The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 17, 1982, Image 1
' 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