Evening star., 1939-07-09
Adoption Act
Excellent
In Itself
Legislation Needed
On Transfer of
Rights

opIHIOll tLdt, SlOulQ mother IN
years to come desire to do so. she
could claim that she acted under
duress and possibly convince the
court that her consent was invalid.
Indeed, the law makes exceptions
to this matter of consent-none at
all is required when the mother
cannot be identified or located. when
parent has already been deprived
of custody by court order (as in
divorce cases. and when the child
has been abandoned and not sup
ported by parent for at least one
year. or for extraordinary cause"
For example, consent was waived
IN the case of a girl who came TO
Washington to have her BABY. lived
in a small boarding house and -
ceived no mail and no calls. She
told both her landlady and her
doctor that her name was May
White and that she came from a
small town in Idaho. When he
hospital asked for direction in case
of casualty she asked that tnev noti-
fy her father. John White in the
same Idaho town. After tie birth
the girl disappeared. turning her
baby over to baby agent. When
the child came up for adoption no
John or Mary White had ever been
heard of in that Idaho town. There
were no other clues to track down.
Interesting Case.
There was an interesting case be-
fore the court recently in which the
mother of the adoptee bitterly con-
tested the childs adoption The
petitioners had proceeded without
obtaining her consent on the ground
that the mother had abandoned the
child eight years before and had
since that time failed to contribute
at all to the child's support. The
mothers cross petition sets forth
that her leaving the child did not
constitute abandonment and that
she had not contributed to the
child's support because she knew
that the child was not in need
There has been little to test the
abandonment clause. but if this
mother wins her fight still in the
courts, to- retain custody of the
child. Mrs. Trevvett SAYS, it is not
easy to imagine situation in which
it could be proved that child had
been abandoned.
In recognition of the growing in
iy, of
child many States in recent years
have passed legislation upon the
subject and many have repeatedly
amended their laws. The Districts
first adoption law was passed in
1895 and. except for a revision in
1901, it remained unchanged until
the fall of 1887, even though it was
filled with abuses. The laws were
inadequate to prevent the adoption
of children by persons of other
races, of young girls and boys by
single men and undesirable persons.
Neither did these laws establish
or protect the identity of the chill
dren passing through the courts.
Reform Achieved.
One of the needed reforms ac-
complished by the Adoption Act
is section providing for a new
birth certificate, bearing only the
names of the adopting parents, to be
granted in the case of adoption
and the scaling of the original one.
which may carry only the name
of the mother of the infant and
brands the child as illegitimate.
Another section relieves natural
parents of all rights and duties
toward the adoptee. including in
heritance. Numerous young people
have been Inundated for the sins
of their parents in the past by
being required to present birth Ger
tiflcates which reveal their illegit-
imacy when entering public schools
Not always is the teacher above
confiding the fact to associates.
Today when an adoption is COM
pleted in court copy of the decree
is mailed to the Health Department,
which makes out new birth Ger
tiflcate. All papers having to do
with the adoption are gathered to-
gether and sealed by the clerk of
the court in the presence of the
agent of the Board of Public We'll
fare. Never again can it be opened
except by court order.
Society has made Johnny Brown"
out of Johnny, Doe"