Why Virginia Law Makes it Hard for Adoptees to Get Information about their Birth Parents
Click here for original article and related media. Written by Mark Spain.
From his ordinary house in Madison Heights, VA, Jim Peters has embarked on a not-so-ordinary journey.
"I’ve had it in the back of my mind for probably 40 or 50 years," Peters said.
What Jim Peters has thought about all those years is that something is missing.
Jim's mother gave him up for adoption at birth.
It happened in Roanoke in 1946.
"I’ve always been curious, being an only child. Do I have a brother? Do I have a sister? It’d be nice to know," he said.
Eventually, Ethel and Theodore Peters adopted Jim.
He started searching for his birth parents in the early 2000s.
He sent letters to the state but eventually gave up.
"I realized pretty soon after that it was a dead end for me," Peters explained.
Then, a couple of months ago, Peters reached out to ABC13 to see if we could help.
We encouraged him to fill out any necessary paperwork again and that we’d go from there.
"I’d like to find mommy and daddy," Peters said.
Retired now, with more time on his hands, he sent his paperwork to the Virginia Department of Social Services.
The agency handles most things that have to do with adoptions in the state.
Peters even took a 23-and-Me DNA test.
That didn’t help much.
The American Adoption Congress website lists Virginia as one of 15 states considered a "closed" or "sealed" adoption state.
It means adoption files are sealed by court order and are not public record.
In Virginia, adult adoptees have the right to apply to the Department of Social Services for identifying information on their birth families, such as names and addresses.
However, “good cause” must be shown in order to gain access to those records.
It means, consent from the birth family member on whom identifying information is being sought.
Priscila Barber is a local adoption attorney and an adoptee herself.
She explained why the law exists regarding confidential information.
"A lot of the anonymity concerns of adoptions is that private information won’t be shared with people who could then make the information which is very sensitive known to other people," Barber said.
Twelve other states have open adoption records.
"Why is Virginia so backward in the fact that they seal the records," wonders Peters.
Delegate Wendell Walker is Peters' representative in Richmond.
I asked him, what can you do to help make it easier for adoptees to get information about their births?
"Maybe that’s something we need to be looking into. The sessions coming up here in January and that’s something I'm willing to do is look at what we can do to amend or make some changes there," said Walker.
At 76, the Vietnam Veteran has wondered whether his birth parents are even still alive.
In September, his most recent request for information about his birth went through Richmond and then to the Social Services Office in Roanoke.
A family services specialist located Peters' birth certificate a few weeks ago and sent it to him.
It shows he was born at Roanoke Hospital, and even included his mother’s name.
However, it’s identifying information that was supposed to be redacted.
So, we’re not revealing it.
His mom was a 16-year-old student at Monroe High School. His father’s name was left blank.
Another document from 1946 shows he was born, Jimmy Lee Grubbs.
Remember, for an adoptee to get “identifying” information about their birth parents, they’d have to be ok with their information being shared.
Under a few circumstances, Virginia law does allow adoptees to petition the Commission of the Virginia Department of Social Services for identifying information about their birth parents if they’re deceased or mentally incapacitated.
The family services specialist also learned Jim's mother passed away several years ago.
"That's the least that we can do on behalf of the citizens out here is try to fix something that would be more friendly toward finding out who your parents were," Delegate Walker said.
Jim Peters is one adoptee who believes no one should have to wait until their parents are dead to find out who they are.
All adoption records in the state of Virginia are sealed.
There are no timelines for the expiration of their confidentiality and they are not subject to FOIA requests.
Adoption records in the state of Virginia were formally preserved beginning in July 1942.
However, the confidentiality of adoption records and the identity of birth parents extends to all adoptions before and after that time.
The Code sections for Adoption Disclosure are Code Section 63.2-1247 and Code Section 63.2-1246.
Resources:
If you have information about Jim Peters that could possibly put him in touch with any long-lost relatives, email mspain@wset.com.