Silver City's Diana S. Edwards, LPCC, Ph.D., AAC New Mexico Representative, recently attended the 38th annual international American Adoption Congress (AAC) from April 5-8, in Atlanta, Georgia.

She gives a brief overview of the conference, which she believes will be of interest to Beat readers.

Adoptees: The Last Minority to Be Denied Their Civil Rights

A recurring, heartfelt theme in the 2017 American Adoption Congress (AAC) conference is the decades-long struggle for an adult adopted person to regain access to his or her original birth certificate. More than fifty years ago, states began sealing adoption records and, upon legal adoption, adoptive parents receive an amended certificate that names them as the parents who gave birth. Adoptees lose the right to know the circumstances of their birth and relinquishment, and they lose the right to know the identity of the family to whom they were born. They lose access to medical history and what can be life or death genetic information. Even as adults, access to the original birth certificate is denied. Two states'Kansas and Alaska'never closed the records; all others did. At present (and after bitter legal struggles) nine states allow adult adoptees access to their original certificate of birth. There is a bill currently in front of the New York legislature that would allow unrestricted access to original birth certificates for adult adoptees and discussion about this and other legislative activities was part of several workshops.

The 2017 AAC Conference covered a diverse range of workshop and support topics relevant to adoptive parents, adopted persons, birth or first parents, social workers and all others affected by adoption or working professionally with some aspect of adoption.

The opening keynote speaker was therapist Rob Gent, on the neurobiological impact of relinquishment and adoption. New brain and neurological research forces acknowledgement of what has been known by adoption-affected individuals for generations: Separation at birth and later is itself traumatic for the infant and the child and these affects on social-emotional development. Long-term grief and loss also impact the birth mother.

Keynote speaker for Thursday was Dr. Ruth McRoy, one of the earliest researchers to look at open adoptions. She spoke on changing adoption practices and policies and the implications for adopted children, birthparents, adoptive families, and professionals.

Blaine Bettinger, Ph.D. and JD, a genetic genealogist, spoke on the use of DNA to explore ancestry. DNA testing is one of the newest ways that birth and adoptive families try to surmount the wall of secrecy to learn their biological connections.

Keynote on the final day was by Dr. Chiatra Wirta and Kathy Mackecheny, adoptees and social workers presenting the need for thoughtful and intentional recruitment language in adoption and foster care. In New Mexico, these ideas could transform the current well-intentioned adoptive parent recruitment ads that can humiliate children in foster care. Ways to protect privacy of the children in care and an emphasis on the strengths and characteristics needed by adoptive parents for effective, loving connection were highlighted.

Another powerful presentation was by filmmakers Andrew Tash and Derek Frank, from the Six Word Adoption Memoir Project. Participants at last year's conference and this one, as well as the Concerned United Birthparent conference were invited to narrow their adoption experience to six words and then be interviewed on film. Their words are heartbreaking, inspiring, and deeply informative. The first brief, nonfiction documentary can be seen online; the second one is in production.

In addition to topics already mentioned, the 2017 AAC conference included performance art, support and or information sessions for birth or first mothers, adoptees, LGBT, professionals, and adoptive parents. There was information on core issues in adoption, reform and grass roots activism, suggestions for parents and prospective adoptive parents, international adoptions, ethics for adoption agencies and attorneys, open adoption and lack of enforceable legal contracts, impact of infertility and donor or third party reproduction, and healthy identity formation.

The American Adoption Congress was founded in 1978. It is an international network of individuals, households, organizations and support groups committed to promoting truth in adoption and respect for family connections in adoption, foster care, and assisted reproduction.

More information can be found at http://www.americanadoptioncongress.org  and by contacting representatives in your region, listed on the website.