[thesearchguru]

WELCOME TO THE SEARCH AND REUNION MESSAGE BOARD!

If you know what adoption agency handled your adoption contact them for information from your adoption file that will help you with your search. If you were a private adoption or do not know the name of the adoption agency contact this office:

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services
406 East Monroe Street, Station 25
Springfield, IL 62701-1498
(217) 524-2422
Fax: (217) 524-3966

INFORMATION THAT IS AVAILABLE IN YOUR STATE:

“Non-identifying information” is information from your adoption file about your birth parents. It generally includes ages, marital status, states of birth, education, religion, occupations and a physical description of your birth parents. It should also include the reason for relinquishment and may include information about your aunts, uncles and grandparents. It is called “non-identifying information” because it does not include any identifying information such as names, addresses or social security numbers. If you already have your non-identifying information but it is information given to your adoptive parents at the time of your adoption you should re-apply for the non-identifying information. Agencies are giving out much more comprehensive information now that they did in the past.

“Illinois Adoption Registry and Medical Information Exchange”

Illinois Adoption Registry
Illinois Department of Public Health
535 West Jefferson Street
Springfield, IL 62761
(217) 557-5159
Toll Free: (877) 323-5299


“Confidential Intermediary Program” is a service sponsored by the state of adoption that will search for and locate the birth family member that you are looking for. This program will make the first contact but if the person contacted declines contact the agency will not give you the information to contact them yourself. There is usually a fee associated with this service through the governing agency of adoptions for your state of adoption. To request this service contact this office:

Midwest Adoption Center
3158 Des Plaines River Road, Suite 120
Des Plaines, IL 60018
(847) 298-9096
Fax: (847) 298-9097


Colleen Buckner
The Search Guru


http://www.adoptionforums.com
http://www.adoptionchat.com
http://www.adoptionlists.com
http://www.adoption.com
http://www.adopting.org
http://www.adoptionregistry.com

[BrandyHagz]

TSG, I am gonna copy paste an email I got today regarding Illinois Adoption Law.

Adoption Law Changes In Illinois

Sent: Wednesday, August 06, 2003 10:46 PM
Subject: Illinois

Tuesday, August 05, 2003, 4:53 p.m.
(Chicago-AP) -- Adoptees and their birth parents may
soon have an easier time reuniting thanks to a new
state law.

But some adoptive parents are concerned about the
new law and other proposals that increase the
availability of adoption records. The change was
championed by Democratic State Representative Sara
Feigenholtz who was adopted as a child.

It takes effect January 1st. Feigenholtz's latest
victory in changing state adoption laws means
adoptees can petition the courts for information
about their birth mothers for any reason, not just
medical ones.

The courts appoint a "confidential intermediary"
when an adoptee files a search for a birth mother.
The new law essentially lets intermediaries do more
extensive research.

A birth mother needs to OK the release of most
information.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights
Reserved.)


From Melisha Mitchell, IL State Representative of
American Adoption Congress

Although the Chicago Tribune article might give some
the impression that the new law only involves an
expansion of the confidential intermediary program
(i.e. removal of the need to show medical cause for
adult adoptees and adoptive parents of minors,
access to intermediary services upon request for
birth parents, and upon minimal show of cause for
surviving children of a deceased adoptee, and
surviving non-adopted children and siblings
of deceased birth parents) it actually has a few
other, equally interesting provisions that were
overlooked in the Tribune article:

1. It authorizes the Illinois Adoption Registry to
serve as a resource in providing any
statutorily-mandated non-identifying information
that is included on the original birth certificate
(i.e. the age, race. profession, marital status and
number of children previously born to the birth
mother) to adult adoptees upon request. Although The
Illinois Adoption Act has provided for the release
of background information to all adult adoptees upon
request
since the early 80s, in cases where the agency no
longer exists, refuses to comply with the
law (a la Easter House in Chicago), claims all their
files burned in a fire or were washed away by a
flood, or the adoption was finalized by a private
attorney with no agency affiliation, adoptees are
currently unable to access even basic background
information on their biological parents.

2. It will allow all Illinois adoptees to obtain
their "actual date and place of birth" (!!! that's
exactly how the statute reads) through the state
registry upon request. This provision nullifies a
law passed in the mid-70s which allows adoptive
parents to change the place of birth listed on their
adopted child's amended birth certificate to the
adoptive parent's place of
residence...and will also allow all adoptees to
confirm that they were, in fact, born on
the day shown on their amended birth certificate (I
have only encountered a handful of changed birth
dates over the past six years, but the phenomenon
does exist...).

