It was a packed house Tuesday in Hearing Room One at the state capitol in Jefferson City.
Birth mothers and adoptees with the Missouri adoptee rights movement testified in support of HR 1599 - the Missouri Adoptee Rights Bill. The measure would allow adult adoptees to have access to their original birth certificate, which identifies their birth parents.
Opponents of the measure believe it wrongfully reverses the promise of privacy made to birth mothers when they surrendered their children for adoption
An attorney representing Catholic Charities said the bill should not undo the promise of privacy given to birth mothers.
Right now, adoptees in Missouri must have permission from their birth parents to get access to their birth certificate. Some adoptees hire court-approved searchers, who try to find the birth parents and get permission for the birth certificate to be unsealed.
Laura Long has been a court-approved searcher for 18 years in the Kansas City area. Long said that 40 to 50 percent of the birth mothers she contacts do not want the children they surrendered to adoption to know who they are.
Phillips said adult adoptees are being treated like second-class citizens and they deserve to have the same access rights as any other adult in Missouri. He said some frustrated adoptees may sue the state for discrimination.
The Children and Families Committee will weigh the testimony and vote on HR 1599 in a few weeks.
EDITOR'S NOTE: In the video above, Cynthia Newsome said that 50,000 Missouri adoptees would benefit from the legislation. The number is actually 500,000 Missouri adoptees. We apologize for the error.
------
Cynthia Newsome can be reached at cynthia.newsome@kshb.com.
