My sister has not been as fortunate. State officials informed her that a lawyer has taken her adoption papers from the Gold Beach courthouse and hidden them. We turned to the Boys and Girls Aid Society, which told us no judge can order the release of these vital documents. Opposition to opening adoptees' birth records is probably based on the theory that women who placed their children up for adoption would be embarrassed if their adult children found out who they are. But little is said of how silence damages adopted children.
Most people take for granted the feeling of knowing where and who their parents are.
After 45 years, I first saw my birth mother on her 68th birthday. With my wife and mother, I sang happy birthday to her. This gives me a completeness unlike anything I have previously experienced. I can hear her voice. I can call her.