3. It will allow all birth parents to obtain the
date and place of their child's birth through the
state registry upon request. This provision, the
one that is probably closest to my heart, will
enable birth mothers who were sequestered during
their pregnancy (to make sure they never knew their
child's date of birth), and birth mothers like me
who were injected with
experimental memory loss drugs immediately after
birth (to make sure they would not remember their
child's date of birth) as well as those who suffered
from post-traumatic
stress syndrome and forgot all details pertaining to
their child's birth.. to regain their memories (as
well as sign up with state and national registries,
and apply for other post-adoption services). In the
research I've conducted over the past six years, not
remembering the child's date of birth (and
embarrassment over their inability to recall such an
important detail)
was the number one reason cited by birth mothers who
had never searched. In addition, the
release of the date and place of birth to birth
parents upon request will allow many
birth fathers who never knew their child's date of
birth to sign up with registries and/or initiate a
search for their birth sons and daughters. Birth
parents requesting their child's date of birth will
be required to complete a medical questionnaire with
the Registry to qualify for this service.

4. In cases where an adoptee was born in Illinois
but adopted in another state or country, the new law
will allow the state Registry to release the place
of adoption (and, if available, the name of the
agency or attorney that facilitated the adoption) to
an adult adoptee or a birth parent upon request.
Inter-state adoptees and their birth parents usual
face insurmountable
odds when seeking to reconnect with their biological
family members; they often (quite
logically) seek out post-adoption services in the
state where the birth took place, unaware that the
information necessary to resolve their search is
stored away in another state or country. $525 (the
current fee for the state intermediary program) is a
lot of money to spend to find out your barking up
the wrong tree...and that no information on the
adoption is accessible in the state where the birth
took place.

5. Finally, in a separate piece of legislation
(which, I learned today, encountered a technical
glitch and will have to amended and revoted during
veto session in November), we have eliminated the
petitioning fee for filing for the appointment of a
confidential intermediary. Since petitioning the
court for the appointment of a confidential
intermediary was never codified in statute, every
county in Illinois charged those petitioning the
court for the
appointment of a confidential intermediary the fee
normally charged for a "miscellaneous
adoption remedy." In Cook County this fee is
currently $270, but beginning on January 1, 2004, it
will drop to zero in every county in this state.

Despite heated opposition from the NCFA (which hired
a lobbyist and plastered the capitol with dire
predictions that the new law would have a "chilling
effect on adoptions in Illinois"), HB 2504 passed
through both chambers of the Illinois General
Assembly without a single vote of opposition and was
signed (without fanfare, I might add) by our new
Governor three weeks ago.

Please feel free to circulate information about
these important changes in Illinois' adoption
statutes widely...It's not open records, but it is a
big step forward in a state which only five years
ago had some of the most restrictive adoption
statutes in the country...

[thesearchguru]

Thanks so much for your contribution to the board! I will let others know too.

Warmest regards,

Moderator for the Search and Reunion Message Board at adoption.com

[melody290]

Once Jan., 2004 hits, I want to petition the court for the records. But How do I do this? Who do I contact? Anyone have this info? What is the process?

Thank you!!!!

[MKW]

Hi Brandy,

My next question would be, would we need to re-register with the Illinois Adoption Registry to gain this updated info. if we have already done so? Do you know?

Thanks!

[thesearchguru]

You might want to contact this office for more details on the new law and how it applies to your search:

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services
406 East Monroe Street, Station 25
Springfield, IL 62701-1498
(217) 524-2422
Fax: (217) 524-3966




Adoption Genealogist




Other great websites to check out:
http://www.adoptionchat.com
http://www.adoptionlists.com
http://www.adoption.com
http://www.adopting.org
http://registry.adoption.com/

[BrandyHagz]

TSG is right, the best way, I would think, would be to go the normal route that is set up now...

..I doubt we will hear about the specifics of the program until after the first of the year.

[flynn0528]

Does anyone have any info on the Massachusetts Mutual Consent Registry as far as what is done with the registry (ie: does the agency try to get permission or do they just put it into a databas?)