Adoptees are entitled to their original birth certificates as a human right. Mine was withheld from me for decades, and likely illegally, by the State of Michigan, even after I found my biological kin. (I have intentionally hidden information in this copy.)
Recommended Resources on U.S. Adoption History, Adoptee Rights, the Role of Kinship in Family Relations, and Research on Adoption as a Public Health and Health Issue
Thoughtful historic studies of American adoption and the social engineering experience surrounding adoption in the three decades after World War II can be found in most public libraries and on Amazon.com. My newly released memoir focuses on this era. I also provide links for groups that provide accurate information about legal issues surrounding adoption laws, discrimination against adoptees and illegitimately born Americans, and articles on adoptee rights as human rights. These are the best place to get the big picture.
My resources also include respected sources that examine adoption as a public health issue and sociological phenomenon, rooted in historic human prejudice against those who are deemed unwanted and illegitimate. One cannot understand American adoption without first grasping the significance of how illegitimacy functions in human society and how bias and prejudice have shaped and still impact adoption policy and law in the United States.
Follow the links to each page, where I have provided links with summary information.
- Understanding Adoptee Rights Issues
- Books and Articles on the History of Modern Adoption and Adoption Laws that Deny U.S. Adoptees Access to their Original Birth Records
- Key Research on Public Health and Adoption, Evolutionary Psychology, and Inclusive Fitness Theory (Hamilton’s Rule) in Kin Selection
- The Health Impacts of Adoption on Adoptees
- Resources on Illegitimacy and Discrimination Against Illegitimate Children and Bastards
- Adoptee Rights Advocacy Groups: A Select List
You can also read my many essays on adoption and adoptees, which examine the key issues and themes detailed in my memoir.