WHEREAS: this amended birth certificate is, in fact, a legal fiction and issued arbitrarily regardless of an adoptee's age at adoption, prior knowledge of the biological family, or any other circumstance; and,
WHEREAS: sealed adoption records prevent an ADULT adoptee from knowing his or her medical, cultural and religious history and, furthermore, result from a contract made between other parties but is legally binding on any adoptee for a lifetime; and,
WHEREAS: every non-adopted person has the right to personal vital statistics, but any ADULT adoptee must prove "good cause" in a court of law to receive the truth about his or her birth; and,
WHEREAS: denying one group of people knowledge of their roots and birth histories was first legalized in this country with the practice of slavery, but was outlawed in the 19th Century; and,
WHEREAS: it is estimated that over half a million Texas ADULT adoptees have had their rights so abridged over the last 60 years;
THEREFORE: Be it resolved that all ADULT adoptees shall have access to their original Texas birth certificates and court records.
Drafted & Approved By
TxCARE/Texas Coalition for Adoption Resources & Education
304 Harwood Rd.
Bedford, TX 76021
TxCARE@TxCARE.org
January, 1998
RESOLUTION COMMITTEE
Bill Betzen
Mary Cullinane
Alicia Lanier
Paula Nielson
Cyndi Smith
Diane Wanger