- A Question of Trust
- Intro: The Birth of a Blog
- You and Me Could Write a Bad Romance: Part I
- Bad Romance, Part II: The Couch
- Bastard Package #1
- Hallelujah
- Born This Way
- Baby Girl X
- Another Victim of Love
- True Life
- The Girls Who Went Away
- Love and Other Drugs
- 11 Things Adoptees Love to Hear
- Uh, Never Mind
- Adoptee Kid Lit
- Bastard Princess and the Search for the Holy Grail
- MYOFB
- Awkwardness
- Baby Steps
- Faith, Hope, and Catholic Charities
- Special Delivery
- Green-eyed Monster
- !@#$
- Pandora
- Fantasyland
- Adoptees You May Have Heard Of
- Big MAC Attack
- Material Girl
- VISA and Mastercard Accepted
- Don't Hold Your Breath
- Our Love is Like a Constipated Cat
- A Question of Trust
- Adoption, Hollywood Style
- All in the Family
Big MAC Attack
This morning I heard back from LaKisha, my caseworker and a program specialist at the Midwest Adoption Center. Not bad—less than a week to respond.
I was relieved that LaKisha was so pleasant and professional; it was obvious that she’d had a lot of practice at this. She said that MAC had received my inquiry and wanted to let me know what their procedures were. I’d already saved them a step by contacting Catholic Charities for my adoption records, so once they’d received my permission forms, things would be set in motion. (She talked faster than I could accurately transcribe, so I had to revisit their Website for the complete rundown.)
My understanding is that the Illinois Adoption Registry and Medical Information Exchange (IARMIE) would respond with a letter notifying me of the results of the search for a registry match to one of my birth parents. If no match is found, I can then petition the Illinois courts to assign me a confidential intermediary (CI) to work on my behalf to access various private databases and records to obtain nonidentifying information about my birth parents and biofamily, such as:
MAC would assess the likelihood of a successful search, meaning one that would produce information on my accessible biological relatives. There might be no information at all, or information stating that my relatives were presumed or confirmed deceased. On the basis of my assessment results, I’d have the ability to dismiss my case if I wanted and call it quits.
The next burning question: How much was all this going to cost me financially? The search assessment would cost about $500. Fortunately, two subsidies are available to help searchers defray their expenses; these would bring my final fee down to $295. That’s not so bad, I thought. But the real question was, in the long run: How much were answers and peace of mind worth to me? We would probably have paid the full fee either way. If I had my way, the U.S. government would foot the entire bill and kiss my sweet white ass on their way out the door.
While poking around the Confidential Intermediary (CI) website to verify my facts,I was thrilled to discover that they’ve created an awesome step-by-step checklist of how to file a CI petition with the courts, even though I haven’t yet reached that point. Actually, I’m drowning in so much helpful information right now that I’ll welcome any kind of handholding I can get. In spite of all the barriers to learning my heritage that I’ve encountered so far, I truly appreciate Illinois Governor Pat Quinn’s wobbling first steps in the right direction (and wonder whether his support of the issue has personal origins). But opening sealed adoption records would be The Bomb. Let’s work on that, Mr. Obama—you, of all people, should want to kick some legal ass over this injustice.
I was relieved that LaKisha was so pleasant and professional; it was obvious that she’d had a lot of practice at this. She said that MAC had received my inquiry and wanted to let me know what their procedures were. I’d already saved them a step by contacting Catholic Charities for my adoption records, so once they’d received my permission forms, things would be set in motion. (She talked faster than I could accurately transcribe, so I had to revisit their Website for the complete rundown.)
My understanding is that the Illinois Adoption Registry and Medical Information Exchange (IARMIE) would respond with a letter notifying me of the results of the search for a registry match to one of my birth parents. If no match is found, I can then petition the Illinois courts to assign me a confidential intermediary (CI) to work on my behalf to access various private databases and records to obtain nonidentifying information about my birth parents and biofamily, such as:
- “Parents’ general appearance, age at the time of the birth of the child; race, religion and ethnic background; education, occupation, hobbies, interests and talents; existence of any other children born to the biological parent(s)
- Information about biological grandparents, including reason for immigrating to the U.S. and country of origin
- Relationship between the biological parents
- Detailed medical and mental health history of the child, the biological parents and their immediate relatives
- Confirmed actual date and place of birth of the adopted person
MAC would assess the likelihood of a successful search, meaning one that would produce information on my accessible biological relatives. There might be no information at all, or information stating that my relatives were presumed or confirmed deceased. On the basis of my assessment results, I’d have the ability to dismiss my case if I wanted and call it quits.
The next burning question: How much was all this going to cost me financially? The search assessment would cost about $500. Fortunately, two subsidies are available to help searchers defray their expenses; these would bring my final fee down to $295. That’s not so bad, I thought. But the real question was, in the long run: How much were answers and peace of mind worth to me? We would probably have paid the full fee either way. If I had my way, the U.S. government would foot the entire bill and kiss my sweet white ass on their way out the door.
While poking around the Confidential Intermediary (CI) website to verify my facts,I was thrilled to discover that they’ve created an awesome step-by-step checklist of how to file a CI petition with the courts, even though I haven’t yet reached that point. Actually, I’m drowning in so much helpful information right now that I’ll welcome any kind of handholding I can get. In spite of all the barriers to learning my heritage that I’ve encountered so far, I truly appreciate Illinois Governor Pat Quinn’s wobbling first steps in the right direction (and wonder whether his support of the issue has personal origins). But opening sealed adoption records would be The Bomb. Let’s work on that, Mr. Obama—you, of all people, should want to kick some legal ass over this injustice.