It’s now 2023. A new year has begun, and for thousands of Michigan-born adoptees like me, none are any closer to having their legal rights restored to their original birth certificates.
So this year, I am going to put the spotlight on this state’s leaders, especially Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who are failing to right a massive wrong that denies basic human rights to people only because of the status at birth.
Go here to read my full article, analyzing failures in Michigan’s agency responsible for overseeing vital records and leadership by all branches of state government.
My article also analyzes the sometimes complex and even messy world associated with issue advocacy, including the mostly ignored world of adoptee rights.
Here’s my list of tips (also found in my longer article) for adoptee rights advocates in Michigan, or their allies (all allies are welcome, too):
- If you live in Michigan, make noise. Be that annoying tsetse fly for Gov. Whitmer and state lawmakers who cannot be ignored until your bites are so painful that you are acknowledged. To that end, here are friendly resource on tips for advocates with limited resources, from Saul Alinsky.
- You can develop relations with lawmakers and request personal meetings if you are going to Lansing. You can also share information with your local media, if they still exist, in the form of letters to the editor or on social media calling attention to denied legal rights. Social media may be helpful if you are good in that space. With Twitter turning into a large mess, I am not sure what platform may be the most effective now.
- If you are more of a “power broker” kind of person, who knows “the game” (meaning you have “connections to those in power), a more effective way to make change is to engage Gov. Whitmer.
- If you are not able to engage Gov. Whitmer, the most powerful power broker of all is a governor’s chief of staff. Gov. Whitmer’s Chief of Staff is, as of Jan. 2, 2022, JoAnne Huls. Because chiefs of staff try to be invisible to public and only to speak with deal-makers, the other best possible person for real access is a governor’s communications director, who manages a governor’s “brand.” Bobby Leddy is Gov. Whitmer’s communications director, and he is active on Twitter and can be “pinged” and equally “annoyed” with persistent, fact-based activity about adoptee rights concerns.
- In addition to copying Leddy on Twitter, consider using this account to get Gov. Whitmer’s staff’s attention: Press@Michigan.gov. They will care if you are a state voter, in the way they won’t care about someone like me, who is not a voter in the state.
- The best way to promote reform is by telling stories of the injustices you have encountered. Make it personal and say what happened and what it means to you. Name names and make it personal. It has to be personal. This was very helpful with stunning legal reform in Vermont being implemented in 2023.
- My personal preference is to advocate for lasting legal reform the way New York state adoptee rights advocates and Vermont adoptee rights advocates have won legislative reforms. Those are two great success stories. Use the links to learn more about their lasting victories.
Remember, lasting change, good or bad, is always won by a group of committed warriors, in the truest sense. True warriors are those go into any “conflict” with the outcomes already decided in their minds with a clear strategy for victory.
Each of us can make a difference. Choose your battles and always remain focused on the larger goal. For me that remains permanent and lasting legal reform to end the injustice of outdated, harmful adoption laws that hide a person’s truth and deny them their original records.
And for adoptees who are working for change, I appreciate everything you can do this year if you have the time, energy, and good will. Good luck and make 2023 a great one!
I am also a Michigan donut hole adoptee who lives in Michigan and is interested in advocating for reform. Your research is incredible- thank you, and with a Democratic majority in all branches perhaps some change can occur on adoptee rights. Michigan adoptees need to organize and make that change happen. Are you currently working with any adoptee groups in Michigan? Thank you again for all of your effort on behalf of all of us.
Thanks, Valerie. If there is an adoptee rights group in Michigan advocating for reform to restore rights to all adult adoptees to have access to their vital records, I am not aware of such a group. And no one has ever contacted me who may be in any group. I have heard from individual adoptees for the years, many who want meaningful and durable reform in law and who want to abolish to harmful Central Adoption Registry, which is a meaningless office that exists to deny rights only. So there is public support and a documented history of denied rights. FYI, the Democratic Party, from what I see at most levels of government, is not a strong advocate of adoptee rights reform. Certainly the Whitmer administration does nothing and has done nothing for four years now, and I don’t see any signal they care about our generation of adoptees that is now dying, with our rights denied. I have seen efforts in other states with some Ds, and some Rs can be involved too. What we do see nationally is a bipartisan effort mostly to maintain the adoption system. That is one thing the two main parties apparently agree on, at least in Congress (the adoption caucus). You can contact me with my contact page if you want to stay engaged if I learn more. Thanks.
Tell me how to be an advocate. I want to make a change!
Hi Nancy, thanks for writing. I hope you saw some of the my suggested ways to advocate in the long version of this post, and also the bullets I provided too. Without knowing anything about your story or your issues, I really can’t provide an answer. If you want to promote legislative change, I offered concrete ideas and the types of legislation to advocate for. Thanks. https://www.howluckyuare.com/picking-a-target-in-2023-to-achieve-lasting-reform-for-michigan-born-adoptees/
I searched for 21 years as an adult, I started after reading Florence Fisher’s book “The Search for Anna Fisher” and then joining ALMA. Of course now you can do your DNA and sign up to share it on GED match or 23 and me, etc. They’ll show you who you are related to. If I hadn’t found my birth family already, using a private investigator from an underground internet chat room in 1989, I would have eventually found her on the internet because my first cousin was totally into sharing her genes online, and I matched with her immediately. And if you are worried about inheritable things, do 23andme and check out your genetic diseases or propensities. Since my parents were married when I was surrendered, my birth family was very accepting. I had full siblings. But trust me, while you need to know your family of origin, the other people in your origin family, like siblings and adult cousins, etc, are living their own lives. Don’t expect them to be more than just vaguely interested-especially if you are a half brother or sister. Just be prepared if that happens. You are not necessarily a priority to them because you are a stranger no matter how old you get, and they have their own problems and families. It is weird in some ways, but totally logical in others. And reminder- even into the 1990s, mothers were encouraged to use a fictitious name. If I’d had my mother’s real name, I would have found her in 10 minutes. But it was not her real name. So the info you get may be a lie. Freeing up records with false information on them really won’t help you if that is the case. Good luck to all of you searching. It may or may not be the answer you were hoping for, but at least you have the truth.