IOWA-L Archives

Archiver > IOWA > 2002-11 > 1036381301


From:
Subject: Re: [IOWA] adoptions in Iowa
Date: Sun, 3 Nov 2002 22:41:41 -0500


Alan,

My grandfather was adopted in 1893. At that time there
were no "adoptions" as such. He was passed on an
"indenture."

I tried for years to find his natural parents, spending a lot
of time at the Clerk's office in the county where he was born.

I tried to hire a lawyer to help me. He said it was a
waste of time and effort because I would never succeed in
Iowa.

Finally one day a woman at the IGS Library told me that
his records were not kept by the Clerk but by the County
Registrar and that adoption records were not sealed until
1941. I probably broke the speed limit getting back to the
county court house.

The records were filed under his original name, not the
adopted name that he always went by. The Registrar checked
and confirmed to me that the records were there but refused to
release them to me without a court order even though by law
she could have released them.

Rather than argue with her I went up to the Clerk's
office and wrote a request to the Circuit Court Judge sitting
that day. He immediately returned an order to release the
records.

I then went back to the Registrar and she made a copy
of the record. The record was disappointing. It had the
name of his parents and very little else.

George


(The following is from the Des Moines Register & Tribune
March 1994. The laws may have changed since then.)

GETTING INTO ADOPTION RECORDS

I am writing to clarify information printed in The Register's
letters section on Feb 19. Though a bill to establish an
adoption contract registry was considered during the 1991
legislative session, it did not become law.

There is no mutual-consent adoption registry administered
by the Department of Human Services. A bill to establish
a registry was considered by a subcommittee of the House
Human Resources Committee during the current session,
but it did not make it through the "funnel."

In 1992, Iowa's adoption law was amended: Identifying
Information may be shared by the court or the agency
that arranged the adoption if both the birth parent and the
adult adoptee have placed written consents in the adoption
record. The court may share medically necessary, non-
identifying medical and developmental records with
approved persons for medical treatment or research.

Without written consent to reveal information from
the parties to an adoption, the records remain sealed.
The records cannot be opened unless the court orders
them opened for an adult adoptee for "good cause."

An adult whose adoption was finalized prior to July 4,
1941, need not demonstrate "good cause," as
adoption records were not required to be sealed at
that time.

Mary Nelson
Bureau Chief
Adult, Children and Family Services
Department of Human Services,
Hoover State Office Bldg.,
Des Moines

________________________________________________________________
Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today
Only $9.95 per month!
Visit www.juno.com

This thread: