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

The records of your birth can contain a lot of useful information and in some cases can be relatively easy to get, as in many hospitals, after a certain period of time the records are moved to an archiving company and stored in warehouses staffed by people who know little about adoption and have had little contact with medical requests. The place to start, is with the hospital.

If you do not have your birth name, you have a few options. You can request the records under your adoptive name and that of your adoptive parent(s), hoping that, especially in the case of a private adoption, they might be listed as responsible parties and therefore the records will be cross referenced and... more

Whether you are a birthparent or an adoptee, file waivers of confidentiality! This document will reassure record keepers that if the persons you specify come looking for you, you WANT them to get your identifying info. You want to file these with the agency, attorneys, but especially with the county court in which the adoption was finalized, which is usually the home county of the adoptive parents at the time of the adoption. If you are a birth parent and do not know what county your child was adopted to, you want to find this out so you file your waiver in the right court. You may be able to get this through the agency that facilitated the adoption if you tell them why you need it- to file... more

When a person is adopted, their original birth certificate in most cases will be sealed in the court file and a new certificate, with all reference to the birthparent(s) names, and the adoptee's original name removed, is issued. This new certificate, referred to as the 'amended' birth certificate, usually will list your adoptive name and your adoptive parents as your mother and father. The remaining information, such as addresses, age, occupation, previous births, and race of parents, is usually the information as it applies to your adoptive parents, although mistakes have been known to be made. The hospital of birth is usually accurate, although that information, too, can be altered and was... more