HIPPA vs. Adoption Privacy

About a month ago, a reader of this blog sent me an inquiry from the front lines. This social worker is experiencing a conflict between HIPPA and adoption privacy. She asked me to ask you for your professional opinion on this intriguing problem . . .

State law provides that all termination of parental rights and adoption proceedings are confidential and that no identifying information can be shared between or among service providers.

Baby is born drug-addicted and is treated by hospital and medical specialists. Birth mother releases baby who is placed for adoption. Baby requires frequent follow-up visits by the same medical team.

Adoptive parents do not know the birth mother’s name and are required to take the baby for follow-up visits. Baby’s original medical file contains her and her mother’s birth names. Medical professionals are reluctant to create a “dummy file” with identifying information removed. They want “proof” that the child placed for adoption is the same child who they treated in the hospital.

Adoption will not be finalized for six months. Until then the baby has a new name but no legal proof that her name has changed. Even with the name change, there is no proof that this child is the same child who was born under a different name.

How does this social worker insure continuity of care? Do the medical professionals have a HIPPA problem? A medical ethics problem? A state law problem?

Has anyone out there had this same experience? Comments please. And I’m sure that many will point out the absurdity that adoption secrecy continues to perpetuate. This case is a good example of that.


5 Replies to "HIPPA vs. Adoption Privacy"

  • Dee
    November 5, 2008 (10:26 pm)

    The child is relinquished to the agency – until the adoption is finalized in court before a judge by the adoptive parents, the agency has a legal obligation to provide the aparents all of the contents of the infants medical file. The aparents are in point of fact fostering the infant until the court finalization. Avoiding that by a social worker is how crack babies and birthmothers with severe mental health diagnoses are placed by agencies on a pretext the mother and child were healthy when in fact they knew they were not.

    And that’s why you see so many lawsuits by aparents to agencies and also agencies losing their credentials and closing down. Because the social worker has the option of deleting names they also have the option of deleting ANYTHING negative about the birthmother, birthfather and the infant and excluding any pertinent facts.

    a point of fact is in one case LA County Bureau of Adoptions deleted the information that the birthmother was taking LSD, and other recreational drugs during her pregnancy and then continually
    refused to release the truth so the aparents didn’t understand why their adopted son had so many problems developmentally. When he was age 12 the petitioned the court to get the master file on his adoption and all of the agencies dirty little secrets came out and then they successfully sued LA County Bur. of Adoptions. So social workers concern needs to be being sued for not providing all of the medical to the aparents physician if he requests it on a medical need to know. dee>

  • Anonymous
    November 6, 2008 (8:42 am)

    I would think in part you must look to your state law. In my state, the required disclosures of prenatal and birth and delivery records are spelled out. Additionally, it is possible to obtain a court order naming the APs the guardians pending finalization and giving them the right to use the child’s “new” name.

    Why would medical care by the same medical team be required? Babies often move after they are placed for adoption, sometimes to another state or even another country. I always obtain the medical records and redact the identifying information and send it on to the new medical care provider. If the “same team” is not willing to cooperate, find one that is.

    I would not consider a child’s medical history or even the birth family medical history “identifying information,” if it did not their names, SSNs, DOBs, address, telephone number or similar information.

    Failing to provide an Adoptive Family a child’s important medical history could also be grounds for a wrongful adoption suit.

  • Anonymous
    November 6, 2008 (8:43 am)

    I would think in part you must look to your state law. In my state, the required disclosures of prenatal and birth and delivery records are spelled out. Additionally, it is possible to obtain a court order naming the APs the guardians pending finalization and giving them the right to use the child’s “new” name.

    Why would medical care by the same medical team be required? Babies often move after they are placed for adoption, sometimes to another state or even another country. I always obtain the medical records and redact the identifying information and send it on to the new medical care provider. If the “same team” is not willing to cooperate, find one that is.

    I would not consider a child’s medical history or even the birth family medical history “identifying information,” if it did not contain their names, SSNs, DOBs, address, telephone number or similar information.

    Failing to provide an Adoptive Family a child’s important medical history could also be grounds for a wrongful adoption suit.

  • dee
    November 6, 2008 (10:43 pm)

    Until the adoption is finalized the aparents can call the child any name they choose from Tom, Dick or Heloise in their home and among friends BUT NOT AS A LEGAL NAME. Guardianship is the same as fostering the child there is nothing to say the social worker or court is going to finalize the adoption process, as all states do in depth background and home checks prior to an adoption finalization, and they can reject the prospective aparents if they want to.

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    December 23, 2008 (10:31 pm)

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