parents'- all for a hefty fee, of course. Young children were also snatched & sold the same way- and unscrupulous orphanage owners did the same thing. There are still unscrupulous people out there doing this, but it's MUCH harder, since society has finally gotten itself together with tougher laws & punishments for kidnapping. Every few years, something along these lines shows up in the paper- usually dealing with overseas babies. Parents have a choice between keeping their baby/child & haveing the family members starve, or giving them up & getting a small (to us) amount of money, while the 'go betweens' make money hand over fist.
To find out more, type "adoption" into your favorite search engine & go through some of the sites that come up, or check this site out- http://www.cyndislist.com/adoption.htm
In New York State, adoptees' files are stored in a place known by the agency that handled our adoption, or the lawyer that handled it. We are NOT allowed to access it, EVER. That means that the records of our lives & any other info is secret from us- but being paid for by our tax dollars. IOW- they have a 3+ inch thick file on me (that I had ILLEGALLY accessed- that's how I finally found my bfamily) that has my original birth certificate, writeups about my life & existance, and even baby pictures in it. I was adopted @ age 3 1/2 & have NO pictures of me before that age. I didn't know until I was 50 that I am almost pure irish, with some swedish- at least on my bmom's side.
BTW- I also have a brother 2 years older than myself that was given up for adoption, but was done privately. My bmom thinks that both he & my next oldest brother (her second child) were fathered by the same man. I'm not quite sure how to go about finding him- I DO have his DOB & birth certificate number & general vicinity of adoption, but not much else.
Anyway, just wanted to tell people about this aspect of what made me who I am now.... Thanks for listening, if you got this far.
SUE