Why do ppl think searching for birthparents could be harassment?

I was surprised to see people discouraged from searching because some think they could be charged with harassment. How can it be illegal to search? I looked for infomation on it and found this from a US govt. agency.

http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_search.cfm

Nowhere in here does it suggest that the searcher could get in trouble just for searching.

Maybe it's the law in some other countries?
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I can see why some birthparents might not want to be found, but I don't think it should be against the law and couldn't find any evidence that it is. Yet I see people on Answers claiming it is. Maybe they are confused because it is illegal to search for a minor, but it's not illegal for a minor or adult adoptee to search as far as I can tell.

Guess this is another one of those situations where people should check the facts and not trust everything they read.

I think Answers is great for exploring ideas and opinions but why people come here for facts when they could just google it is beyond me.

kitta

In some countries, like Canada and Australia, there are provisions in the law that make it illegal to contact a mother who has surrendered a child.... if she has filed a "contact veto'..so yes...it is different in some countries.

In the US, one state has a contact veto in its law, and that is Tennessee. Records are open to adopted people, but if the mother has filed the contact veto, the adopted person cannot contact her. it is against the law.

A few months ago, the state of Missouri was also considering passing such a law. It would have bound adopted people to whatever "contact preference" their natural mother chose.

I disagree with this "legal concept" and believe that people should be able to contact their relatives, unless the relatives tell them to their face, "I don't want you to contact me."

ETA @minimouse, I was sent information about a new law in Queensland that had a contact veto in it. Was that contact veto law overturned? If so, good riddance to it!

Cleopatra

How can one harass ones mother?

Well, there does kick around an ap dictionary... hmmm... after natural mothers surrender their baby they're told to stay away from "harassing" their babies "family." And when the adoptee wants to search, the ap will tell them not to "harass" their "birth mother." After all, God put the adoptee in another woman's body... blah blah barf.

smarmy

Its not illegal, its in fact a smoke screen to deter people from searching and finding out the truth. Which usually sheds light on the actions of the agencies and the lawyers.

Pip

Because they are uneducated.

In the UK adult adoptees have the legal right to their OBC, information and to search. Natural parents also have the legal right to search once their child reaches 18 years old.

just live your life.

that's crazy!
i mean as long as you aren't showing up at persons home at werid hours or calling million times a day...
how is it harrasment?
most things like birth certificates, addresses, phone numbers are all public informtation.

this is simply ridiculous!

why can't we stick with prosecuting murders, rapist & not innocent ppl

Dan B

they think we don't deserve to search. they think were chattle. shut up & be grateful and all that.

Torrejon

Harrasment is one thing, searching is another. Once you find, you must act upon the results of the search. If you're told no contact is desired, you've got to respect that. But how many people actually continue to persue relationships when none is desired??? I 'd be willing to bet that the number is very, very low.

minimouse68

It isn't illegal to search in Australia, in fact our right to know who we are and where we came from is protected in law, although when the law was first changed contact veto's did exist, they no longer apply and if a first parent refuses contact or refuses to give genetic and medical information they can be compelled in the courts to do so. When Australia first changed its adoption laws all the usual rubbish, like protecting first parents privacy and psychological testing before being able to obtain OBC's was tried......it didn't go down very well - at all, most adoptees found it incredibly insulting......the laws were changed again to something that adoptees in the most part are happy with, they were also expanded to include children born from biological donation. Oddly enough there is actually no such thing as a right to privacy written into ANY Australian law, it simply doesn't exist. I have NEVER met a first parent who didn't want contact with their relinquished child, even if only to know that they had grown up happy and healthy, although my first father doesn't want contact, and at the moment I am respecting that, he actually has no control over the situation. If I really wanted to push it he is not legally allowed to refuse.

GEEGEE

The stigma of having a child out of wedlock is fading but women in past generations were often very ashamed of having had a child without being married. Often they were sent off to maternity homes and only their parent's knew the truth, and even future spouses were in the dark. Many of those women, like my Aunt Mary, who is now 83, never acknowledged her first daughter, given up for adoption when my aunt was 23 because her husband and children had no clue she existed. Surely there are other women who would consider being "found" harassment, based on outdated cultural taboos.

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