A bill that would give adult adoptees born between 1941 and 1993 access to their original birth certificates passed 72-24 in the Indiana House on Monday afternoon.
Senate Bill 91 previously passed by a vote of 43-5 in the Senate, and the bill is headed to Gov. Mike Pence for his signature. An estimated 350,000 adoptees would benefit from the bill. Currently, only adults adopted before 1941 and after 1993 can access their birth records as long as their birth mother didn’t sign a non-release form.
Pam Kroskie, founder of Hoosiers for Equal Access to Records or HEAR, was elated by the bill’s passage.
“I don’t even know if there are even words to describe how I’m feeling right now, but I’m very excited,” Kroskie said. “I can’t even believe it’s finally happening. My husband said, ‘What are you going to do now that you’ve accomplished what you dedicated the last 25 years of your life to?'”
Kroskie has advocated opening up the records for several years as well as helping adult adoptees discover their family histories or petition courts for records.
Kroskie said she met with Pence’s staff late last year and she’s hopeful the bill will get his signature.
The bill’s purpose was illustrated by cases like that of Hobart resident Phyllis Moore. She’s been able to access court records about her adoption and knows her birth mother’s name. But she can’t access her original birth certificate because she’s been told that her father’s name is on it; Unless she can prove he’s deceased, officials won’t release it.
“Since my mother refused to name the birth father, I don’t have his name. It’s a Catch-22 and they won’t release it because I can’t prove he’s deceased,” Moore said in January.
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Kroskie said advocating for the bill included clearing up misconceptions.
“There’s the negativity that you hear about strangers knocking at your door, but adoptees don’t want rejection any more than anyone else,” Kroskie said. “But we stressed it’s not reunions but information and hopefully updating their medical histories.”
She said both adoptees and birth mothers were very supportive of the bill.
Adoptees won’t gain access to the records until 2018, after the Indiana State Department of Health sends out updated contact forms to biological parents. The contact preference forms will give birth parents options such as, “Yes, we want a reunion,” “We might need a confidential intermediary,” or “No,” Kroskie said.