Using the Adoption Search Information to Complete the Puzzle

Organizing the Search Information to Prevent Duplication of Efforts

a.. Keep a log of contacts
Keeping a binder with index dividers is always recommended. Note what information you requested, the date you requested the information, the name of the person and office you contacted and the date you received the information. If you send important documents be sure and send copies when possible and keep the originals in your possession.

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Using the Search Information to Complete the Puzzle

a.. Posting your information with Reunion registries
There are several different types of reunion registries. Generally the registries on-line are not sponsored by an adoption agency or by the state of adoption and are searchable databases (see http://www.adoptionregistry.com/). Most on-line registries are free but some charge a fee.

The following on-line registries are for all states and countries and are public information. Be careful about what information put leave on a registry. It all becomes public knowledge on the Internet. Leaving the possible name of a birth parent is not a good idea. This is not the way for the birth parent or any birth family member to find out that you are searching for them. Remember to always respect the privacy of the other person. When posting on a registry check to see if the registry has an option for someone to send you a response through the website
administration. It is not recommended that you leave identifying information about yourself such as your email address, phone number or full name. The best way to post a message is to give only your date of birth, gender and city and state of birth of the adopted person. Following these rules should protect you from being scammed.

All birth locations:

http://www.adoptionregistry.com/

http://www.reunionregistries.com/

The following registries can be accessed on-line for information and forms. They are sponsored by the state of adoption and the information that you submit is confidential and not public information:

Arkansas: http://www.state.ar.us/dhs/adoption/mcvar.htm

Colorado: http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/hs/aboutadoptionregistry.html

Connecticut: http://www.state.ct.us/dcf/foster.htm

Georgia: http://www.adoptions.dhr.state.ga.us/reunion.htm

Hawaii: http://www.state.hi.us/jud

Idaho: http://www2.state.id.us/dhw/vital_stats/adopt/var.htm

Illinois: http://www.idph.state.il.us/vital/iladoptreg.htm

Iowa: http://www.idph.state.ia.us/pa/vr.htm

Louisiana: http://www.dss.state.la.us/offocs/html/registry.html

Maine: http://www.state.me.us/dhs/DHSaddresses.htm

Maryland: http://www.dhr.state.md.us/voladopr.htm

Michigan: http://www.mfia.state.mi.us/CFSAdmin/adoption/registry.html

Missouri: http://www.dss.state.mo.us/dfs/adoir.htm

Nevada: http://dcfs.state.nv.us/page51.html

New Jersey: http://www.state.nj.us/humanservices/adoption/registryframe.html

New York: http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/consumer/vr.htm#adoption

Ohio: http://www.odh.state.oh.us/Birth/adopt.htm

Oklahoma: http://www.okdhs.org/adopt/reunion.htm

Oregon: http://www.scf.hr.state.or.us/ar/index.htm

Pennsylvania: http://www.dpw.state.pa.us/adoptpakids/paemedicalhist.asp

South Dakota: http://www.state.sd.us/social/CPS/Adoption/registry.htm

Tennessee: http://www.state.tn.us/youth/children/special/advancednotice.htm

Texas: http://www.tdh.state.tx.us/bvs/car/car.htm

Utah: http://www.health.state.ut.us/bvr/html/forms.html

Vermont: http://www.state.vt.us/srs/adoption/registry.html

Wisconsin: http://www.dhfs.state.wi.us/children/adoption/adsearch.htm

Registries are sometimes confidentially maintained by the adoption agency that facilitated the adoption. Contact the adoption agency that handled the adoption to see if they maintain a registry.

The largest and oldest registry is the I.S.R.R., International Soundex Reunion Registry. While they have a website their registry is not interactive. It is confidential however and the database is very well known: http://www.isrr.net.

a.. Posting your search information with on-line message boards
On-line message boards are similar to on-line registries except that they cover a wider scope of topics such as relinquishment, adoption, reunion and post-reunion issues rather than just search information (see http://www.adoptionforums.com/)

Again, be careful about what information put leave on a message board. It all becomes public knowledge on the Internet. Use a message board that protects your privacy and does not allow scammers to contact you directly. Posting all of your non-identifying information or the name of your birth parents (if you have the name) is not a good idea. You need to protect the privacy of the person that you are trying to find.

