Kimberly's Story

I was adopted from Medina Children's Services in Seattle in 1969, and have found myself frustrated in dealing with the court system in my search to find my birth mother. As a child, I had no interest in locating my birth mother, but as an adult who wants to start a family, I find that I have many unanswered questions. I am a biracial woman who was adopted by a wonderful caucasian family - I had a loving family life and fantastic educational opportunities, but I often wonder what I will tell my own children about their racial background.

My birth certificate and my adoption information from the Medina Adoption Agency states that I am white, but when I look in the mirror, I know that I am part African American. In fact, when I was growing up, most of my teachers, friends, co-workers, and family assumed I was bi-racial/black. 

I began my search on my own and found many road blocks. I am a middle school teacher on a very limited income, and found that the fees to open my own confidential files, the files of my life, were virtually unobtainable. I am currently working with several national organizations who are lobbying to make adoption and birth records open to adoptees. I encourage any mother who is considering giving a child up for adoption to allow the adoptee the opportunity to open and read their files.

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