>> CATHY: ON JULY 1, MINNESOTA BECAME THE 15TH STATE TO ALLOW ADOPTED PEOPLE TO ACCESS THEIR ORIGINAL BIRTH CERTIFICATES.

THE LAW CHANGE WAS APPROVED BY STATE LAWMAKERS AT THE END OF SESSION THIS YEAR.

ADVOCATES SAY IT IS PART OF A MOMENTUM FOR EQUAL ACCESS RIGHTS HAPPENING NATIONWIDE.

REPORTER KAOMI LEE HAS MORE.

>> Kaomi: TWO MINNESOTA WOMEN HAVE LIVED LIVES OVERSHADOWED BY A SECRET.

ONE WAS HERS TO BEAR.

>> I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT SHE CAME FROM MONTANA, THAT SHE -- WHEN SHE FOUND OUT HE WAS EXPECTING, SHE CAME TO THE TWIN CITIES.

>> Kaomi: AND ONE WAS HERS TO KEEP.

>> IN THE '60s, I WAS SINGLE AND I FOUND OUT I WAS PREGNANT AND I KNEW I WASN'T GOING TO GET MARRIED.

AND IF YOU WEREN'T GOING TO GET MARRIED, IT WASN'T ACCEPTABLE, IT WAS SOCIETY THAT SORT OF SAID, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN'T BE A SINGLE MOM.

>> Kaomi: 82-YEAR-OLD MARY JO LINDERBERG OF MINNETONKA WOULD NEVER MEET HER BIRTH MOTHER.

82-YEAR-OLD PAT GLISS CAN I NEVER SAW OR HELD HER NEWBORN SON BEFORE HE WAS TAKEN AWAY FOR ADOPTION IN THE 1960s.

IT WOULD BE MANY DECADES LATER BEFORE HE FOUND HER.

>> IT WAS VERY HARD.

THERE WAS A LOT OF DARK DAYS WHEN YOU HAVE THE BABY AND YOU'RE RECOVERING AND YOU WALK OUT OF THE HOSPITAL EMPTY HANDED.

>> Kaomi: LINDERBERG AND GLISSKI WENT ON WITH THEIR LIVES, MARRIED AND STARTED FAMILIES.

GLISSKI TOLD NO ONE BESIDES A BEST FRIEND WHOM SHE STAYED WITH DURING THE PREGNANCY AND LATER HER EVENTUAL HUSBAND, NOT EVEN HER PARENTS KNEW.

LINDERBERG ALSO REMAINED MOSTLY IN THE DARK.

>> MY MOTHER HAD DIED GIVING BIRTH TO ME WAS THE STORY THAT MY MOM TOLD ME WHEN I WAS 10 I'D SAY.

WHEN I FIRST BEGAN TO GET REALLY CURIOUS ABOUT WHO WAS MY MOTHER.

THIS SEEMED TO PUT EVERYTHING TO REST, AS FAR AS MY MOM WAS CONCERNED, WELL, THAT'S THE END OF THOSE QUESTIONS, THEY'LL NEVER COME BACK AGAIN.

BUT, OF COURSE, THEY WEREN'T TO ME.

>> Kaomi: AMENDED BIRTH CERTIFICATES ARE ALL MINNESOTA-BORN ADOPTED PEOPLE COULD HAVE, WITHOUT AN AFFIDAVIT FROM A BIRTH PARENT.

BUT ON JULY 1st, THE LAW CHANGED.

MINNESOTA BECAME THE 15th STATE TO PEN ORIGINAL BIRTH CERTIFICATES TO ADOPTEES.

BEFORE THAT ADOPTED PEOPLE COULD HIRE AN ATTORNEY AND TRY TO GET COURT DOCUMENTS OR ADOPTION AGENCY FILES BY COURT ORDER.

BUT IT WAS COSTLY AND OFTEN THE LUCK OF THE JUDGE YOU DREW.

>> OR THOSE AROUND THE STATE, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO WERE BORN IN MINNESOTA AND ADOPTED, THEY NOW HAVE THE RIGHT TO OBTAIN THEIR OWN BIRTH RECORD WITHOUT ANY STRINGS ATTACHED.

AND THAT'S JUST TREMENDOUS.

BUT THEN IT ALSO SAYS THAT YOU CAN UNDO YEARS OF SECRECY.

>> Kaomi: LOOSE, AN ADOPTEE HIMSELF, HELPED CRAFT THE NEW MINNESOTA LAW.

IT CLEANS UP WHERE A 1977 LAW LEFT OFF.