a.. Using services through the adoption agency or central governing state agency. Not all states or even agencies within the same states have the same services. If the state of adoption is different that the state of birth the adoption file and services associated with your adoption is located in the state where the adoption was finalized. Check with the adoption
agency that facilitated the adoption for services that they have in their agency. Also, the central governing agency for all agencies in a state maintains duplicates of records. Some of the services now offered are "Confidential Intermediary Search" "Mutual Consent Registry" and the "Waiver for Consent to Contact Form".
Definition of Confidential Intermediary Search: the court in the state of adoption assigns a Confidential Intermediary staff person to review your adoption file. The C.I.'s have access to the sealed adoption files for the purpose of conducting a search. The Confidential Intermediary locates and makes the initial contact with the other party in the adoption action. They obtain that person's consent or veto for the release of information and contact between the adoptee and the birth family. The main drawback of the C.I. program is that if the other party does not want contact you are not given identifying information to contact them yourself. Also, the most powerful contact is the initial contact between the adoptee and the birth family. It's difficult to have a third party facilitate this contact when you don't know what was said or how it was said.

Definition of Mutual Consent Registry: Also known as the Passive Registry or Volunteer Registry. Registries allow parties to the adoption to consent or not to consent to have their identifying information released. These confidential registries are maintained in databases and depend on both parties registering. If a match is found both parties will receive notification by a registry administrator.

Definition of Waiver for Consent to Contact Form: A Waiver allows parties to the adoption to file a consent form that will be placed in the adoption file. This waiver will give consent to have their identifying information released. Both adoptee and birth parent must file a Waiver with the agency for the waiver program to work. The Waiver program does not search and locate the other party to the adoption. Its purpose is to release identifying information if both parties have filed a Waiver giving their consent.

To determine if any of these options are available in your state of adoption: http://naic.acf.hhs.gov/database/nadd/naddsearch.cfm

a.. Petitioning the court for the adoption file
The purpose of petitioning the court for your adoption file is to access identifying information and to request a copy of your original birth certificate. You can petition the court in the county and state where the adoption was finalized to request that your adoption file be unsealed for your review or for copies.

The courts usually require a "good cause approaching the necessitous" before they will give permission to open a sealed adoption file. A medical necessity reason generally is required. If you have a genetic medical condition have your Dr. write a statement on his letterhead defining your medical condition and how opening your file and finding your birth family and their medical history would change the course and treatment of your disease.

The I.C.W.A. (Indian Child Welfare Act), Section 1951 (b), a Federal law, requests the court of adoption to release the contents of the adoption file to an adopted person who has American Indian heritage if the adoptee files a petition to unseal their adoption file with the court. You must have proof of your Indian heritage and that information is contained in your non-identifying information. The purpose of the law is disclosure of information for enrollment of an Indian child in their tribe or for determination of member rights or benefits. To review the I.C.W.A. law go to: http://www.adoptionlaws.org/indian_child_welfare_act.asp

When petitioning a court be sure and include a copy of your amended birth certificate, a copy of your driver's license and a cover letter stating your reasons for petitioning the court to open your adoption file. Have your letter notarized before signing and mailing registered mail. Any additional information that you have such as a court case number, non-identifying information, Final Decree of Adoption should be included.

Contact the court of adoption and request their petition form for this purpose. If the court of jurisdiction for your adoption does not use a petition form but instead requests that you write your own "pleading" this format is usually acceptable:
PETITION TO REQUEST ADOPTION FILE

# 1 Case number (if known):

# 2 Name of adopted person:

# 3 Name of person prior to adoption:

# 4 Date of birth:

# 5 County and State of birth:

# 6 County and State of Final Adoption Decree:

# 7 Names of adoptive parents:

# 8 Names of natural parents:

# 9 Adoption occurred about:

# 10 I am the:

____ adoptive father/mother

____ natural father/mother

____ adopted person

# 11 I desire:

____ certified copy of adoption decree

_XX_other: Entire contents of file.

____ certified copy of adoption decree

# 12 Necessitous reason for requesting a copy of the adoption file.

# 13 Signature of person/s requesting:

# 14 Name, address, phone number of person/s requesting:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Based upon the circumstances outlined:

____ Authority is granted to the Clerk to release adoption information to the person requesting.

____ Request is denied

Judge of the Superior Court
Date

a.. Checking public records on-line
Once you have a name and your non-identifying information you can check public records available in some states to review dates of birth, places of birth and other information that you want to confirm or research. In states where the records are public information the certificates or information in the certificates can be viewed or ordered for genealogy reasons or for any reason. In other states the records are restricted to the person named in the certificate. In that case the records office generally requires a Power of Attorney giving you permission to request the certificate or asks for your relationship to the person named in the certificate and requires a copy of your driver's license before the certificate will be issued.

