In Helen B. Jenkins commentary “A family matter: A clone’s guide to family reunions” (Aug. 13), she creatively makes some salient and foreboding points about future cloned people having no real connection to family.
This fantasy scenario is set in the future, but there is right now and has been since 1945 in Illinois a population that experiences much of the disconnection she refers to: adults who were adopted. When original birth certificates were sealed for us adoptees in 1945, connection to the family tree was broken forever.
It is only recently that state legislatures, including Illinois, have been considering legislation that would restore adoptees’ civil and human rights of unconditional access to original birth certificates and restore us to full-fledged, adult citizens capable of handling our relationships like everyone else, without state regulation.
This movement is a result of an antiquated, 50-year-old sealed records system that no longer serves any purpose except to foster secrets.
Perhaps those researching the projected effects of human cloning should talk with adult adoptees about the long-term effects of separation from blood relatives. Many of the 5 million to 10 million of us in the U.S. know about this.
