Needs Source: Goodman, Ellen. Star Tribune; 22 Oct 1998: 23A

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A right to know vs. right to secrecy: [METRO Edition]

Goodman, Ellen. Star Tribune; Minneapolis, Minn. [Minneapolis, Minn]22 Oct 1998: 23A.

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The way Helen Hill sees it, her life as an adoptee has been part of a vast social experiment: "What happens if we seal away the true facts of people's birth?" What happens if adoptees don't know their biological parents?

This "experiment" was begun with good intentions. In an atmosphere of shame and secrecy - the Scarlet Letter era of unwed births - this was seen as a way to protect the birth mother, the child and even the adopting parents from the prying eyes of outsiders.

Now we've passed through 20-odd years of increasing openness. We have more open adoptions, open parent-child searches, open attitudes. Many of the adult children of secrecy like Hill, who found her birth mother two years ago, are convinced that the experiment failed them.