 | Know your rights. Get a copy of the adoption records law
for the state where your adoption took place at your local library, online,
or from your legislator's office. If you are getting information from your
legislator, mention your desire for contact.
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| Contact the agency that oversaw your adoption. Ask what
services they provide, how much they charge, and how long the wait is for
that particular service.
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| Register with the Internal Soundex Reunion Registry (ISRR).
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| Find out if the state where you were born has an adoption
registry.
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| Talk to your adoptive parents. Usually the court adoption
decree will list your birth name.
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| Write down everything you can think of that you already
know about your adoption. Even if you already have non-identifying
information, think about asking for additional information using specific
questions about your birthparents' health, education, family backgrounds, and
interest.
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| Join a support group in your area AND in the area or state
where you were born, adopted or relinquished your child.
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| Access a computer and look for adoption resources on the
Internet. Public libraries have free access for patrons. Check with your
reference librarian for help in getting started. Not everything on the
Internet is accurate-information is only as good as what was keyed in for
that particular site.
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| Take time to understand what your search means to you and
why you are taking each step in your search. What do you want from contact
and/or a relationship once you have found the person you are seeking?
|
| Read about adoption. Many people recommend The Adoption
Triangle by Sorosky, Baran & Panor, Lost and Found by Betty Jean Lifton, and
Birthright by Jean A.S. Strauss as a particularly helpful at the beginning of
a search. To read about experiences after reunion, try Birthbond, by Judith
Gediman and Linda Brown, for a perspective on the birthmother's experience,
read The Other Mother, by Carole Schafer, or Birthmothers: Women Who have
Relinquished Babies for Adoption Tell Their Stories, by Merry Bloch Jones.
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| Don't give up hope-I believe there is no such thing as an
impossible search. Realize that it is very common to search intensely,
receive some information and then temporarily stop the search process only to
resume searching some days, weeks or years later. In my opinion, this helps
you become strong enough to discover the truth no matter what that truth may
be.
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| Search 101 (additional tips)
 | For website searches,
use wildcard searches |
| Call 411 - in city person was last in |
| Resources archived in public libraries |
| Original birth certificate is usually sealed to amended
birth certificate |
| States with open records - Kansas, Alaska, Alabama,
Delaware, Tennessee, Oregon. Oklahoma for those born after 1/1/99. |
| Regarding records - whiteout comes out with hairspray;
magic marker will fade in 24 hours if put on a window in the sun and tape
document. |
| Can send postcards to someone or people they know
check-offs like:
 | I know him/her |
| Not interested |
| Have info. contact me |
|
| Adoption Search Analogy - "It's like you walk into a
movie and it has already started. You watch it, it ends with applause and
you want to know how the movie began. So you search out the beginning." |
| Libraries - have current obituaries; often have
important people in family listed. |
| How to approach people: "I'm trying to reconnect with
X. Can you help me?" |
| Ask Alumni Centers: "Can you forward a letter on my
behalf?" |
| The Post Office - can ask for correct forwarding
address of a person. |
| Social Security inquiry procedure - If you have first,
middle and last name (maiden or current):
| give name and birth date of person |
| They will forward a letter (include the postage) |
|
| Write letter - very vague: "Contact me collect or write
me."
| Sample: "My name is ______. We last met in
[location] on [date, i.e., child's birth date]. I now live in [City,
State]. Status-married, kids, etc. I would like to share some genealogy
information with you. |
| Don't seal envelope. |
|
| Write letter to Social Security stating you need to
contact particular person. Send to your local Social Security office.
|
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