The largest adoption agency in Texas, Adoption Services Associates (ASA), recently filed for bankruptcy and informed all their adoptive clients of the close, but did not inform their birthparent clients. ASA’s successor adoption agency, Abrazo Adoption Services, has made attempts to reconnect birthparents and their respective adoptive families using ASA’s database, but its proving to be a difficult task for their small, three-person operation. In addition, Texas does not allow adult adoptees the same access to original Birth Certificates that non-adopted persons have.
The Declassified Adoptee blog recently wrote a piece about the bankruptcy incident and the serious issues it raises, including rights for both adoptees and birth families. Among them are rights and protections the Independent Adoption Center has long advocated for. They include:
- Legally enforceable Open Adoption Agreements – IAC’s own Kathleen Silber has written, “Open adoption agreements don’t hinder the relationship in any way; they simply outline what the parties themselves have agreed to.” These agreements preserve the rights of all members of the adoption triad.
- Adoptee access to original Birth Certificates – Every person should have access to their original birth certificate and family records. This is a matter of civil rights and human dignity, to say nothing of the medical and legal aspects. Legislators in Texas should make immediate moves to end this discrimination against adoptees.
What do you think of the ASA situation in Texas, and what would you like to tell legislators about adoptee and birthparent rights? Let us know in the comments.
