Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Adoption: Access to birth certificates

Articles 1 - 7 of 7

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Alison Larkin: The English American Speaks Her Truth About Adoption, Mirah Riben Jan 2012

Alison Larkin: The English American Speaks Her Truth About Adoption, Mirah Riben

Mirah Riben

Mirah Riben interviews Alison Larkin, adoptee, author and one-woman show writer-performer, about her adoption, international adoption practices, and her reunion and relationship with her mother and father.


Adopted Citizens Denied Access To Their Birth Certificates: A Little-Known Civil Rights Issue, Mirah Riben May 2011

Adopted Citizens Denied Access To Their Birth Certificates: A Little-Known Civil Rights Issue, Mirah Riben

Mirah Riben

American citizens who were adopted are denied the right to access their own original birth certificates (OBC) in most U.S. states, a right available to all other non-adopted citizens. State regulations denying unrestricted access to one’s own birth certificate that apply only to a segment of the population create a lifelong inequality and violate the civil rights of adopted persons. Outdated state regulations that maintain this discrimination need to be repealed.


Repeal The Seal!, Mirah Riben Jan 2011

Repeal The Seal!, Mirah Riben

Mirah Riben

Instead of introducing legislation to give back rights to adoptees taken from them during the 1940s, the author suggests repealing the state regulations that originally sealed the birth certificates of adoptees.


American Adoption Access Laws Are And Policies Are Upside Down And Backwards, Mirah Riben Jan 2010

American Adoption Access Laws Are And Policies Are Upside Down And Backwards, Mirah Riben

Mirah Riben

Adoption seals original birth certificates not just from the public, but from the parties named therein. The author argues against the claim that there is any need to continue these antiquated laws to "prtoect" mothers' anonymity.


"Open Records" Versus "Equal Access": Reframing Our Issues, Mirah Riben Apr 2009

"Open Records" Versus "Equal Access": Reframing Our Issues, Mirah Riben

Mirah Riben

Adoption reform activists have for decades used the phrase "open records". Riben argues that "Equal Access" rightly reframes the argument as one of equality rather than a special request.


The Cabbage Patch Phenomenon, Mirah Riben Feb 1984

The Cabbage Patch Phenomenon, Mirah Riben

Mirah Riben

No abstract provided.


The Sealed Records Controversy, Mirah Riben May 1983

The Sealed Records Controversy, Mirah Riben

Mirah Riben

No abstract provided.