Understanding Michigan’s Donut Hole.
Adoptees deserve the same unrestriced access to thier vital records and non-adoptees. Current Michigan law treats Michigan adopted people unequally based on the date the state terminated parental rights. This categorizes adoptees into social classes and discriminates against them based on which category they fall into. If you were relinquished between 5/28/1945 and 9/12/1980 you are what we call a “Donut Hole Adoptee.” For most Michigan-born adult adopted people who fall into the “donut hole” years, a court order is required to obtain a copy of the original birth certificate.
From what we understand, the donut hole was created by legislation aimed to make it easier for adoptees to obtain information about their origins, but the problem is it was not retroactive to the date the law was put in place…leaving out a massive group of adoptees. These laws that we call “compromised” are agreed to with the intention of coming back and fixing it later, but that was well over 40 years ago now and it still has not been fixed. For this reason along with others, Michigan adoptees do not support compromised legislation. It created an overly complex system that we have had to navigate for over four decades.