t wasn’t until 2020, at the age of 52, that I was given the right to use my name. But as with all things adoption, nothing is quite as simple as it seems. Like other babies given to infertile couples under Australia’s “forced adoption” policies, my birth certificate was cancelled soon after I was born; a second birth certificate created a legal fiction to make it look like I was born to the infertile couple.
The records of somewhere between 140,00 and 250,000 Australian babies were sealed by law, with a promise that the truth would never be revealed. But on my first birth certificate, the name my mother chose for me is missing, and I am identified by the word “Unnamed” with my mother’s surname. According to that certificate, my name isThe Integrated Birth Certificate allows me to choose either of these two names, but it seems unhelpful for adopted people to be known as “Unnamed” when the intention of Integrated Birth Certificates is to help adopted people connect with their full identities.
How did the author find out the name her mother gave her in her heart? This is so poignant! 💔
My mother was forced to adopt me but I was lucky enough to trace her 27 years later. I found out that she had called me Cheryl at birth. My mother went on to have a long & happy marriage & when her first baby girl was born she named her Cheryl so my memory was part of her family.
How about send the kids to Congo to mine the cobalt we need for our EV batteries that produce more C02 than a normal car in Australia? We need more slaves in Congo (This is satire).