Secret Identities of Adoptees
The BBC News published an article of heartbreaking testimonies of adult adoptees in Ireland whom for decades have gone through the arduous processes obtaining birth certificates or tracing their family origins.
Four adoptees shared testimonies of the difficulties they have experienced due to “privacy” laws, as previously a birth parent’s right to privacy would be prioritised over the child’s right to know their family origins. These challenges include unable to obtain work without a birth certificate, health risk without a medical history, and long-lasting psychological effects. A testimony is also shared by a mother of an adoptee who was forced to put her child up for adoption as a teenager and denied any contact with child by a Mother and Baby Home.
The Irish government has officially announced the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022 which will give adult adoptees the right to access their birth certificate and a document stating who their birth parents are. The law also sets out how adoptees can apply for their childcare and family medical records. It also considers it a criminal offence to destroy relevant records to adoption cases. Irish adoptee and prominent adoption rights campaigner Claire McGettrick, who is also a co-director of the Clann Project which conducts research into how unmarried mothers and their children were treated in 20th century Ireland, shares in BBC interview “It’s not good enough to find out what your original name was… you have to find out the story of how that came to be.”
Child Identity Protection (CHIP) hopes that Ireland will implement its obligations to fully and speedily restore the child’s identity, noting its previous concerns raised about the Bill. This BBC documentary highlights the possible pressing need and massive lifelong impact of not knowing one’s origins.
Source : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/4q6srrmytr/secret-identities
See also : CHIP CRC factsheet on Ireland https://www.child-identity.org/en/news/human-rights/749-ireland-irlande-irlanda.html and Briefing note on Bill https://www.child-identity.org/en/resources/advocacy-and-policy/580-legal-opinion-on-irish-birth-information-and-tracing-bill-2022.html
