Adoption Papers in New Zealand in the late 1940's.

[TwiggyTree]

Thanks Fresh Fields.

I reckon that puts adoption records in the hardest-to-find-&-access category; especially when I have also seen many where common sense and humanity would have granted access but a justice has decided that doesn't fit the 'special grounds' thresholds. 

[shanreagh]

I think before we can comment it would be useful to know which organisation is holding the records and therefore imposing the conditions.

If Archives I too have been granted access to records, with white gloves and pencil only, with a person sitting there.  In one case the person sitting was the one who turned the pages of the document. No cameras. 

The lack of access to a pencil/paper is a new one on me however.. 

I worked in a place where there were highly personal records and we pruned them (ie temporarily removed very sensitive papers replacing it with a sheet saying the OIA grounds for withholding) before allowing access sometimes.  the person had a right to object to this but seldom did. 

My view is that it would be useful to contact the Privacy Commissioner and talking through if an official info request would be useful. 

Very sensitive happenings to me might be those involving a pregnancy as the result of rape or incest where perhaps the alleged perpetrator has been named but perhaps not charged.

[shanreagh]

The point is that it is not whether the recipient is old enough and broadminded enough to cope with facts about an adoption but if the information itself is capable of being made available, even with the principal of openness ( I am assuming that this principal applies to Privacy Act requests just as it does for general OIA requests. 

This means that an assessment looks at the information itself and makes a determination there are no issues still 'on foot'.

[Jean Price]

I apologise for the delay in replying.
Collectively you have given us so much information do I will answer in general.

First of all, because all the important people in the different organizations are still on holiday Mary (my cousin) is waiting another week before she starts emailing these people.

She has known that she was adopted since early childhood, and is in contact with a half brother. (her birth mother died some years ago). She regularly meets a step sister of her birth mother and recently met a cousin of her birth father. She found these people through DNA but unfortunately they don't have definite answers. There is no great trauma associated with her learning that she is adopted.

Regards
Jean

[Jean Price]

Good evening,

Just to let you all know that my cousin has received a copy of all papers concerning her adoption -even a copy of a form the birth father had signed. There were pages and pages - all very interesting. So with these papers, and her DNA results, she now knows the name of her birth father.
And of course, of all the names mentioned in these papers, she is the only one still alive. So no one has been upset.
Jean

[spades]

Hi Jean, 

Please pass on my congratulations for finally finding her birth father.

A great outcome for her. 

Spades

[Fresh Fields]

Hi Jean.

Pleased the issues have been successfully sorted.

Alan.