Mirah Riben . . .
. . . author and activist advocating for
family preservation and for the rights of
adoptees to their own original official
birth certificate.
- In favor of Family Preserveration and replacing current adoption practices with "simple adoption" or Permanent Legal Guardianship.
- To end the falsification of birth certificates that claim adoptess were born to their adopters and restore equal access for adoptees who have been issued fraudulent birth certificates.
- In opposition of all profiteering, corruption, coercion in adoption.
- To expose the emotional, physical and sexual abuse in adoptive families including children rehomed, abandoned and murder by those who committed to protect and care for them.
- To end pre-birth matching and "expenses" paid directly from prospective adopters to expectant mothers. These practices, currently allowable in many states, are simply a rues for human trafficking and have no place in child welfare.They enmesh expectant mothers considering adoption with those seeking to adopt, creating false expectations for hopeful adopters and feelings of obligation and indebtedness for the mothers-to-be.

- Click for REVIEWS of The Stork Market
- Out of print: FREE PDF download
Excerpts of The Dark Side have appeared in:
- Utne Reader, "A Last Resort," Nov/Dec, 1991, Vol. 4, pp 53-54
- Social Issues Review Series, 1991, Vol. 4
- Macrocosm USA, "A Last Resort," 1992, p. 147
- 2009. Nominated National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Public Citizen of the Year
- 1997-1998. Who’s Who in American Women, 20th edition
- 1989. Recipient “Outstanding Achievement Award to an Author”, People Searching News
Risking imprisonment, Mirah reunited hundreds of families separated by adoption and helped mothers prevent unnecessary loss by providing temporary shelter in her home.
As an advocate of family preservation not adoption separation, Mirah seeks an end to the falsification of vital records and believe that adoption as it is currently practiced needs to be replaced with guardian adoption after all attempts to provide resources for children to remain safely within their extended family have been exhausted. Such permanent legal guardianship would give all necessary rights to caretakers without falsifying the adopted person's original birth certificate. It is in no person's best interest to have their vital records falsified, hiding the truth from the individuals whose records they are.
Mirah co-founded the original Origins in 1979. She is former Director of the American Adoption Congress, Past Vice President of Communications of Origins-USA, and a lifetime member of Bastard Nation.
She organized a Candlelight Vigil to honor Lisa and to bring attention to the need for adoption reform and adoptee access. It was covered on WNBC-TV New York.
Mirah instead urged the adoption community to reframe the issue as what it was: an issue of denied eual human rights. She again presented this revised relabeling of adoptee access in her article: "Dear Bastards Demand Equality" which was published in the Spring/Summer 2006 Vol. 8, No 1, BastardQuarterly.

In April 2009, at the AAC in Cleveland, Mirah presented: "'Open Records' versus 'Equal Access: Reexamining our Goals" again encouraging adoption rights advocates yet again to stop asking for “open records,” and to frame their argument as one of equal rights. The button (above, right) was designed for that event.
Mirah has since gone further and demands states stop issuing falsified, fruadulent birth certificates.
Mirah has been keynote, invited speaker, and panel member at numerous national and state adoption conferences such as:
Mirah has appeared as an adoption expert on Russian-American TV numerous times to discuss the abuse, murder, and abandonment of Russian adopted children that led to the ban on Russian adoptions.
Mirah has also appeared on several national television programs including The Morton Downey Jr. Show and The Joan Rivers Show to discuss the Steinberg/Nussbaum murder of their illegally adopted child.
In this old blog post, Mirah shares her thoughts on whether her involvement in adoption is an Obsession or Commitment.
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