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This is the petition I filed with the Johnson County (Iowa) District Court, Probate Division on February 29, 2000. Also included on this page are my amended petition and request for judicial notice, both filed in the Johnson County District Court on March 22, 2000.
IN
THE IOWA DISTRICT COURT FOR JOHNSON COUNTY
STEVEN
J. DRAHOZAL,
Petitioner.
PETITION
TO UNSEAL
RECORDS
PERTAINING TO HIS
ADOPTION
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COMES
NOW Steven J. Drahozal, pro se, and in support of his petition to unseal court records
pertaining to his adoption states:
1. I am Steven
John Drahozal (SSN ###-##-####), an adult adoptee and currently reside at [adress
deleted].
2. I was born
at the University of Iowa Hospitals, Iowa City, Iowa on June 27, 1971 at 12:49 A.M. and
was placed in the custody of J. E. and S. F. Drahozal of Solon, Iowa on July 2, 1971.
3. The Iowa
District Court for Johnson County finalized the adoption process in August of 1972, with
J. E. and S. F. Drahozal becoming my adoptive parents.
The private agency responsible for this adoption was Catholic Charities for
the Archdiocese of Dubuque.
4. The only
knowledge I have of my biological parents are that my biological mother was born in 1953,
was 5’8” tall, weighing 170 lbs. with brown hair and brown eyes and her father
had diabetes and she had completed the eleventh grade with plans to complete her high
school education at the time of my birth. My
biological father was also approximately 18 years old at the time of my birth was 5’9”
tall, weighing 160 lbs. with brown hair and blue eyes.
5. I have no
biological siblings adopted by my adoptive parents. Iowa Code Ann. § 600.16A(3)(b) (West 1998).
6. I am an
adult and now ask the court to open the record, giving me access to identifying
information. Iowa Code Ann. § 600.16A(2)(b)
(West 1998). Simultaneous to the filing of
this petition, I am filing an affidavit consenting to the release of my identifying
information to any biological relative seeking that information. Iowa Code Ann. § 600.16A(3)(b) (West 1998). I have previously filed such an affidavit with the
agency responsible for the adoption.
7. Good cause
exists for opening the record in that, to my knowledge no affidavit has been filed by
either of my biological parents requesting that such information not be disclosed to me. Iowa Code Ann. § 600.16A(2)(b)(1) (West 1998). Because I am an adult, the burden should shift to
my biological parents or the state showing why they do not want identifying information
disclosed. (See Mills v. Atlantic City
Dept. of Vital Statistics, 148 N.J. Super. 302, 318, 372 A.2d 646, 654 (1977).) Although my biological parents may not have filed
an affidavit allowing me access to the records, the Iowa statute stating that they must be
told they can do so was not passed until 1992, twenty-one years after my birth and twenty
years after the adoption was finalized. (See Iowa Code Ann. § 600.16A (West 1998).)
8. Good cause
also exists in that denying me access to the record violates my constitutional right to
privacy with regard to making certain kinds of important decisions, this one related to
reproduction. Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 93 S.Ct. 705 (1973), McMasters v. Iowa
Board of Medical Examiners, 509 N.W.2d 754 (Iowa 1993).
9. Good cause
for opening the record also exists in that denying me, as an adoptee, access to, inter
alia, my original birth certificate when non-adopted persons have full access to their own
original birth certificates abridges my right to equal protection. U.S. Const.
amend. XIV, § 1, Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483, 74 S.Ct. 686 (1954), Buckley
v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 96 S.Ct. 612 (1976), Iowa
Const. art. I, § 6, State v. Ceaser, 585 N.W.2d 192 (Iowa 1998). Adoptees bear the indicia of a suspect class in
that they are a “discrete and insular minority.” United States v. Carolene
Products, 304 U.S. 144, 152, 58 S.Ct. 778, 783, n. 4 (1938). Suspect classes are composed of those who have an
“immutable characteristic determined solely by an accident of birth.” Frontiero
v. Richardson, 417 U.S. 677, 685-687, 93 S.Ct. 1764, 1770 (1973). This description applies to adoptees.
10.
Good
cause for opening the record exists in the fact that I have a natural curiosity about my
roots and heritage. This curiosity can best
be sated by contact with biological relatives. Matter of Guardianship of Nemer, 419
N.W.2d 582, 585 (Iowa 1988). This natural
curiosity is a normal and natural part of maturing and is an essential part of identity
formation. Sealed records are detrimental to
identity formation. Katarina Wegar, Adoption,
Identity and Kinship: The Debate over Sealed Birth Records, 79 (1997). See Also Arthur
D. Sorosky, et al., The Adoption Triangle: Sealed or Opened Records: How They Affect
Adoptees, Birth Parents, and Adoptive PArents, 219 (1989).
11.
