Why are adoption records sealed? What would happen if adoption records were opened? Over the past 160 years, adoptions in the United States have moved from informal placements to sealed-document contracts. When Massachusetts enacted its first adoption law in 1851 there was no legal precedent, and as adoption law developed, states began sealing birth records of adoptions. Later, in the 1960s and 1970s, the birth control pill, legalized abortion, and single-parent families reduced unplanned pregnancies, increased single-parent families, and made an outdated label illegitimate. As baby boomer adoptees matured, they demanded that birth records be unsealed and encountered fears from lawmakers and social workers of lower adoption rates, higher abortion rates, and loss of anonymity. Despite these fears and reservations, research shows that open records cannot cause loss of privacy, decrease adoptions, or increase abortions. Although the codes and laws of ancient civilizations include adoption, the Massachusetts Adoption of Children Act of 1851 is considered the first modern adoption law. Joan Hollinger (1993) in her book Adoption Law and Practice states that American adoption law was unprecedented and "is purely a creature of the statutes that have been enacted in this country since the mid-nineteenth century." Early adoption law "was usually employed to provide male heirs for childless couples, to maintain family lines and property" "and any benefits to the adoptee were secondary." (Hollinger 1993). Nor was there any precedent in English common law that did not mention adoption, and it was not until 1926 that England enacted its first adoption law (Sokoloff 1993). English custom took in orphaned and destitute children by placing them with artisans as apprentices or families as in... middle of paper... Interests. of natural parents and adult adoptees. Willian and Mary Journal of Women and the Law, 11, 461-480. Hollinger, J. (1991) Adoption Law and Practice, New York: Mathew Bender & Co. Johnston, W.R. (). 2012, March 11). Abortion statistics and other data. Retrieved February 18, 2012, from http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/policy/abortion/Kuhns, J. (1994). Breaking down the walls of secrecy. Golden Gate University Law Review, 24(1), 259-297.March, K. (1995). Perception of adoption as social stigma: Motivation for seeking and reunification. Journal of Marraige and the Family, 57(3), 653-660. Samuels, E. (2001). The strange story of adopted adult access to original birth records. Adoption Quarterly, 5(2), 63-74. Sokoloff, B. (1993). The antecedents of American adoption. The future of children, 3(1), 17-25.