Why Adult Adopted People Dislike Adoption

There is a difference between a couple with their own biological children who adopt an older foster child and the infertile couple who adopt an infant. Adoption is first a loss for the mother and child. It should be always be used as a last resort and be open and honest. With most states not allowing adopted people to have access to their own birth certificates there is nothing to celebrate about adoption. Last year the Kay jewelry commercial received a huge backlash from the adoption community for showing an outdated view of adoption and was pulled from the air.

The latest commercial to cause controversy in the adoption community is the race for state Treasurer in Massachusetts. Candidate Deb Goldberg in her ad links adoption to “opportunity".  What this has to do with equal pay, avoiding personal debt, college savings plans, ect is confusing.
What it really has to do with is using the adoptive parent "sainthood" phenomena. Some people feel a religious calling. Adoption is not a way to repay a debt to society, a good deed, or a selfless act, but they feel in doing so that they gain an elevated status. "You are such a good person for taking in a child that is not your own and raising it to adulthood." Adoption has become an industry of finding healthy babies for paying couples instead of finding good homes for children who really need them.

Adopted voters in Massachusetts can only get a copy of their original birth certificate if they are 40 years or older (adopted person 18 years of age or older who was born in the commonwealth on or before July 17, 1974 or on or after January 1, 2008). Visit any adoption registry in the state and you will see thousands of entries of people looking. Why should someone born in June 1974 have more rights than someone born in August of 1974? Those voter's identities are quite literally a state secret. If you are an adopted adult under 40 years old in Massachusetts the only "opportunity" you get is second class citizen status. Adoption loss and the gross violation of human and civil rights that still occur in this country is not something to be exploited for political gain. One must consider the dignity of the adopted person.