Good
cause for opening the record exists because I have a psychological curiosity about my
biological family. Application of Anonymous, 399 N.Y.S.2d 857, 859 (1977), In re
C.A.B., 384 A.2d 679 (D.C. 1978). This
psychological curiosity coupled with the frustration of being unable to obtain identifying
information has resulted in difficulty sleeping and concentrating. Opening the record would alleviate this.
12.
Good cause for opening the record exists in that
courts in other jurisdictions have consistently held that biological parents do not have a
constitutional right not to have identifying information disclosed. Does 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6 and 7 v. State, 164 Or. App. 543 (1999), Doe v. Sundquist, 106 F.3d 702, 704
(6th Cir. 1997), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 810, 118 S. Ct. 51 (1997).
13.
The provisions of the Iowa code dealing with
adoption are to be construed liberally with the best interest of the adoptee in mind. Ia. Code
Ann. § 600.1 (West 1998). As the
adoptee and as an adult, I have determined that it is in my best interest to have an
exchange of identifying information between myself and my biological relatives. The court, per the Iowa code, should construe
“good cause” liberally and grant this petition.
Steven
J. Drahozal
[adress and phone number deleted]
IN
THE IOWA DISTRICT COURT FOR JOHNSON COUNTY
IN
THE MATTER OF
NO.
COCO00017
STEVEN
J. DRAHOZAL
STEVEN
J. DRAHOZAL,
AMENDED PETITION
Petitioner.
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COMES
NOW Steven J. Drahozal, pro se, and amends his petition to unseal court records pertaining
to his adoption as follows:
1. The
petitioner wishes to amend ¶
10 of his original petition to add: See also generally: Betty Jean Lifton, Journey of the Adopted Self: A quest
for Wholeness (1994), David M. Brodzinsky, et al. Being Adopted: The Lifelong Search for
Self (1992).
1. The
petitioner wishes to amend his original petition to add ¶
14 to read as follows: Good cause for opening
the record exists in that denying me access to the record of my adoption abridges my right
to free speech guaranteed by U.S. Const.
amend. I, Iowa Const. art. I §7,
specifically the right to “receive, the right to read…and freedom of inquiry.”
Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479, 482, 85 S.Ct. 1678, 1689 (1965). The state may not contract the body of available
information without showing a compelling interest. Id. Because there is no compelling state interest in
keeping information from me, failure to open is unconstitutional. Also implicit in freedom of speech is the right to
form the “self” and choose what information one wishes to be exposed to for one’s
self. See Steven J. Heyman, Righting the Balance: An Inquiry Into the Foundations
and Limits of Freedom of Expression, 78 B.U.
L. Rev. 1275, 1238 (1998).
__________________________________
Steven
J. Drahozal
[address and phone number deleted]
IN
THE IOWA DISTRICT COURT FOR JOHNSON COUNTY
IN
THE MATTER OF
NO.
COCO00017
STEVEN
J. DRAHOZAL
STEVEN
J. DRAHOZAL,
REQUEST FOR JUDICIAL
Petitioner. NOTICE OF
ADJUDICATIVE
FACTS
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COMES
NOW Steven J. Drahozal, pro se, and pursuant to Iowa
R. Evid. 201(b),(c), (d), (f)asks the court to take judicial notice of the
following adjudicative facts:
1. Betty Jean Lifton, Ph.D., is
a psychotherapist and adoption counselor who has written numerous books on the psychology
of adoption, including Lost and Found: The Adoption Experience (1979) and Journey
of the Adopted Self: A Quest for Wholeness (1994).
Her work has been cited by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in The Matter
of the Adoption of Charles E.D.M., II, 708 A.2d 88,93(Pa. 1998). Dr. Lifton does not live in Iowa and the
petitioner is unable to procure her attendance by process.
Iowa R. Evid. 804(a)(5). The petitioner requests that the court take
judicial notice of her expertise in the area of psychological development of adoptees and
allow him to read statements from her writings that are relevant to the psychological
development of adoptees into evidence under Iowa R.
Evid. 804(b)(5).
2. David M. Brodzinsky, Ph.D.,
is a professor of psychology at Rutgers University and is also in private practice. He has authored or co-authored numerous articles
and books on adoption and developmental psychology, including The Psychology of
Adoption (1990) and Being Adopted: The Lifelong Search for Self (1992). He has been recognized as an expert in these
fields by the New York Court of Appeals in Allen v. Farrow, 611 N.Y.S.2d 859, 863,
197 A.D.2d 327, 333 (1994). Dr. Brodzinsky
does not live in Iowa and the petitioner is unable to procure his attendance by process. Iowa R.
Evid. 804(a)(5). The petitioner
requests that the court take judicial notice of Dr. Brodzinksy’s expertise in the
area of developmental psychology related to adoptees and allow him to read statements from
Dr. Brodzinsky’s writings that are relevant to the psychological development of
adoptees into evidence under Iowa R. Evid.
804(b)(5).
__________________________________
Steven
J. Drahozal
[address and phone number deleted]