An adoption search is like putting a puzzle together. Adoption is probably always going to have the shroud of mystery to it. It would take a book, not a blog to list all of the possible puzzle pieces that you may have already acquired. Trying to put the puzzle pieces together can be frustrating as well as obvious that key pieces are missing.

It is frustrating at times to try and discover the mystery of your own life. Many times I have associated adoption search with Nancy Drew, The Case of the Girl without a Past.

There are laws in each state that... more

Do you remember what you picture in your high year book look liked? Were you the class clown, most likely to succeed, or most athletic? Do you remember what the club or sports team photo in your high school year book looked like? Some people may be wondering what adoption search has to do with high school year books. Well, there are many who are searching who will use year books for assistance.

Yearbooks can be very useful especially if you have a partial name or just a first name. Many public libraries have a collection of high school year books for the... more

Non-identifying information is information that may be obtained in most states from the agency or county that handled the adoption. Most agencies and counties require the request be made in writing. The information that may be provided will vary from agency to agency, court to court, and from state to state. Non identifying information that is usually provided is:

Information in regards to Natural Parents: Age of the natural parents at the time or birth or surrender Place of Birth Physical description of natural parents Religion Education... more

It is a fact that humans are naturally curious about their origins. Sometimes it is not a case of curiosity but rather the need to know their origins for medical reasons. DNA and genetic testing may be an avenue you may want to travel to help solve the adoption obstacles. Genetic testing may help solve the mysteries of the past.

For years I had searched for my birth father. My first personal experience with DNA was two or three years after finding my natural family. My sister’s father, had admitted that there was a possibility that he could be my natural father. He was... more

Someone recently brought it to my attention that if you call the FBI office in the state you were born, they will end you a “Freedom of Information Act” form to fill out to see if they can place you with being a black market baby. The person who shared this with me is going to try it. We don’t know if it is a fact or not but I thought it was worth putting out there for anyone who is searching and believes they may have been adopted through the black market. If anyone has attempted this or does attempt this I would love to hear from you and read your comments in regards to your results.

No... more

Petitioning the court is sometimes necessary to obtain access to adoption records. Here are some details to keep in mind about petitioning the court:

 Petitioning the court for adoption records is required in many states in the U.S. as the only avenue to obtain copies of those records.  Even though there are services that will petition the courts in some states for a fee, it is generally not necessary to use a service or an attorney to to obtain adoption records.

 When I first heard a few years ago about petitioning the... more

The Social Security Death Index is a several million name database that comes from the Death Masters List of the Social Security Administration System. For a person to be listed on the Social Security Death Index the individual would had to have received benefits while alive. The second part of the criteria is that if the deceased did not file for benefits, his or her survivors had to have requested and received benefits. Third, the Social Security Administration had to have filed this information electronically so that it could be available for input into the appropriate... more

One day in June 2005, an adoptee received an unexpected phone call that changed her life forever. Her birth mother had been visiting adoption.com about another topic, and saw a link for adoption search. She decided to search the reunion registry database and came up with the name of a young woman whose information matched her query. She then searched the Internet for the woman’s name and found the MA Adoption Reunion Registry.

The adoptee was born in Natick in 1982 to a woman who was 17 years old. She chose to relinquish her child to... more

There are some counties within the states that allow a person into a room where files are kept. This is becoming less common since records are being stored behind counters with no entry allowed. However, in most counties someone can request a file and a clerk will look it up. Do not mention adoption. If you do, you will not get a file.

Records that are stored locally at the County Courthouse are adoption records. Case workers reports are normally filed under the case number and/or the date of birth. Relinquishments are usually filed under a file number... more

The number of folks on the internet grows daily. I am not aware of any exact numbers of how many triad members searching are using the internet as an aid in their search. Since the numbers grow every day, I thought it would be good to address searching on the internet.

Search engines are a wonderful asset. You can enter the name you are searching for into a search engine in homes of finding he person listed on some website. If you put the name in quotation marks will aid you by finding the exact name you are searching for. In some cases if you enter a phone number... more