Social Security Death Index:

http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/

Birth, death, marriage divorce index for some states:

http://www.vitalsearch-worldwide.com/

School Information:

http://www.classmates.com/

Military Information:

http://members.aol.com/veterans/warlib6.htm

http://www.classmates.com/

Genealogy Information:

http://www.ancestry.com/main.aspx

http://www.rootsweb.com/

http://www.familysearch.org/

http://www.genhomepage.com/world.html

Vital Records on-line: State by state records offices, fees for the records and ordering information

http://reunion.adoption.com/publicrecords/statebystate.php

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/howto/w2w/w2welcom.htm

http://www.vitalchek.com/
a.. Other sources of public records
Libraries called "Archives Library" are maintained by each individual state. These libraries are located in the state capitol and contain archived collections of phone books, city directories (also called criss-cross directories) and newspapers. Some collections also include property tax rolls and the marriage, death and birth indexes. The most recent 1930 Census Record is part of some library collections. You need to check with the library in your state to see what records their library maintains.

These collections are very helpful when searching. If you have a name and a city and a year you can check the city directory for that year and city and find a list of people by first and last name, address and occupation. The archived newspapers are especially helpful for researching obituary notices when you have information on grandparents. You can check this website for libraries by state:
http://www.loc.gov/global/library/statelib.html. Some records can be requested through your local library by using the inter-library loan program. Check with your local librarian if you want to request information to help you in your search.

National Archives are located in several cities in the United States. These facilities hold records generated by Federal Government agencies in the area they serve. Some records that you might find useful are census records and military records. Since the records are unique and in some cases fragile, original records held by one region cannot be sent to another region for use by researchers. To locate the National Archives Resource center for your area of research:
http://www.archives.gov/facilities/research_centers.html. Most centers have an archivist and volunteers to help you with your research.

State Offices usually maintain statewide vital records from each county in the state. When doing research it is easier if you can access these records if you do not know what county in the state the birth, death, marriage and divorce records were recorded. Vital Records are a wonderful source of information that can help you with your search. State Vital Record office addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and websites can be reviewed at http://www.vitalchek.com/. Not all states maintain these records as public records.

County Offices maintain the following records. Not all states have these records available to the public. For a list of county offices you can find addresses and phone numbers by county and state at http://www.vitalchek.com/.

Adoption records

Birth records

Death records

Marriage records

Divorce records

Probate records

Property tax records

Civil and criminal court records

Church records can be a valuable resource. Baptismal records, marriage records, death records, birth records and member records are usually archived. If possible, it is best to visit the church in person. Babies relinquished for adoption were sometimes baptized under their birth name and the name of their birth parents and witnesses to the baptism will be noted if a baptismal certificate is found. This is especially true of those religions that baptized infants within the first few weeks of life.

School records can be a source of pictures and names from a yearbook. Some schools will also verify that a past student was attending their school during a certain time period. While most schools will not give out addresses you can contact the alumni association and ask for information about contacting an alumni of the school. If they will not disclose an address you might request that they forward your letter to the alumni member. School reunion groups are also a good source of information.

Usually the Class President was the person in charge of the reunions so you might check yearbooks for this resource.

Newspapers, especially those in Archives libraries, can be researched for obituary notices if you have information in the non-identifying report about a grandparent that was deceased. Most newspapers did not publish birth announcements for babies that were relinquished. However, if the child was not an infant when relinquished the birth notices for the date of birth would reveal the children born on a particular day.

Military Records will only release minimum information but even one more piece of small information often is helpful. The National Personnel Records Center is a resource that you might check out at:
http://www.archives.gov/facilities/mo/st_louis.html.
a.. Non-public record resources
Attorneys that facilitated a private adoption would have file information that would be helpful in your search. Unfortunately most attorneys consider the information confidential and will not release any information. The adoptee is not considered a "party" to the legal action even though the adoptee was the reason for the legal action. The parties to the legal action would be the adoptive parents and the birth parents.

Maternity Homes often maintained their own records in addition to the agency records or private adoption records held by the central governing agency for all adoptions in the state. Sometimes a request for these records has identifying information that the adoption agency omitted in their non-identifying report.

Hospital records, delivery Dr. and Pediatrician records, when requested, sometimes get mailed to an adoptee containing valuable identifying information such as the name and date of birth of the birth mother. Usually this information is blacked out but many resourceful adoptees have received records that were not altered. You can have your family Dr. request your infant hospital records using his letterhead or you can request the records yourself by stating your date of birth and birth name. There is not a high rate of success in getting these records (or in getting identifying information if you do get the records) but it is always worth the effort when your request is successful. In your letter request your admission record, hospitalization record and discharge record.