The purpose of this post is to aid you, the searcher in obtaining documents and further information related to your adoption that may fill in the gaps in the information you have accumulated from your initial efforts. Even if you have a name, it is a good idea to try and obtain some of the documents that I will be discussing below in order to help you narrow down your search and to confirm the name that you have been given.

I recommend that you read some of the search books that I will refer in later posts. Once you start to educate yourself I think you will discover that in a majority of the cases the adoption file in the court that it resides is sealed. What I mean by sealed is that the file can only be opened by court order. A court order is obtained by petitioning the court. Each state has various requirements for the court to agree to open your file and these requirements vary state to state. Some states consider a “good cause” which leaves this up to the individual judge to determine.

It never hurts to ask for something even if you don’t’ think you will get it so a direct petition to the court to open the entire file is always worth a shot. Another option is one that I believe I have mentioned above and that is where the court will appoint an intermediary to conduct a search. I think that it is good to work with this third party approved by the court until they have exhausted all other options. Lets just say that your petition is denied. Well, nearly everything contained in the adoption file can be obtained from other parties.

The following documents are usually part of your court file, depending on the circumstances of your adoption:
1. Original birth certificate
2. Petition to adopt
3. Final decree of adoption
4. Your adoptive parents home study
5. Various reports from the agency or lawyer such as initial interview with birthparent(s), their medical history, biographical information
6. Signed relinquishment (sometimes called consent form)
These documents, the information contained within them, your hospital records and 'non-identifying' information available will form the foundation of your search. If you do not know from your initial inquiries what court your adoption was finalized in, the best place to start is in the county where your adoptive parents were residing during your adoption. Contact the Family Court or Orphans’ Court in that county and ask them if they can verify for you if your adoption file resides in their court. Sometimes, in small, helpful counties, you'll be given the information over the phone, at other times, they will require you to submit a written request. Vital statistics may also be able to verify the information.

In the cases of a private adoption, usually your adoptive parents will have arranged to adopt you through a family doctor, family friend, minister, priest, attorney, or family member. The adoptive parents will have hired an attorney and the adoption will have been handled through the attorney and finalized in a court of law. In the case of an agency adoption, your adoptive parents will likely have contacted an agency with their decision to adopt, sometimes they will have been placed on a waiting list, and are matched with a birthmother and/or child who also had contacted or was brought to the agency. Even in the case of an agency adoption your adoptive parents will have utilized an attorney for the finalization procedure, which often times was their own attorney.