Free Republic

TRENTON, N.J. — Adult adoptees in New Jersey who want to find their biological parents are hoping that a three-decade battle in the Legislature over giving them access to their birth records will end with a stroke of Gov. Chris Christie's pen. Awaiting the governor's signature is a bill that would open up state adoption records, marking a major shift for New Jersey, which has one of the most restrictive adoption records policies in the United States. The move has been fought by an unlikely alliance between legal groups who say it violates privacy concerns and anti-abortion advocates who fear...

Adoptees use DNA to find surname By Paul Rincon Science reporter, BBC News The tests read a number of genetic markers on the Y chromosome Male adoptees are using consumer DNA tests to predict the surnames carried by their biological fathers, the BBC has learned. They are using the fact that men who share a surname sometimes have genetic likenesses too. By searching DNA databases for other males with genetic markers matching their own, adoptees can check if these men also share a last name. This can provide the likely surname of an adoptee's biological father. The genetic similarities between...

AUGUSTA ‹ Darren Clukey told state lawmakers Tuesday that learning his birth mother's identity has allowed him to answer a question at the doctor's office that most people take for granted: "What's your family medical history?" "Knowing my history is my right and denying this right to others is wrong," said the 33-year-old Yarmouth resident, who was born in Biddeford and adopted as an infant. Clukey testified before the Legislature's Judiciary Committee in favor of a proposed law that would allow Maine-born adoptees - age 18 or older - to get a copy of their original birth certificates. Adoptees say...