SEALED ADOPTION FILES: WHEN TO OPEN? A NEW APPROACH

• Date: 01 June 1979
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.174-1617.1979.tb00030.x
• Author: Judge Norman B. Ackley
• Published date: 01 June 1979

SEALED ADOPTION FILES: WHEN

TO

OPEN? A NEW APPROACH

Judge Norman

6.

Ackley*

Those family courts which are charged

with

adoption supervision have been experiencing re-

cently a surge of petitions by adult adoptees to

open their sealed files

in

order to gain informa-

tion to help them find their "roots;" i.e., their

birth parents and relatives.

The traditional view has been that the sealed

files laws are designed to protect the children

and adoptive parents,

at

least during the child's

minority and, above all, to protect

the

birth

mother for all times; that her rights of privacy

must be respected,

that

she wants

that

chapter

of her life to remain closed.

This traditional view has been shown to be

a

myth

in

a

procedure which has been followed

in the Family Court of King County (Seattle)

Washington for the past one and a half years.

Our state laws, like those of many states,

permit

the

court to open sealed adoption files

only "for good cause shown" or "for the benefit

of the child." Without further guidelines

in

the

statute or court rule petitioners got different re-

sults depending on which judge heard the peti-

tion.

In

order to bring some uniformity, the King

County Superior Court Judges adopted the fol-

lowing uniform procedures for handling peti-

tions to open sealed adoptions

in

June

1977.

1.

2.

3.

All petitions to open sealed adoption files

are referred to the Chairman of the Fami-

ly Law Committee.

When an adult adoptee petitions to open

his or her sealed adoption file for the pur-

pose of finding the natural parent or rela-

tives, or when the natural parent peti-

tions to open the adoption file to find

an

adult adoptee, a confidential interme-

diary (who has signed an oath of con-

f

i

d

e

n

t

i

a

I

it

y)

is a p po

i

n

t

ed.

The file is then opened to that person

who

will

use the information contained

therein

as

a starting point to conduct a

search, and if successful, make discreet

'Judge Norman

B.

Ackley

is

a judge of the Superior Court,

Seattle, Washington.

inquiries to determine if that person con-

sents to the meeting.

4.

If

so,

a written consent is obtained from

the sought relative.

5.

Then the court authorizes the contact.

We have developed standard forms

of

peti-

tions, oath of confidentiality, and order. They

are, of course, modified to fit particular situa-

tions. We file them under the original adoption

number.

In

most cases, attorneys are not re-

quired.

Since the adoption of this procedure,

145

petitions to open sealed adoption files have been

received;

82

of these searches have been suc-

cessful and in only three

of

the& did the birth

parent or relative refuse to consent to

the

meet-

ing;

her refusal was respected, the file was re-

sealed, and the matter was closed.

In

all of the

other cases, the birth parent or other genetic

relative consented to

the

contact. Our experi-

ence shows that the almost universal response

of

the

birth parent is

an

overwhelming desire

to see her child, to find out how he or she has

turned out, and to end the burden of guilt and

shame the birth mother has borne all these

years

.

The overwhelming majority of these con-

tacts have resulted

in

meetings filled with tears

and hugs and

the

establishment of warm rela-

tionships with birth parents, grandparents, sib-

lings and more remote relatives.

In

almost all

cases the adoptee's relationship

with

the adopt-

ed parents was not diminished and often the

two families developed close relationships

in

the

nature of an extended family.

We attribute the high degree of success to

the tactful, low pressure inquiries made

by

the

confidential intermediaries. Most of these have

been volunteers, who have been trained and

screened by the Washington Adoptees Rights

Movement (WARM) which has proven to be a

very responsible and helpful organization.

The Washington State House Judiciary

Committee has drafted a

bill

patterned after our

King County practice which

will

be considered

by the next session of the legislature.

35

CONCILIATION COURTS

REVIEW

/

VOLUME

17,

NUMBER

1

/

JUNE

1979