(June 23) -- A lawsuit filed in New Jersey brings up issues of privacy in adoption cases.
An woman is suing the state for allegedly facilitating a reunion with a daughter she gave up for adoption 30 years ago, the Philadelphia Daily News reported.
The Atlantic City woman, whose name is being withheld from the press, gave up her child after being raped. The lawsuit, filed June 18, claims she felt "violated, in shock and short of breath," after her biological child showed up at her home in December.
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"Everyone would like to believe that these reunions are so wonderful," the woman's attorney, Matthew Weisberg, told the newspaper. "This one wasn't. They didn't have coffee together. My client went pale. She is devastated and continues to be devastated because her biological child continues to attempt contact with her."
The lawsuit claims the woman received a letter in August 2008 from New Jersey's Division of Youth and Family Services about an adopted adult who was looking for her birth parents. The letter requested confirmation both of the woman's identity and her interest in pursuing the case. The woman chose not to respond.
Despite the birth mother's lack of response to the inquiry, the adopted daughter found her four months later. The woman's legal complaint says DYFS told her officials "more or less did what they had to do" after she did not return the initial letter.
The woman is seeking $1 million in damages from the state for emotional damages resulting from the inquiry and reunion.
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