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' GAMECOCK LXXIV, No. 83 University of Soufh Carolina Wednesday February 17, 1982 Adopted By LAURA HUBBARD SUH Writer Editor's note: The names Dianne Rogers, J.H. Rogers and Mary Rogers are fictitious. The names were changed to protect the | feelings of all involved. She was born at the Medical College Hospital in Charleston, S.C. in 1960. She was delivered at 12:26 p.m. by Dr. fci.H. Brown. Her mother called her Sarah, but legally she had no name. She was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Rogers of Greenville, S.C. on April 17, 1960, before she was a month old. Today, she is Dianne Rogers, a 21-year-old senior | at USC majoring in elementary education. Her older sister Mary, a teacher, was also adopted. "I've always known I was adopted, I grew up with it. My parents always told me I was their special baby because I was adopted," Rogers said. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers adopted Rogers through the Children's Bureau of South ' $ Carolina in Columbia. In December of 1981, Rogers returned to the bureau to talk with caseworkers about her biological mother, and the circumstances surrounding her own birth and subsequent release for adoption. "I didn't become curious about my real parents until 1 tn n f Vt/\ nfr? , ^ wdb in duuui uic ilium gi auc That's when I got old enough to start wondering," she Prof* BY KATHY EDW Special to the Garneci , * You are driving down a hi car in front of you crash bankment. iirl. _ i 1 _1 _l _ r* a a wnai wouia you aor ai rescue; go for help; drive p without stopping? A USC researcher says yc be determined, at least in p; of your birth in the family. Dr. Reg Brasington, professor in the Depart Development at USC's Col Studies, has spent more researching how the order behavior and how the work are born influences your life Brasington said individu; an important factor in deve! points to research results iiiKinil cKiAtir fhnf nn ouui wiiivii onuvy viicav ambitions and behaviors because of birth order. "It's not that birth order behavior," Brasington say: born into a culture in which make certain assumptions. "It is not the (birth orde causes behavior, but from t see a unique world.'' For example, a first bom adult world, what Brasing Children! said. But Rogers was afraid to talk with her parents about her curiosity for fear of hurting their feelings. So cVlo unfil cUn rr*Airrkrl oiiv ?vuitV/U until otic; inu v cu to Columbia to begin looking into her background. "I'd think about going to the Children's Bureau, but I'd think about it at an inconvenient time, like on a Saturday or Sunday. I was just kind of paranoid, afraid of the truth," she said. When Rogers did go to the bureau, cKd f Oil lrn/1 *?0 f ttiffVi ir* oaiv laiiv^u iiioi wiiu uriaivu coordinator Sandra Howell, who discussed with her the reasons for requesting this information. Howell then sent her to Robert Howell, a bureau caseworker. He gave Rogers what is known as non-identifiable information, and discussed the information with her to answer any questions she might have. "At first, it was like reading someone else's autobiography. When it got to the part where she was. giving me up it hit me hard, real hard. I started crying," 1 Ms. Rogers said. Her 1 biological mother was 19 vears old when she eave ' birth to Dianne. She was very much in love with the I father, but found out he was 1 married before she could tell 1 him she was pregnant During several of the interviews caseworkers conducted with Rogers' t mother, the mother broke down and cried. The mother 1 spoke a great deal of J preparing a layette for her jssor Res ARDS world of bi| ock power and I volved in e\ . . .. the world ol ghway when the hoc Q? fl_ ? es into an em- T These fe tempt a heroic P^ionabk ast the accident ! ,ur response will an, Dy me oraer Brasi?gtoI an associate cha^cterist ment of Child "' ?' * lege of General ?'t,cally c than a decade statl!s qu0 a of birth affects Presldentsh i into which you First bor share perso il free choice is result, they lopment, but he They are o from scores of penal instit rtflin attitiiH(?s ipnlnnc , are determined possessions. Brasingto causes certain individual c s, "but you are born womer you are likely to the charac against soci t) position that first-born hat position, we characterisl understand i child enters an tendencies, [ton labels "the Of the top Seek Infor baby. When the baby was born, she decided to release her for adoption. The mother cried heavily after signing the legal surrender granting CUStodv of thf> hahv tn Children's Bureau. Rogers has decided to seek the identity of her biological mother, but not her father. "I couldn't care less about the father, he's a jackass," she said. But Rogers won't te^aMe to get this in ! /i* Many adopted ch cumstances surroui Under S.C. law tl formation on the i reveal the identity of iearches 3," where adults have all th< there are no other children in reryday life. "Your respect foi f big is tremendous, because i >wer," he said. elings, instilled at an im i age, spill over into adult life says. Many first borns develop voices because they emulate 2ar. and their world often lacks i of child-like voices, n attributes other first-borr ics to associations with "the ig." First borns are usuall) onservative, defenders of both nd principles. Almost all U.S ave been first borns. ns generally are reluctant t< nal experiences; perhaps as i are likely to develop ulcers verrepresented in mental an< utions. And they typically ar< particularly of persona n, who uses his research ii :ounseling sessions, says first 1 may have difficulty balancinj teristics of their birth ordei 1 uiy s expecuuiuns uecause mos traits are considered malt tics. He says that once womei their ambitious, aggressive they are extremely successful 20 women executives in th< mation Ab< formation from the Children's Bureau. According to the Code of Laws of the State of South Carolina of 1976, Section 20-71780. as amended in 1977 thp afpnrv nan rpbaco all ir?