Is there a definitive response as to how long to continue searching? Actually there is an extremely simple one. No one but you knows how important your search is. The simple response as to how long you should search? As long as you feel that you want or need to do so. A search is more significant for some people than others. However, most searchers that I have met are very intent on a successful result. You may decide that you need a break from searching or wish to give up entirely. The decision is yours to make, and no one else... more

Iowa Governor Vilsack is dropping out of the Presidential race. It's too bad that he has decided not to run. Although I know little about his political views, I figured his campaigning would help bring some attention to adoption search and reunion. Certainly the subject needs attention in my view.

If you recall, Governor Vilsack is an adoptee and recently received a letter from a nun who used to work at the unwed mothers home where his birth mom spent some time. She told him that information... more

Step 7 is to petition the court to gain access to your adoption records.

Not all states allow you to petition the court for your records. However, if your state does allow this procedure, it is well worth the effort. Although it sounds complicated and a great deal of trouble, it is not nearly as difficult as it appears to be. Policies to petition courts for adoption records sometimes even vary in different counties in a state.

There are paid services that will petition the court for you if you choose not to do so yourself.... more

Step 6 is to purchase a notebook for documents and the information that you are beginning to compile.

A three-ring binder notebook with pockets might be your best choice. The biggest advantage to having a notebook dedicated specifically to your search is that it will help you keep all your information together. Since a search is somewhat like putting together a puzzle, you need to keep all the pieces together. Periodically, examine them and try to make the pieces fit together and solve your search.

If you sign up for... more

When it comes to how people feel the bottom lines is that each person feel the way they feel. No one can make them feel any differently and each person must work through their own feelings through time.

A natural mother may feel as if they didn’t abandon their child. They may try to find peace with that. They may feel or thing that the adoptees that feel abandoned could never understand what the natural mother s went though. Some natural mothers may not be able to understand what adoptees deal with in their every day lives.

I think... more

ADOPTEE GRANNIE ANNIE

NEEDS MIRACLE

Please Forward Me Everywhere!

Granny Annie aka Anita Field has been searching since 1993 and has gone through the usual channels with no success. In fact, she has tried more than the traditional methods to find any birth family members. She successfully petitioned the court and obtained her birth records. However, since her adoption was a gray market adoption, she knows that some of the information on her records is... more

The comic "Luann".

Starting on January 22, 2007 the story line for the comic strip is adoption. The story line goes on for several weeks and you can read each day by clicking the link for the next day.

The comic strip is written by Greg Evans and he hits the nail on the head for several issues that he manages to bring up in this series of comics. I have to wonder if he is an adoptee or sibling himself. His realistic twist on adoption search and reunion is well presented.... more

WGBH and Spy Pond Productions is seeking people to be involved with a 90-minute PBS documentary and a website called Adoption Families. The project will explore many sides of adoption, including: open adoption, international adoption, adoption through the foster care system, and people’s quest to learn their background. Built around intimate stories of adoptive families, they will create a high-profile television program for national broadcast. The film will center on approximately five families, or individuals, whose situations and experiences reflect... more

Mr. Harrison had been thinking about getting in touch since reading in an article in The New York Times 15 months ago that two teenagers whose mothers had used his sperm to conceive were looking for him.

Since there is not much etiquette to refer to for sperm donors, this man arbitrarily picked Valentine's Day to announce himself whose mothers had used his sperm to conceive. Hmmm, I do not quite know what to think of that! Apparently, he did announce himself to children that he already knew wanted to know his identity.

The... more

Like “location, location, location” in real estate, timing is crucial in adoption search and reunion. Although you may choose to search when the timing is optimal for you, there is no way of knowing whether the timing is right for the person that you are searching for. You cannot know, so you take a leap of faith and hope for the best.

Since you do not know about the other party, you need to figure out when the timing is right for you and hope that your birth family member is ready as well. Although it helps to prepare yourself before... more