Adopted children need answers to fundamental personal questions

As members of the Government prepare to relax for their annual summer break, for the vast majority of adopted children in Ireland, the luxury of relaxation will never be afforded to them until they know the truth of their existence.

For many, many years, adopted children, myself included, have been searching and longing to discover basic and fundamental truths, that for the majority of our population, is something most people take for granted.

There are multiple questions: What is my real family name? What is my medical history? Do I have brothers and sisters?

The proposed amendment to the Adoption Bill currently been considered by Cabinet to allow adopted children gain access to their birth certificates is a welcome move, yet it doesn’t go far enough.

Asking adopted people to sign a declaration form, giving an assurance that they will not contact their birth parents is a further prevention from gaining vital information about oneself.

Medical history is a basic right that should never be denied and if a more understanding and sensitive approach was followed in the connections between birth parents and their adopted children, then surely the air of secrecy that has been part of the everyday life of an adopted person could be removed.

I call on our legislators to listen to all those adopted people who desire what everyone else already has, equality.

Let us not read or hear about more tragic stories such as that of Philomena Lee who wanted to find her son but was prevented from doing so. Now is a time for real healing to take place and for all of us, adopted people to feel truly part of society in the full knowledge of who we are and where we came from.

Darragh McGann

Bond Street

Cobh

Co Cork