I support an adopted child's right to try & find his/her birth parents.
However, I also support birth parents' right to privacy. Giving a child up for adoption is not easy, & I'm sure there are many different reasons as to why a birth parent would want and/or need privacy & to remain anonymous.
The birth parent chose adoption.
And, for the birth parent who decided on a closed, sealed adoption, had the birth parent realized that, in 18 years, records would be released, the birth parent might not have chosen adoption & would have decided to go another route - and there, perhaps, wouldn't be an adoptee to look for birth parents or wonder about medical records.
So, while I sympathize w/ the adoptees & their desire to know - because I'm sure most of us would feel the same at some point... wanting a connection, wanting our medical history, etc., I also sympathize w/ the birth parents who made the adoption choice. It's hard from both sides. But I don't think we need to make it more difficult for birth parents & make it so a birth parent is less likely to choose adoption.
And,
@aprilgail, I'm so glad your story & quest to find your birth family had a good outcome!
I know 2 sisters who were adopted by the same adoptive parents but in 2 separate, different, closed adoptions. The older sister wanted to find her birth family, & she eventually was able to find her birth mother & birth mother's family. It's been about 20 or so years since she found them, & they are still in contact - the daughter & her family visit her birth family during the holidays every year.
After going back & forth w/ the decision for many years, the younger sister decided she also wanted to find her birth parents. It took her much longer, &, when she did find a relative of her birth mother, she did not receive a warm welcome at all; it was basically a "no thank you" kinda phone call. And, today, she has no contact at all w/ her birth mother's family. I'm not sure she ever found or made contact w/ her birth mother.