Adoptees share what life-changing Minnesota bill unsealing birth records means to them
MINNEAPOLIS — Starting July 1, a new law will make Minnesota only the 15th state to allow adoptees full access to their original birth certificate.
It's a right Minnesota adoptees have fought for in the state legislature for decades.
A birth certificate contains the names of the the birth parents, adopted person's name at birth, the place of birth and possibly additional details about the birth. Even in the likelihood that an adoptee's name was changed the law will still allow access to the record.
"The way it works is that you would apply to for the record under your adoptive name, and the vital records department in Minnesota has that record matched up so as long as you know your adoptive name, which I'm sure you do, they will match up that adoptive name to the original birth record, and then pull that original birth record and provide it," said Gregory Luce with the Adoptee Rights Law Center and host of the "What's Next? Adoptee Rights Podcast."
Meanwhile, 82-year-old Mary Jo Lindeberg believes this law will finally let her find her birth relatives and hopefully learn the truth about her birth parents.
"I got a story, that she (adopted mother) probably thought was going to answer all my questions and that I wouldn't ask again. She said, "Well, your mom died giving birth to you and your father. It was just 25 days after Pearl Harbor, and they expected that he would be drafted shortly. So I heard that story, and for years, that was all I knew," said Lindeberg, but soon she learned that wasn't true.
Prior to the law being changed, Pat Glisky's son was able to reconnect, something she didn't think would be possible.
"When, in the1960s if you found yourself pregnant, if you weren't getting married, the norm was to relinquish your child," said Glisky.
Glisky and adoptee rights advocate Penny Needham say the law is a sign that times and attitudes have changed.
"I think adoptees share a need, like every human being does, to know who you are and where you came from," said Needham.
Talking Points airs every Wednesday and Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., live on CBS News Minnesota.
NOTE: Above is a preview of Talking Points presented on "The 4."
