Free Republic

DAYTON -- Imagine never knowing who your biological parents are, or where you came from. That is the reality for 400K people born in Ohio from the mid 1960's until 1996. Their birth records have been sealed, until this Friday. The law originally passed in 1963 was designed to give birth parents some protection, and it was heavily supported by the adoptive parents. But fast forward 50 years, and attitudes have changed. "I've always known that I was adopted... and I've always known that I wanted to find my birth parents," said Beth Miller who described her childhood as ordinary...

SEARCY -- Melissa Reeves has been looking for a church where she knew they were there to worship Jesus and would accept her without judging. She found it at St. James Church in Searcy. Unlike most elect and candidates going through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults process, Reeves chose the Catholic faith on her own, without the encouragement of a Catholic parishioner. "It builds your faith to see their faith grow," said Janet Pace, St. James RCIA coordinator. "A lot of people come to the Church because of a spouse or friend that has inspired them." Reeves is...

The Korean-born American freestyle skier Toby Dawson, who is competing in mogul events in the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics, posted childhood photographs on NBC television's Web site in the hopes of finding his biological parents. Dawson, who is making his Olympic debut, is ranked fourth in the world. Mogul skiing is a discipline that involves skiing down a run that has hard snow mounds as obstacles on the slope. Dawson, 27, has posted a dozen pictures on the NBC site including one taken at the time he was adopted. There are also pictures of Dawson skiing and participating in ski...

'Who's your daddy?'' That's a phrase that's hip among the young of today. But for hundreds of thousands of people it's a question they want to be able to answer. And I'm not referring to adopted children. I'm talking about children born through artificial insemination. On campuses throughout the United States, collegians are earning money by making deposits at sperm banks. And the sperm banks make themselves well-known on campuses. I know several young college men who have made deposits to them. Students will do all sorts of things to earn money while in school. They'll donate blood. They'll sign...