Thank You's Are in Order!

As things have settled down some, I figured that it is high time that I provide all the thanks and kudos to the people who have made a difference in my life, the difference that resulted in this magazine.

The first thank you's are truly from the very bottom of my heart and the deepest parts of my soul. The following listed individuals were monumentally instrumental in my search for my first born son, Kimo. From my first timid post to my eventual find; These ladies, held my virtual hand, walked me through the intense emotions I was struggling with and most importantly validated the burning desire I had to find my precious first born son and subsequently, my twin boys, Keith & Cory.

Sherry R
Marcia
Betty K
Denise B
Betty B
Theresa P
Judi G
Mina
Linda H
Janet S &
Chrisina D

I will forever be indebted to you ladies. I have never forgotten a single one of you and for as long as there is a breathe in my body, I will be forever grateful.

When I think back on those days of my search, it dawns on me that these ladies are the same ladies who drove me to being a "Search Angel". The love and support given to me by these ladies, led me to the desire, no scratch that, the NEED, to help other people searching for their families lost to adoption. I started keeping a database, so that while I was searching in umpteen million places, I could "keep an eye out" for other peoples searches too. It was so infuriating to find a possible match only to discover that the contact information listed was no longer valid. This infuriating issue soon became the driver for the magazine.

The next group of people who so richly deserve thanks are:

Sherry U
Nancy P
Patty (TiggerDigger)
Connie
Donna W
Louise B &
Priscilla S

These ladies together gave me so much encouragement, lifted me up when searches got me down and kept me both laughing and focused. It was Nancy who led me to begin using my training as a Paralegal, to assist adoptee's in writing motions to petition the courts to open their records. It was Sherry who led me to use my professional experience as a Health Information Management professional to assist adoptees in requesting access to their protected health information. Finally, out of these three it has been Dear TiggerDigger Patty, who has led me to look towards the bigger picture in every search. If a call needs to be made or a look-up needs to be done, Connie jumps up to the plate so readily that she has inspired me to push myself even harder, find more ways to help this incredible community and to always remember that one tiny act of kindness sure does go a really long way. Donna is an incredible source of information. I often find myself wondering how she does it...lol I want to be just like her! Louise is such a firecracker. When something seems just a little off, Louise is the first to point it out! Louise has taught me to just open my mouth in this community of ours and beyond. I owe you much Louise! Priscilla is amazing and I can credit her with my need to advocate. She stays on top of legislation, videos, news stories and every other way imaginable to get the word out about opening original birth certificates and on top of doing all that she searches, has loads of information and still manages to encourage people who need it.

My son Cameron is the person who deserves the biggest thanks. He has been such an adamant supporter of my being a "Search Angel" and my desire to give back to the community that has enriched my life. In the early days, when the phone was ringing off the hook and I was on calls, it was Cameron who took registrations when I couldn't. When I would literally fall out from exhaustion, it was my young man who manned the phones, the fax lines and even the emailed registrations. So many times, we were late to functions, get togethers and meetings because I had "just one more place to look". He took it all in stride. What an incredible young man he has become. I believe with all my heart that this young man knows the value of family because he has been such a large part of this triad family. I love you son. No words could ever thank you enough for all that you have done for me and this triad community.

The next thanks go to my family. My mom, as both a first mother and an adoptee, has been so insanely supportive, understanding and loving. She has been my driving force. When I first took on the monstrous task of creating this magazine, I didn’t know if I was up to the challenge. My mom pushed me, loved me and encouraged me through it from start to finish. I love you more than you will ever know Mom!

My sister Laurel has been my savior in more ways than I could possibly describe. As Cameron graduated form high school, joined the Marine Corps and grew into a man, I found myself without my right hand man. Laurel picked up where Cameron left off. Laurel has taken over the registrations for the magazine. She has tirelessly handled thousands of registrations. When you call in to register, it’s Laurel who takes your calls. When you fax in your registration forms, it’s Laurel who enters them into the system and when you email your registrations, its Laurel manning the Registration email. It’s Laurel who sends you information regarding accessing information in your state of birth, Laurel who refers you to G’s Adoption Registry, Soaring Angels, theRegistry & ISRR. Laurel has also taken over matters of press for the magazine. Laurel who writes our press releases and Laurel who came up with our catchy ads! I love you Laurel.

My sister Kristin has been my biggest cheerleader. She has encouraged me so much to keep going with this magazine. She listened to me ramble on and on about the magazine, the registrations, the advertisements, the people and the search stories and has never said….”Heather will you just shut up already!” Instead, she says things like, Heather that is so cool, I’m proud of you, I know you can do this. I love you Kristin and I thank you for always being my cheerleader and for believing in me.

Next is my brother Mark. I have bugged this man incessantly about html, ftp, meta tags, urls, banner ads, you name it, I have bugged him. He takes it all in stride, questions the things I think I need and schools me when I have no clue what I’m talking about, from an IT perspective. Mark has created all of our banner ads and has answered so many questions and continues to support me in this endeavor.

