Many birth parents see the paperwork that needs to be filled out for adoption and begin to feel very overwhelmed. In Utah, part of the paperwork is a packet called the non-identifying information. In other states, this same information may have a slightly different name.

This packet is many pages long, and asks detailed questions from the eye color of the birth parents, to things such as allergies, need for glasses and heart issues. Birth parents are asked about the health history of their own parents, as well as their siblings and children.

So, why is my background health history so important? I recently went in for a teeth cleaning at a dentist I had never been to before. He looked over my paperwork and was very intrigued to see that I worked for an adoption agency. His first question to me was, “What kind of background information do you give the adoptive families that you place children with?”

Because I specifically work with birth parents, I was able to tell him that our birth parents fill out, in detail, non-identifying information. In other words, this information does not have the birth parent’s last names, address or phone number, but has a very detailed history of their health and the health of all their family members.

My dentist was very surprised and pleased by this response. He explained to me that they had adopted a little girl 15 years prior. They were given no family health history on the birth parents. His daughter was having some significant, but non-life threatening, health issues. Their doctor had finally found the root of the problem. If this family had been given health information that their doctor could have gone to the very first time he saw this 15 year old girl, it would have lead him straight the health issue.

My dentist was impressed that our adoption agency takes the time to get as much background information as possible. I also explained to him that an adoption counselor/social worker also reviews this background information and ads a typed social history to the birth parents information. The adoption counselor/social worker can help walk birth parents through completing the paperwork.

So for adoptive families, one of the most important documents they can receive when adopting a child, is the non-identifying information or background health history to help their children with needs in the future. For birth parents it offers a peace of mind to know that, if their child were to become ill in the future those caring for their child would have good information to begin helping their child. For the child, it helps them with their history and to know about their birth parents and their own genetics. The information is so important to entire adoption triad and should be viewed as helping everyone involved.