BASTARD NATION - Arizona

ALBANY, NY From: Toff Philippo
Adoptee Hope Catricala of APAC and I were the first ones there. Adoptee Jean Van Horn of Adoptee Kinship and the AAC also came from Binghamton! She deserves special thanks; Binghamton is a 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive. Birthmother Gretchen Hoffman and adoptive mother Cheryl Reidy also attended. Cheryl took pictures. I distributed both Bastard Nation materials and some of my own to the attendees. I gave the adoptees the sample letter, which I had altered to read "should receive" instead of "will receive" and added "and in solidarity with the adoptees of Kansas and Alaska..." I also gave them a Freedom Of Information Act Request letter and and Personal Privacy Protection Law Request letter which I typed up this morning, both requesting the OBC and accompanying documents. Why not try, right? The office is in a pretty low-traffic area indoors and underground. We didn't hand out any materials, although I had brought plenty.

Four adult adoptees discuss government-sanctioned anti-adoptee discrimination inside the Department of Vital Records in New York City

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We went in a little after twelve thirty when we decided that no one else was going to join us. (Others were supposed to). The others noted that the office only had one "Adoption and Medical Information Registry" pamphlet available and that it was inexplicably wrinkled. It has the same info that is online, but it also has a baby's face on the cover, a fact which I'm sure you would all hate. After all, a baby can't register, nor can the birthparent of a baby register. Their child has to be 18 before they can register, so they better make sure they don't die for 18 years, or make a provision in their will for their executor to submit the application! I went first, wearing a BN pin. There were two workers behind the counter and a couple more in the office occupied with other things. I gave them my three letters and some of the info about Oregon. I told them that I was an adoptee and that I was requesting my original birth certificate. The guy said, OK, you need to fill out this form and it will be $15. I went goggle-eyed for a moment and then said, no my Original birth certificate, not my amended one. He then went on about the law, and the Adoption and Medical Information Registry. I explained why we were there, and also that I was requesting using the FOIL, at which point he said, "Oh we're not under that." And I continued to explain I was also requesting under the PPPL, and that they should still forward these requests to the proper offices (also in the Empire State Plaza) whose addresses I put on the letters. Jean and Hope did the same, and then we left. - Toff