My daughter-in-law, Michelle, she is my baby girl, she has encouraged me, made me laugh when all I wanted to do was cry and she too is in the cheerleading section. Michelle is an incredible woman and I owe her everything for taking care of my baby, Cameron. She and Cameron are expecting their first child in August, (my first grandbaby) I love her to pieces and I am so happy she is my baby boy’s wife.

I owe an incredible amount of thanks to Joan from theRegistry. She has given me so many ideas for this magazine, including working with other registries for matching our registries against theirs. Every time I talk to her, she has yet another fabulous idea. She has also supported this magazine, laughed with me through the nuances of getting the magazine off the ground and has truly been an angel to me and this magazine.

I owe a gazillion thanks to Jay Rosenzweig from www.BirthParentFinder.com Jay has opened my eyes to page titles, meta tags, page descriptions and advertising. Jay is one of the magazine’s first cross advertisers. He so graciously agreed to cross advertise our publication with his hugely popular website and for that I will be forever grateful. Our own websites popularity has grown by leaps and bounds thanks to Jay!

Finally, I thank every member of the adoption community, every single person who has registered for the magazine and every single person who has purchased the magazine. I especially owe much thanks to those fabulous members who continue to spread the word about the magazine.

Never forget…this magazine is by and for members of the adoption triad.

Thank you all and if I forgot anyone, please accept my apologies and know that each and every person I have encountered on this journey has played an instrumental part in this magazine.

May your search be successful!

Heather

The Fight for Original Birth Certificates

Over two hundred years ago, a group of men got together to form our nations Constitution. Those men were: George Washington--President and deputy from Virginia; New Hampshire: John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman; Massachusetts: Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King; Connecticut: William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman; New York: Alexander Hamilton; New Jersey: William Livingston, David Brearly, William Paterson, Jonathan Dayton; Pennsylvania: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Thomas FitzSimons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris; Delaware: George Read, Gunning Bedford, Jr., John Dickinson, Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom; Maryland: James McHenry, Daniel of Saint Thomas Jenifer, Daniel Carroll; Virginia: John Blair, James Madison, Jr.; North Carolina: William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Hugh Williamson; South Carolina: John Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler; Georgia: William Few, & Abraham Baldwin.

This Constitution did not say, “Me, Mr. Washington, and him Mr. Ingersoll, and those guys Benjamin Franklin and the other guy over there Nathaniel Gorham, are here today to make up a set of rules. Oh no, instead these men were true visionaries. Together they wrote the following: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

If we, as a community of people, regardless of our status in the adoption triad, are going to be successful at restoring our “Constitutional right to the general welfare of all people in the United States”, by restoring our rights to our original birth certificates, we are going to have to do this together.

The best offense in any matter of war, politics etc is to divide and conquer. The term divide and conquer means ”A combination of political, military and economic strategies that aim to gain and maintain power by breaking up larger concentrations of power into chunks that individually have less power than the one implementing the strategy.”

This arguing amongst ourselves, about what is and isn’t right, what is or isn’t fair in the adoption community etc. is doing nothing but serving to divide our numbers and ensure our defeat when these proposed laws hit the senate and house floors.

I know as well as the next triad member how infuriating it is when someone who has been misinformed spreads that misinformation, makes hurtful statements based on the poor information they have and sends us two steps back for every one step forward we make in our own personal journeys. It doesn’t mean that I have to publicly attack the ill-informed. It simply means that as a member of the adoption triad I have to work harder to educate.

I, me, them, us and you are all divisional words. They defeat our purpose and this is how we are consistently conquered in our fight for equal rights to original birth certificates.

I am asking each and every one of you members of the adoption triad and non triad members alike. To simply stand together with me and form one voice, one power and to hold on to that voice and power so that we may implement this much needed change in our nations laws. Stop arguing with each other in these forums, in these public and online places. All that does is divide us.

My hand is reaching out and I am standing on two feet. My voice isn’t loud enough to be heard across the nation. But, I bet if you reached your hand out to mine, held it with mine and added your two feet to mine, and added your voice to mine, our power, our numbers and our voices would most assuredly be heard across this Great Nation.

Again, my hand is reaching out…..where is yours?

Please go vote: http://www.change.org/ideas/view/return_adult_adoptees_the_right_to_their_original_birth_certificates

New Blog

I have had numerous requests to begin a blog for the Adoption Registry Magazine, discussing my experiences as the child of an adoptee, as a birth mother and as a birth sibling in addition to my new experiences as a magazine publisher. So, I have absolutely no idea how well this will be received or whether or not it will ever be read by anyone but myself. But, I am doing it.

The one thing I want to make clear from the outset is that I am an extremely outspoken woman, have opinions of my own and despite the fact that I may not agree with your opinion, I will most certainly respect your opinion and would expect the same from you, the reader. This blog is not a forum for anyone to disrespect another person for their beliefs or opinions. Please respect that.

The next thing I want to make clear, is that until very recently, I had never recognized that I am considered to be an activist. As a newly self-recognized activist, I want to make clear that I don't know what the rules are for this. So, I am winging it. I ask that if I make some type of faux pas in so far as etiquette is considered, please bear with me, offer me advise, don't cuss me out for it. I'm learning.