Cambridge, Massachusetts: July 22, 2013 - The public is invited to the first meeting of ACCESS MASSACHUSETTS, a grass roots effort dedicated to passing legislation restoring the human right for all adult adopted people born in Massachusetts, access to their original birth certificates (OBC). The meeting will be held on August 15th, from 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM, at the Cambridge Family and Children's Services office at 60 Gore Street, Cambridge, MA 02141 (close to Lechmere station).

Members of ACCESS MASSACHUSETTS believe that Massachusetts law that prevents adult adopted people born after July 14th, 1974 and before January 1st, 2008 access to their OBC is discriminatory.  It also denies them of a human right that all other citizens in Massachusetts enjoy and that is the right to go to the vital records office and obtain a non-certified copy of their original, unamended birth certificate.  

ACCESS MASSACHUSETTS believes it's time for the Massachusetts legislature to restore the human right for all Massachusetts born adult adopted people to obtain non-certified copies of their original birth certificates.   

The legislation supported by ACCESS MASSACHUSETTS, has precedence in a number of states. Most recently New Hampshire (2005), Maine (2007) and Rhode Island (2011) have passed legislation restoring the human right for all adult adopted people born in their states to obtain a non-certified copy of their original birth certificate.  In these states an overwhelming majority of legislators voted in favor of restoring the human right to its native born adult adopted people to obtain their OBC.  New Hampshire became the 5th state, Maine the 6th state and Rhode Island the 7th state in the U.S. to allow all of its adult adopted people to access their original birth certificate along with Alabama, Alaska, Kansas, and Oregon. 

ACCESS MASSACHUSETTS recommends the following legislation become law which respects the rights of adult adopted people to obtain their original birth certificate as well as respecting the rights of birth parents to express their desire for contact from their biological children.

At the age of 18 all adult adopted people can request a non-certified copy of their original birth certificate by filling out a Preadoption Birth Record Application Form and send it to the Vital Records Office. The new law will allow a birth parent to fill out a Contact Preference Form to express their desire for contact with their biological child in one of the following three ways:

• I would like to be contacted
• I would like to be contacted but through an intermediary of my choosing, i.e. the placing agency, personal friend, etc.
• I do not want to be contacted.

Additionally, birth mothers can fill out a family Health History Form which will be filed with the adopted person's OBC and given to the adult adopted person when they request a copy of their original birth certificate.

 ACCESS MASSACHUSETTS is actively looking for new members across the State of Massachusetts who are willing to work to change Massachusetts's law to allow adult adopted people to access their original birth certificate.  If this is legislation you would like to support please contact Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao, an adopted person at [email protected], Cindy McGuigan, a birth mother from West Bridgewater, MA, at 774-259-2172 or at [email protected] or Paul Schibbelhute, a birthfather, at 603-930-2091 or at [email protected]  

ACCESS MASS---It's the Right Thing to Do----

ACCESS MASS

The following are a few good resources:

 

A Different Story (This is a DVD by the Donor Conception Network. It is a film interview featuring individuals that were donor conceived.  They are children ages 7-19)

 

The Family Book by Todd Parr

My Story by Jane Offord & Angela Mays

I Love My Family by Tammy Troute-Wood & Brent Gough

The Pea That Was Me by Kimberly Kluger-Bell

Hope and Will Have a Babyby Irene Celcer

 

We always respect and admire the work of Dr. Bruce Perry.  Here are some of his words of wisdom:

Dr. Bruce Perry with the ChildTrauma Academy talks about the brain being fully organized by age 3. That means that the experiences that occur within the first 3 years of a child's life carry more weight in the developing brain.

 

If a child lays in a crib, crying, and seeking comfort with no response, that child "learns" that she cannot rely on others to meet her needs. This becomes a formative experience that imbeds in a child's brain and helps that child formulate "people are not safe."

 

Although our perception may be that a child is in fact safe, all of his basic needs are met and he lives in a loving home, these experiences before the age of 3 are driving the child's 

http://bewhatsright.com/step-1-creating-safety-for-the-traumatized-child/

Traumatized, Abused, Neglected Children | bewhatsright.com

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Creating Safety for Traumatized, Abused, Neglected Children