Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-LedgerView from above the New Jersey Senate Chamber at the Statehouse in Trenton in this 2010 file photo. TRENTON — Adopted adults would be able to obtain a copy of their original birth certificate disclosing their parents' names under a bill that won final legislative passage today, 31 years after advocates began waging the battle as a matter...
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View from above the New Jersey Senate Chamber at the Statehouse in Trenton in this 2010 file photo.
TRENTON — Adopted adults would be able to obtain a copy of their original birth certificate disclosing their parents' names under a bill that won final legislative passage today, 31 years after advocates began waging the battle as a matter of civil rights.
With little comment, the Assembly passed the bill by a 44 to 26 vote with two abstentions. The Senate passed the same bill last year.
"This means I'll be able to find out who my mother is,'' said Ellen Hill of Doylestown, Pa., as she wiped away tears. Hill said she was adopted in Newark through a private agency, and hasn't been able to find any information after searching for 20 years. "It's been really painful.''
The legal fight is far from over, however. Gov. Chris Christie needs to sign the bill to make it law. The bill's advocates admit they don't know what he'll do.
The governor has an adopted sister - a fact the bill's advocates hope will make him more sympathetic to adopted people's concerns. But Christie is a practicing Catholic who does not support abortion rights. The legislation's biggest foes have been New Jersey Right to Life and New Jersey Catholic Conference, a group representing the bishops. Representatives from both groups have testified about their fears that faced with the prospect of losing their anonymity, pregnant women would choose abortion over adoption.
The bill's uncertainty did not stop the bill's loudest supporters from reveling in the victory today, as about 30 people hugged, laughed and wept following the vote. During the 31-year span, open record advocates saw the death penalty repealed and creation of civil unions for gay couples, while their quest lingered for decades.
"New Jersey grass roots advocates have fought for the last 31 years to restore this basic human right - the right for adoptees to have a copy of their original birth certificate,'' said Judy Foster of Randolph, a birth mother who has since reunited with her adult daughter.
The Adoptees' Birthright Bill, (A1406/S799) would allow adopted adults 18 years of age and older to receive a copy of their original birth certificate upon request. Birth parents who in past years relinquished a child for adoption would have one year after the bill's enactment to send a notarized letter requesting the state registrar to redact their name and address from the copy of the original birth certificate.
Going forward, birth parents surrendering a baby would have an opportunity to submit a document stating their preference not to be contacted, but they would not be granted a promise of anonymity. It would be up to the adopted person to decide whether to honor a birth parent's request not to be contacted, according to the bill.
Adopted children could request their birth records too if their adoptive parent applies on their behalf.
If Christie signs the bill, New Jersey would join six other states that allow adopted people access to their birth records. They are New Hampshire, Maine, Oregon, Alabama, Kansas and Alaska.