Right of all kids
Letter from VIC CLAN member Frank Golding The Age 3rd April 2012
YOUR editorial is spot on: all donor-conceived children should be able ''to know who they are'' (2/4). Never knowing your biological inheritance can be highly stressful and medically compromising. A third group, more numerous than adoptees and those born of donor sperm, also have a right to know their parents. These are the state wards, whose search for records about their families is often frustrated by historical incompetence or indifference. The ombudsman reported recently that the Department of Human Services holds numerous boxes of personal records it has not inspected. Some had been marked for destruction. Many wards have been told their records have been lost or can't be found. We must change the law to ensure all children have the right to know their biological parents. And we must ensure that personal records are stored securely so that when the time comes for disclosure, the information is readily at hand.
Special thank you to CLAN member Frank for writing this letter The Age Letters to Newspapers
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