For people involved in black or gray market adoptions, finding birth family or a child surrendered to adoption certainly can be more difficult. However, over the years groups have sprung up to unite those searching. There were some quite well-known adoption lawyers or agencies in several states know for shady, if not illegal adoption practices.

In Florida, an attorney named Helen Tanos Hope was known to have handled many adoptions in the 60's to 90's. It is alleged that her adoption records were found in a dumpster after her death and another attorney took possession of the records. Eventually, the Florida Department of Children & Families took possession of these records. Whether the adoptions that she handled were actually black market adoptions, or bordering on illegal is in question. However, there are suspicions about some of the adoptions that were attributed to her. There is a registry for Helen Tanos Hope adoptions and a Yahoo group of people searching whose adoptions were handled by her.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HelenTanosHopeAdop/join
http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/springhill/801/tornasunder/florida/flblmrkt/index.html

This link http://www.adoptionforum.org/Search/blackmarket.htm
lists various black market operations known to have existed in certain states. It also offers an explanation as to what comprises a black market adoption or a gray market adoption. According to this link, gray market adoptions are legal, but it explains what they involve in more depth.

One of the interesting facts mentioned about black market adoptions is that instead of finding homes for babies, in black market adoptions there are active searches for babies. Sounds as though there is a fine line between unethical practices and illegal ones.

This link http://www.amfor.net/babybrokers/ includes state by state listings of past and a few current baby brokers.