Promising Legislation for Adoptees

Thanks to possibly questionable steps by my mom I always have had a little information about my birth mother. I know her height, weight, eye color, hair color, her interests, that she wore glasses, that she has several siblings who were also tall, wore glasses and enjoyed sports and music. I also know that her parents and grandparents had things like diabetes and cancer. All identifiable information has been blacked out so I could not find her with the information given, but at least I had something which is a lot more than many adopted people from the time when closed adoptions were the norm. Still, every time I go to the doctor they ask the dreaded questions: what is your family history. Ummmm... I don't really have any.

Now the Surgeon General has made a statement strongly encouraging all Americans to know and have their family medical history ready since it can be an important piece in their medical management. Wonderful advice except for those who are adopted and have no access to their medical history. Some states even have made it so that adopted adults cannot even have access to their information. Here is an article that talks about this situation and also the steps that are being taken to change legislation to make medical history more accessible to adopted people. It won't lead to world peace, but it is at least a step towards bringing some peace of mind to those who have no idea what their genes may carry.