April 25, 1997

An Open Letter to Texas Representatives:

TxCARE is a grass-roots organization of several hundred adult adoptees, adoptive families, birth families, and adoption professionals, and we believe that persons touched in any way by adoption should have a voice in making adoption laws.

HB 1091 Authored by Representatives Goodman, Naishtat and Allen is an adoption bill scheduled for the general state calendar this week. Although we support several sections of the bill--such as banning "baby wanted" ads and requiring home studies prior to placement of all children--we OPPOSE the SECTION of HB 1091 which deals with confidential intermediaries in an adoption reunion.

Here's why:

One--A confidential intermediary system continues to diminish the individual rights of an adult adoptee and gives a third party control over when and how persons reuniting after an adoption separation can communicate with one another. Also, the intermediary system is expensive to participants, usually costing several hundred dollars.

Rep. Goodman plans to offer a floor amendment to delete the intermediary section.

PLEASE SUPPORT HIM ON THIS AMENDMENT.

Instead of the confidential intermediary system, TxCARE strongly supports HB 1835 authored by Representatives Goolsby, Rhodes, and Naishtat.

This bill which would give adult adoptees their birth certificates at age 21 and HB 1835 also offers the only appropriate solution to an adoptee's efforts to obtain medical and other biological data. This bill would NOT give adoptees access to adoption agency records.

Giving adoptees access to their birth certificates would not decrease adoptions or increase abortions in Texas; in fact, experience in other states indicates just the opposite. On the other hand, this would restore a basic civil right to over half a million individuals in Texas.

A companion bill to HB 1835, SB 1445 authored by Sen. Chris Harris, is awaiting action in the Senate. We support this bill as well.

TxCARE appreciates the opportunity to put our opinions on adoption legislation before you and applauds the efforts of lawmakers like those named above who are working to assure that adoption laws in Texas are among the best in the nation.

Most Sincerely,

Alicia Lanier
State Coordinator
TxCARE/Texas Coalition for Adoption Reform & Education