Editorial: Issue that could vex Solomon

Monday, Dec. 22, 2003 | 9:23 a.m.

In recent years there has been a growing movement in the United States to open up sealed adoption records. During Nevada's 2003 Legislature, a bill was introduced that would have amended this state's law, passed in 1953, that closed adoption and birth records to adoptees. The legislation under consideration wouldn't have opened the records to birth parents, adoptive parents or minor children; the bill would have permitted only those adoptees who had reached adulthood to gain access to these records. This limited exception to the state's adoption records law died in the Senate Judiciary Committee, but advocates for opening these records told the Legislative Committee on Children, Youth and Families last week that they would renew their push at the next session of the Legislature.

Those who want to open up the records make a compelling case. The adoptees say that they have a right to this information about them, to discover more about their past and who their birth parents were. This discovery also can help when it comes to their own health. For instance, many medical conditions often can be passed on genetically from parents to their children. If a child, or the adopted parent, isn't aware of the birth parents' medical histories, then the adoptee may not receive the right treatment for an ailment or disease they may develop later on in life. Nevertheless, there also is an equally compelling reason for keeping these records closed. Some birth mothers may not want their children to find them in later years. The women might have been raped or gotten involved in a situation that they find embarrassing at the time. If they think this in formation might get out, they could possibly have an abortion or abandon the baby in a Dumpster.

Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, chairman of the Legislative Committee on Children, Youth and Families, said he will appoint a subcommittee to review the issue of adoptions in its entirety, including whether the records should be open. He did note that it is a "complex issue" and that there are "contravening rights." The rights of the birth parents have to be weighed against those of the adults who want access to their records. Churches and nonprofit groups that handle adoptions also should have input. Rawson is right that this is an issue where a snap judgment should not be made. The Legislature should consider how opening these records has worked in other states and whether it has had a negative impact on mothers who are considering putting their children up for adoption.