ideological issues around adoption disclosure

There are four main ideological stances taken by those advocating within the field of adoption disclosure. These are the civil rights ideology, the psychology of adoption ideology, the search rights ideology and the identity rights ideology.

Civil Rights Ideology:
Proponents of this ideology argue that adult adoptee citizens, as their right to equal treatment under the law, have the right to unconditional access to their original birth certificate and government-held adoption files. They argue for legislation that would create this unconditional access, including unrestricted freedom to contact their birth parent. They argue against contact vetoes and closed adoption files.

Psychology of Adoption Ideology:
Proponents of this ideology argue that adoption creates special relationships that must be protected by the law. They argue that there is potential harm to all of those involved if there is unlimited access to personal government held documents. They advocate for legislation limiting access to these documents such as disclosure vetoes, contact vetoes, adoption registries, etc.

Search Rights Ideology:
This ideology is steeped in the belief that it is the right of adoptees and birthparents to search and be "reunited." Advocates believe it is intrinsic to the well-being of the adoptee and birthparents that they search and be "reunited." Proponents of this framework include Adoption Search professionals, Confidential Intermediaries, and Private Investigators

Identity Rights Ideology:
This ideology originates in the belief that humans have a right to know their biological origins and no organization has the right to deliberately keep this information from them. This argument addresses both the personal information needs of people without the usual documentation and the general need for greater transparency and accountability in adoption practice. Those who work from within this framework serve Aboriginal and Native adoptee groups, black market adoptees, late discovery adoptees (a person who was adopted as an infant or a young child, was not told that they were adopted and who discovers their adoptive status later in life), gamete donor offspring, and adoptees with falsified, incomplete or inaccessible adoption files.


A more complete overview of these ideologies, who works within them, who is served by them and what their activism goals are can be found at: http://www.bastards.org/bq/bq14/trends.html

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