HE SAYS FUNDAMENTALLY IT IS ABOUT THE RIGHT FOR A PERSON TO KNOW WHO THEY ARE.

DO YOU THINK SOME PEOPLE ARE SURPRISED THAT IN THIS DAY AND AGE THAT THIS IS STILL AN ISSUE?

>> YES AND NO.

I MEAN, I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO ARE, I WOULD SAY YOUNGER FOLKS ARE SURPRISED TO THINK THAT YOU CAN BE -- YOUR ORIGINS CAN BE WITHHELD.

I THINK OLDER FOLKS WHO HAVE SORT OF BEEN STEEPED IN THE SECRECY OF ADOPTION, THE FIRST THING THEY THINK ABOUT IS, YOU KNOW, RELEASING A RECORD THAT MAY RELEASE THE NAME OF A BIRTH ARENT.

>> Kaomi: THE LAW DOESN'T APPLY TO PEOPLE ADOPTED IN OTHER STATES.

LOOSE SAYS THE CHANGE WAS DECADES IN THE MAKING.

THE MINNESOTA COALITION FOR ADOPTION REFORM WAS A MAIN ADVOCATE AND SO WERE INDIVIDUAL BIRTH PARENTS AND ADOPTEES LIKE GLISSKI AND LINDERBERG, A MORE RESTRICTIVE BILL PASSED THE LEGISLATURE IN 2008, BUT REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR TIM PAWLENTY VETOED IT.

THIS YEAR, A YOUNGER LEGISLATURE TOOK IT UP GAIN, AND IT WAS SWEPT INTO A SESSION-ENDING OMNIBUS HEALTH APPROPRIATIONS BILL.

LOOSE SAYS IT'S ABOUT EQUAL RIGHTS.

>> AN ADOPTED PERSON WHO IS 18 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER MAY FILL OUT A FORM, PAY $40, SEND IT IN TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, AND THEN WITHIN A FEW WEEKS, THEY'RE GOING TO GET A COPY OF THEIR ORIGINAL BIRTH RECORD.

THEY MAY GET ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS.

ONE OF THOSE COULD BE A CONTACT PREFERENCE FORM THAT A BIRTH PARENT FILLED OUT INDICATING IF THEY HAVE ANY PREFERENCE FOR CONTACT, WHETHER IT'S NO CONTACT OR, YES, I WOULD WELCOME CONTACT, OR, I'D LIKE CONTACT, BUT COULD WE PLEASE USE AN INTERMEDIARY.

>> Kaomi: OVER COMFORT FOOD, A LOCAL GROUP OF ADOPTEES CONNECT AND MEET EVERY MONTH.

THIS MONTH'S MEETING WAS EXTRA SPECIAL.

BEFORE EATING, THERE WAS BUSINESS TO DO, ORGANIZER TRYSHA OSBORNE SAYS, THE CHANGE HAS BEEN LONG OVERDUE.

>> IT JUST MEANS LIKE WE'RE ACTUALLY BEING TREATED LIKE THE ADULTS WE ARE AND NOT TREATED LIKE CHILDREN ANYMORE, THAT NEED TO BE PROTECTED.

>> Kaomi: SHERRY RUDEBUSH HAS PAID NEARLY $1,000 TO LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICE AND STILL HASN'T GOTTEN THE NAME OF HER BIRTH PARENTS.

>> I NEVER INTENDED TO HURT ANYBODY OR DO ANYTHING.

I JUST INTENDED TO GET SOMETHING THAT I FELT BELONGED TO ME.

>> Kaomi: AND WHAT -- -- WHAT ABOUT ADOPTEE MARY JO LINDERBERG, SHE FILED HER PAPERWORK THE FIRST DAY SHE COULD.

SHE HAD KNOWING HER MOTHER'S NAME WILL HELP HER TOP OFF A GREAT LIFE.

>> IT WILL BE NICE TO JUST FIT THESE LAST PIECING PIECES IN.

MY KIDS ARE CURIOUS TO KNOW.

>> Kaomi: PAT GLISSKI IS ACTIVE WITH A NATIONAL SUPPORT GROUP CALLED CONCERNED UNITED BIRTH PARENTS.

LOCALLY THE GROUP MEETS EVERY MONTH IN St. LOUIS PARK.

AFTER HER SON FOUND HER WHEN HE WAS 44, SHE SAYS SHE TOLD EVERYONE ELSE IN HER LIFE, INCLUDING HER OTHER THREE ADULT CHILDREN.

>> ONCE I STARTED TELLING EVERYONE, IT WAS SUCH A RELIEF TO BE ABLE TO FINALLY