Senate Passes Bill To Allow Access To Adoption Information

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Senate passed a bill Thursday that some lawmakers say has the potential to save lives and reconnect families.

Senate Bill 352, authored by Sen. Brent Steele, R- Bedford, would allow individuals adopted before Jan. 1, 1994 to obtain pre-adoption, identifying information – unless the case has a non-release provision on file with the state department of health. If the bill is passed by the House, Indiana would become the 15th state to allow access to the adoption information.

“While there may be some discomfort when facing your birth mother or vice versa, only one tenth of one percent does not want to have any contact whatsoever,” Steele said.

Under current law, that information would only be public if a consent form has been filed with the state registrar. The change would bring pre-1994 adoptions in line with those that occurred after the set date.

Pam Kroskie, president of Hoosiers for Equal Access to Records, a non-profit formed to push for adult adoptee access legislation in Indiana, has been fighting for the release of the adoption records since 2009 and praised the Senate for hearing the concerns of adoptees.
The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 46-3 and now moves to the House for further consideration.

Max Bomber is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.