The Nevada Appeal published an article on July 15, 2006 titled Reunions Mean Success for Longtime Carson City Non profit. The staff writer of this article pointed out several facts that I never realized about the International Soundex Reunion Registry (ISRR).

I have always known that largest international registry around. I have always encouraged triad members who are searching to register with the ISRR. I knew that the registry was founded 30+ years ago.

However, I did not know that

• they have a database of more than 200,000... more

A paid search is always an option but I personally don’t recommend pursuing this avenue until all other possibilities have been exhausted. If you do choose to hire a paid searcher, I would like to provide you with some guidelines for choosing one.

There are many searchers out there and doing some home work, obtaining references, and educating yourself before making a decision will serve you will. There are many paid search services out there and some are reasonably priced and some are very expensive. Some can get results quickly and some... more

State run intermediary programs seem to vary greatly from state to state. Some allow only adopted persons to search, and others allow other birth family members to search as well. These programs are generally administered by different governmental agencies or courts. Some adoption agencies have intermediaries. The training that intermediaries receive varies from state to state.

To determine if the state that you want to search in has a confidential intermediary program, click here. This adoption.com site can help in this... more

There may be a time during your search you may consider the help of a professional searcher. You may have seen ads for companies that do searchers for a flat rate or you may have been approached by people offering to do certain search tasks for a fee.

Below are a few rules of thumb when considering a PI or data company.

The first is to use careful judgment Ask a lot of questions. Below is a list of a few questions you may want to consider when considering hiring a PI.

Is he or she currently a licensed PI? In what state or states?... more

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

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

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

Some adoption agencies are now offering “post-adoption services”. In some cases, this includes searches.

Here are a few facts to remember about agency searches:

 Depending on state law, searches may only be offered on the behalf of the adoptee. However, some states and/or agencies will provide searches for birth or adoptive parents, siblings and/or other birth relatives.

 All the agencies that I have found that offer searches charge a fee for this service. Some may provide special hardship waivers, however, I imagine that waiving the... more

If you haven’t noticed yet, the majority of the adoptees that search are females. However, I do think that with the internet, more male adoptees are starting to search. When I look at the PARR database, most of the folks registered are between the years of 1966-1972. There are more adoptees searching than birth moms. The opposite is true for the adoptions of the 1980’s. There are more birth mothers searching than adoptees. I think that what birth mothers were told had changed by the 1980’s and that is why they feel more free to search. As for birth fathers,... more