_ formation on the record that would not reveal the identity of the parents, and under court order can release identifiable information "for good cause." In the case of Max Bra^^^ wyy a Staff Art by MIKE FISHER ildren seek the cirnding their adoptions, ley can gain all inecord that would not their parents. Effects O ; country, 100 percent are first A first born might be i r capturing the reality of the t middle born is more likely to I fact, most notable artists and middle born, Brasington says li'nr tho 1if? , JL wi UIV 1II1UU11/ CU11U, 1IIU ) filled with many friends. The i big and powerful to the middl< > there is an older sibling with \ But while the older sibling 1 comfort, there may be rn ; Middle borns often create wl r calls "divergent behavior i pa renta 1 a ttention. Career choices for middle include helping professions, a work, or professions where r i leads to success, such as sales . . Last-born children are the i They have a strong sense of e characterized as sensitive an 1 They probably are spoiled customed to being dependent i "If you know it's yo Brasington says of parents, I with the last born, r Although first borns and t both likely to be successful p< b of last borns also reads like th i of contemporary assassins, e Jack Ruby, Lee Harvey Wilkes Booth and Sirhan Sir! b borns. Brasington saic >ut Their 1 v. The Children's Bureau in Feb. 1980, the South Carolina Supreme Court overruled a lower court decision or dering the Children's Bureau to release all its information concerning Brady's biological parents. Annette Boette, deputy director of the bureau, said this case was a rare occurrence. "Less than 10 percent of the children adopted through this bureau return for information. Even fewer are really into a search process," she said. Boette said the bureau has placed 5,200 children in permanent homes since 1902, when the bureau began operation. The law does not stipulate a minimum age at which adopted children may receive information concerning their biological parents. That decision is left to the discretion of bureau i caseworKers. "We base our decision on the maturity of the child, the nature of the information and the reason the child wants it," Boette said. "Their questions are usually rather focused, th$y really just want to talk to someone who understands. They ask such questions as 'Why did my mother give me up?'." A pacou/nrlrar Hicpnccoc AM VUUVfV Vt UVi V41UV uuuvu ' the information the bureau has on record with the child, but never releases the names of the biological parents. "Medically speaking, there is almost no reason to release information which f Birth C borns, he says, classified doci a photograper theory called ? wnrlH hut q whirh savs t be a painter. In represents the I musicians are to the assassir Last-born c is likely to be divorce rate a world is not as Only child) e child because category, am vhom to relate. bination of al provides some supposed tot fairy as well. Brasington ss hat Brasington usually high " to capture child. wniie ne pe children often ?lls onl?Lc such as social ^cause, the older people.' naking fr.ends strong^e{;se 'most athletic. " l'heir 1 humor and are "within the d comfortable. m W" " and are ac- many dlfferer on others. If there arerr ur caboose," you just relax" asr.s "? <^ u_?? abortions or e ic wuu s WHO T . _ , . Losing a chi Oswald, John "hich mef,ns lan all are last the parent s t 1 previously Parents would identify the parents. It's really the nonidentifiable information that's important, such as medical and geneological background. The balance between the right to know and the right to anonymity requires more than the wisdom of Solomon," Boette said. Just as adopted children may not find the identity of their biological parents through the bureau, neither may parents who released their children for adoption know any identifiable information concerning the children. The bureau maintains formal contact with a child until the child is officially adopted. At that time, the case is considered closed. Families who adopted children through the bureau routinely send cards to the bureau. "So we do keep up with some of the children on an informal hasis " Ropttf M" ? ? v. ...M. 1 ? ? said. Boette said twice as many adopted children as biological parents return to the bureau seeking information. Having been told that she can receive no more information from the Children's Bureau of South Carolina, Rogers said she plans to contact a search group such as ABISS and Triad to try to find her biological mother. >rder jments were used to develop a the "little brother syndrome" hat the assassinated leader j more powerful older brother i. hildren also have the highest nd incidence of alcoholism, ren make ud vet another d they usually are a com11 characteristics. "They are >e all things to all people," aid, which means there are expectations set for the only gged first borns as loners, he :hildren the "lonely only" iy have lived in a world with ' that makes them develop a of responsibility, but it also nteriction with people their i same family, you can have it families," Brasington said. lore than five years between !w "psychological family" is arriving child, making him or the qualities of several birth also considers stillbirths, arly deaths in his birth model. Id creates a "fallen angel" the child who follows inherits jxpectations for both the child see BIKTII ORDER page 3 N