National Adoptee Peak Body, Adoptee Rights Australia (ARA) Inc has rejected the claim that NSW integrated birth certificate reforms solve the issues around birth certificates for adopted people.
President of ARA, Peter Capomolla Moore, says: “The reforms in NSW are a token gesture at most.
“Some adoptees see having the adoptive parents on the birth certificate as a way to make sense out of the mess that the Adoption Act has created and they should be afforded that option.”
“But what about the rest of us who neither want the “FAKE” Fabricated Certificate nor this new “FAKE” Fabricated one? We have been left with no choices again.”
“A Birth Certificate should be as best as possible an accurate & trustworthy document. It should be a snapshot at the time of birth. There is no need to continue the lie of fabricating Birth Certificates.”
“This reform is not about the adoptee’s best interests. It is about making sure the adopting parents’ names still go on the birth certificate, instead of reverting back to using an adoption certificate and leaving the birth certificate alone.”
“So-called ‘Open’ adoptions are still easily closed, and if the only choice is the Integrated Birth Certificate or the fabricated one, the adoptive parent can use the fabricated adoption birth certificate and never tell the child they are adopted. There are no provisions here to prevent that.”
Secretary of ARA, Sharyn White says “Discharge is not something all adoptees would pursue, but it is the only way – currently – for an adoptee to be able to use their true birth certificate and have their ancestry and relationship rights re-instated.”
“If the NSW government was truly listening to adoptees, they would be reforming discharge procedures, which are complicated, and often humiliating, expensive, and presided over by those who give more weight to the institution of adoption itself than the rights of the adoptee.”
“Why shouldn’t adult adoptees who want them have access to a ‘No Fault Discharge’?” Peter asks, “We settled this argument in 1975 with ‘No Fault Divorces’.”
“Why are adopted adults not given the same rights as other community members to identify with their biological family?”
“We are not children any longer, stop treating us as children,” says Peter Capomolla Moore, 62yrs old “I am not legally related to my mother, my father nor my eight siblings and that is a bizarre & traumatising situation that must end.”
Adoptee Rights Australia (ARA) Inc is calling for a comprehensive Inquiry into adoption in Australia.
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Adoptee Rights Australia (ARA) Inc is established by adopted persons to give a national voice to their lived experience of adoption in Australia, and to advocate for reform in adoption legislation, policy and services in all Australian jurisdictions, so that the human rights and wellbeing of adopted persons are restored, protected and promoted.
Read more about Adoptee Rights Australia (ARA) Inc via https://adopteerightsaustralia.org.au/
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For further information, contact Adoptee Rights Australia (ARA) Inc at
Media-Release-Integrated-Birth-Cerificates-14092020
