American Adoption Congress: Educating, Empowering, Evolving Donate

Landmark Court Rulings

The federal Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, (Doe v. Sundquist, 106 F. 3d 702 (6 Cir.1997), cert den. 522 U.S. 810 (1997), the Tennessee State Supreme Court (Doe v. Sundquist, et al., 2 S.W.3d 919)  and  the Oregon Court of Appeals (Jane Does v. State of Oregon, 164 Or. App. 542, 993P.2d 822) have all ruled on the question of whether or not a birth parent who relinquished their parental rights has a constitutional right to anonymity from their offspring. In these cases, the courts held that:
 
(1) the new adoption law did not impair any contractual or vested rights of birth parents in violation of the State Constitution, and 
 
(2) the new adoption law did not violate any constitutional right to privacy. 
 
Colorado Court of Appeals Grants Access to Adult Adoptees for Select Time Period
 
After being denied access to his adoption records by the El Paso County Court, adoptee appellant Jeff Hannasch received a reversal of the lower court's opinion from the Colorado Court of Appeals.  The first of its kind in the nation (to our knowledge), the ruling granted access to records for those whose adoptions were finalized in Colorado between July 1, 1951 and June 30, 1967.  
·         Read the opinion:   In re J.N.H., 209 P.3d 1221 (Colo. App. 2009)