Dave, Has Wendy tried the services of a Confidential Intermediator to review her adoption records and local her birth mother? Revised Code of Washington, Title 26, Chapter 26.33 covers adoptions. Of particular interest are: Section 26.33.340: Department, agency, and court files confidential -- Limited disclosure of information. Section 26.33.343: Search for birth parent or adopted child -- Confidential intermediator. Section 26.33.345: Search for birth parent or adopted child -- Limited release of information -- Noncertified copies of original birth certificate. Section 26.33.347: Consent or refusal to release adoptee's identifying information -- Desire to be contacted -- Certified statement. Access is improving for more recently adopted individuals. RCW 26.33.345 subsection (3) states: "For adoptions finalized after October 1, 1993, the department of health shall make available a noncertified copy of the original birth certificate to the adoptee after the adoptee's eighteenth birthday unless the birth parent has filed an affidavit of nondisclosure." It appears that because of the implied guarantee of privacy for the birth parents, adoptions finalized before October 1, 1993, must go to the courts and Certified Intermediators for access to records and contact between birth parents and adopted children. I am not a lawyer, so this is a layman's view of what the RCW says. Check with your county's Clerk of the Court to find out how to contact the local Confidential Intermediator. Bob Witherspoon

Hi Bob, Wendy has received her Non-Identifying information from the Children's Home Service's for a fee of $150.00. To obtain further information, I think the fee is $500.00. Wendy will go through a Confidential Intermediary if necessary, however, she is on a limited budget and is trying to do this on her own first. I offered to help her since she is not in the area, thinking I would do my genealogy research along with the time I spent helping her. As it turns out, I have put my own research on hold for the moment and have applied all my time to helping her in her search for her birth mother and sisters. As for having an intermediary if/when her birth mother is found, it has been discussed that I would be the intermediary on their behalf. Thanks for responding and sharing. All help is appreciated. Dave Hutton Tacoma, Washington ----- Original Message ----- From: <RGWSPOON@aol.com> To: <PSRoots-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2003 4:33 PM Subject: Re: [PSRoots] Puyallup Area High Schools > Dave, > > Has Wendy tried the services of a Confidential Intermediator to review her > adoption records and local her birth mother? > > Revised Code of Washington, Title 26, Chapter 26.33 covers adoptions. Of > particular interest are: > Section 26.33.340: Department, agency, and court files confidential -- > Limited disclosure of information. > Section 26.33.343: Search for birth parent or adopted child -- > Confidential intermediator. > Section 26.33.345: Search for birth parent or adopted child -- Limited > release of information -- Noncertified copies of original birth certificate. > Section 26.33.347: Consent or refusal to release adoptee's identifying > information -- Desire to be contacted -- Certified statement. > > Access is improving for more recently adopted individuals. RCW 26.33.345 > subsection (3) states: "For adoptions finalized after October 1, 1993, the > department of health shall make available a noncertified copy of the original > birth certificate to the adoptee after the adoptee's eighteenth birthday > unless the birth parent has filed an affidavit of nondisclosure." > > It appears that because of the implied guarantee of privacy for the birth > parents, adoptions finalized before October 1, 1993, must go to the courts > and Certified Intermediators for access to records and contact between birth > parents and adopted children. > > I am not a lawyer, so this is a layman's view of what the RCW says. Check > with your county's Clerk of the Court to find out how to contact the local > Confidential Intermediator. > > Bob Witherspoon >