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NCFA interview: Mary Robinson on mutual consent
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Mary Robinson was recently named the new CEO and President of the National Council for Adoption (NCFA). In spite of her full schedule, she made time to answer some questions for the Examiner. This is part 4 of a 4-part interview.
- Part 1: The NCFA in the coming year
- Part 2: Open adoption
- Part 3: Infant Adoption Awareness Training Program; open records
Examiner: In your recent interview on WITF, which included Adam Pertman of the Evan B Donaldson Adoption Institute, it sounded as if there may be some emerging common ground in balancing the expectation of privacy for the birthmother and the right of access to birth records for the adult adoptee. How do you see this playing out?
Mary Robinson: I very much hope that we will have the opportunity to work together to find a way to meet the needs of those who insist upon their right to privacy as well as those who express a strong need to know. In reading the commentary of those involved in the process on all sides, I am struck by the true human pain that I hear, both when privacy has been violated and when fundamental life information cannot be accessed. It is rare that solutions can be found that meet every person’s need 100% of the time. Even so, I would welcome the chance to see how far we can go in crafting innovative solutions that honor both the principle of mutual consent, which is NCFA’s guidepost, and the desire for access to birth records for the adult adoptee.
What have you got planned for Adoption Awareness Month?
MR: We will be circulating a series of four simple and powerful emails to highlight NCFA’s three areas of focus: infant adoption, adoption from foster care, and intercountry adoption. We want to build awareness of the love and security that adoption has brought to so many children over the years.
If your readers would like to receive these emails, please click here to sign up.
When your tenure is through, what would you like your legacy at the NCFA to be?
MR: First, to connect the policy with the people. I am impressed with the impact that NCFA has had on policies relating to adoption. I would like to forge a stronger connection to those we serve—children who need families.
Second, to encourage dialogue and solutions based on common ground. There is so much work to be done to address the needs of the millions upon millions of children around the world who do not have families and who are suffering. I’d like to work hand-in-hand with my colleagues in the adoption community to find common solutions to critical problems. I’d like to move beyond some of the long-time debates and focus on the really difficult issues facing us in the twenty-first century, for which adoption continues to offer a positive option.
MR: And I wish to thank you for the opportunity to discuss these issues with the readers of the Open Adoption Examiner!
Related posts:
Twenty years of open adoption: interview with Lutheran Family Services
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