Adoptees deserve equal standing under the law, says Connecticut conference of the United Church of Christ

Editor's note: This is one in an ongoing series of posts spotlighting support for our continued effort to provide adult adoptees born in Connecticut access to their original birth certificates. The testimony featured in this series was submitted to the state Legislature earlier this year in support of proposed legislation that would have restored the right of adult adoptees adopted before Oct. 1, 1983, to access their original birth certificate. (Post-1983 adoptees had this right restored in 2014.) The letters are published with the authors' permission. Sign up for our newsletter at www.accessconnecticut.org if you want to help us end discrimination against adoptees.

Senator Cassano, Senator Logan, Representative Lemar, and distinguished members of the Planning and Development Committee,
I am Michele Mudrick, Legislative Advocate for the Connecticut Conference, United Church of Christ and I am writing today in support of the proposed ammendment to S.B.977 which would support adult adoptees born and adopted before October 1, 1983, to obtain their origninal birth certificate.

I am writing on behalf of the 237 congregations and more than 67,500 people in our state’s churches. In fact, the United Church of Christ (UCC) is the largest Protestant denomination in Connecticut. Nationally, the UCC has more than 5,700 congregations with nearly 1 million members. In 2015 the assembled delegates and ministers of the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ met and voted on a Resolution for the right of all adult adoptees to access their original birth certificates and true and accurate information about their origins.

This Resolution acknowledges original birth certificate access is a matter of equal justice, equal civil rights and equal standing for adult adoptees who have the need to know their human story, original identity and genetic information.

All of God’s children deserve access to their original birth certificate so they can gain true and accurate information about their biological origins and gain further knowledge about their ancestry and ethnicity. We support adult adoptees access to their original birth certificates to gain fuller knowledge of their medical histories in order to make decisions about their health care throughout their lives, including care to save their lives.

Thank you for your work and the opportunity to supply written testimony in support of an amendment to S.B. 977 to support adult adoptees born and adopted before October 1, 1983 to obtain their origninal birth certificate.
Blessings,

Michele Mudrick