Although I am usually fairly faithful in keeping up with comments, I found a buried request recently for information about searching in Washington State. Washington State does have the confidential intermediary system. My son found me through the agency in Washington that handled his adoption. It took them nine months to find me as I had moved several times over the years. There were also several name changes as well due to marriage and divorce.

Using confidential intermediaries... more

This reunion story is another of those stories that make you shake your head at the interesting twist in the story. An adoptee who searched for her birth mother discovered that ten years previously that she and her birth mother had worked in the same beauty salon. They had little chance to talk though or they might have discovered their connection at that time.

I know another adoptee who discovered that several years before reunion that he and... more

This editorial states that:

Adoptive adults deserve sympathy and support in reconciling with their fate. What they don't need is a proposed state law granting them access to records that make it easier for them to identify and contact their birth parents.

Adoptees do not need sympathy or support if their "fate" is adoption. They need their adoption records and should have a right to them. How insulting is it... more

Adoption reunion registries can sometimes match people quickly. However, most registries are mutual consent registries and only work when both parties sign up.

Many people are not aware of these registries which cuts down on the probability that they will result in a match. However, with the popularity of the Internet, I believe that more people find their way to registries every day. Reunite.com's registry currently has over 300,000 people registered. Below are some points to regarding the... more

Reunion lover that I am, when I write about open records I often yammer on about how many opportunities reunions provide for healing. I talk about how much my reunion has helped me to find some peace and resolution. I discuss all the ins and outs of reunions and talk about various possible outcomes. However, adoptees’ rights’ activists make a very valid point when the subject of open records comes up. Open records are not just about reunion. In fact, people are reuniting all over the place without open records. Reunions happen often because for... more

"And the phone gets silent and she starts crying and she calls me El Nino, the baby, the baby is back."

Searching for Birthparents is a newspaper article about a man adopted from Honduras. The urge to search came for him when his son Miguel was born. The birth of a child for an adoptee is often a time when thoughts of birth parents surface, and sometimes spark a search.

Fortunately, this young man did have some information about his birthparents.... more

EHbabes.com was created by a mother who surrendered her child to adoption via Easter House.

EHbabes.com is intended to be a search, reunion and support site for Easter House mothers, fathers, adoptive parents and our children.

This article explains that Easter House was part of a complex network begun by a man named Seymour Kurtz. According to Lynne Taggart who interviewed Kurtz for a book about baby brokers, Kurtz received his license... more

For a birth mother in reunion, all sorts of remarks will be offered once you volunteer the news that you have been found or found your child. One of the main reasons I never told anyone that I was a birth mother until reunion was my fear that people would reject me once they heard my "secret." All in all, I was fortunate to receive lots of support and few insensitive comments.

Here are some of the ways and comments nearly guaranteed to stir up reunited birth moms and set their blood boiling:

1. One of the all time favorite comments made... more

Do you believe that only Americans search for lost birth parents or relinquished children? Adoption search is not only a growing practice in the United States, but world-wide.

A new twist here -this website was created by not a birth parent, but a man who lived with a birth mother for many years. He began this site after reading about a birth mother who was looking for her child and finding no South African search sites. His site offers information for those searching with connections... more

You have to love that term - "tracking down." For me it evokes an image of someone dressed in camouflage gear traipsing through the woods carrying a long rifle, and ready to aim and fire. Although I do not believe it is the best way to describe an adoption search, sometimes searching is a matter of tracking someone down. Therefore "tracking down" does not bother me.

Tracking Down Biological Kids or Parents is an article about recent changes in adoption access laws in North Carolina.... more