Mar 15, 2009 10:44 pm US/Central
Bill Could Help Adoptees Learn Medical History
(WCCO)
-
-
Gretchen Traylor was adopted as a baby, and has had a hard time finding information about her biological parents.
CBS
A Minnesota lawmaker is hoping to make it easier for some adoptees to find information about their biological parents. If the bill passes, some adoptees looking for family medical history will benefit.
Gretchen Traylor was adopted as a baby, and has had a hard time finding information about her biological parents. Traylor has photo albums packed full of family pictures. A lot of those pictures are of her parents who adopted her shortly after she was born in 1946.
"We did a lot of traveling, we did a lot of entertaining. We were always very active in our church and we had a great time," said Traylor.
It wasn't until her battle with lung disease became serious that she started to wonder about her birth parents' medical history.
So Traylor started to search, but what she found out was that anyone born and adopted before 1977 needed a signed disclosure form from a birth parent to access family health history. Her birth mother never signed a disclosure, so Traylor had to use the courts, time and money to get the medical information she needed.
"We are the only people who do not have access to our own birth records and it seems to be a very large violation of civil rights," said Traylor.
Sen. Ann Rest is hoping to change that process. She has introduced a bill and if it passes any adopted person 19-years-old or older can access birth parent information as long as the birth parent has not signed a non-disclosure form.
"For those that want to know medical information and just a name, that's what the overall bill would allow them to have," said Rest, a DFL lawmaker from New Hope.
For Traylor, getting that medical history was key in her recovery.
"As an adoptee, finding out that medical information for me was paramount. And for people who have their own biological children it should be paramount," said Traylor.
The bill would allow the birth parents one year to come forward and sign a non-disclosure form if they want to maintain their privacy.
Opponents say that Rest's bill would call-out birth mothers that want to stay private. They argue that current laws already make it possible for adoptees to obtain medical history without identifying birth parents.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty vetoed the bill last year. Currently it is in the House and Senate finance committees. If it passes, the bill would go into affect August 1, 2010.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Twin Cities Has $41M To Help 1st-Time Home Buyers 40 mins ago
Stumble It!
Reporting
