[sonata]

I haven't been on the forum in a while...hello again!

Every now and then the whole thing hits me all over again - being adopted and being denied basic rights to know my medical history and heritage. There is a whole generation of adoptees - especially those of "Boomer" age who were relinquished during the 50's and 60's - who are in middle age now. We are at the age when hereditary health problems may begin to manifest. Our biological parents who were most likely in their teens or twenties (and healthy!) when we were born have racked up decades of medical history....history we are not privvy to. This can have an adverse effect not only on ourselves but our children as well!

We are told that a "medical history" was taken at the time of our birth and that we are entitled to that "non-identifying" information. What a joke! So some 18 year old girl who relinquished a child for adoption in 1965 has no history or breast cancer, colon cancer, heart disease, diabetes, etc. NO KIDDING! What about now? She is almost 60 years old now and has a completely different "history", one which could have an impact on the future health of her offspring. So how does the adoptee inquiring about current health history receive this information? In the case of the common "closed" adoptions from that era, he or she DOESN'T have any right to an updated history and is simply left to suffer the consequences of not having this vital information. New medical evidence - not known 40-50 years ago - proves that family history is critical in identifying an individual's risk to certain diseases and that preventative measures can help to offset that risk if it is known. ADOPTEES ARE DENIED THAT RIGHT!

I don't doubt that there are adoptees who have actually suffered harm because of this lack of information. What I would like to see is a Class Action Suit by adoptees who have unnecessarily suffered the effects of a debilitating disease because of lack of a medical history.

Does anyone know if this has even been done? (Even on an individual basis?) I think that would go a long way toward raising awareness of this issue. Maybe some of us just want to know where we came from - and that alone is legitimate reason enough to have our records unsealed and given to us. But the health factor is a very compelling reason that ANYONE can understand even if they can't understand the emotional need that many adoptees have to uncover their truth of their origin.