13 If adopted, find out if your hospital had birth journals -- small handwritten books of births, often called ob/gyn logs. You can try the records dept, archives dept, or the birth registrar's office, division of medical records. Wherever you go, try not to say the word "adoption" but try "genealogical research". Keep in mind that hospitals are not required to keep your actual records forever.

14 Natural mothers should contact the hospital and doctor and billing departments of hospitals to get their records. Who knows what you will find? Did someone else pay your bill? If you went through a private ob/gyn get those too.

15 If you are an adoptee kept any length of time by your natural parents and you know their religion, check with affiliated area churches. Maybe you were baptized.

16 Natural parents: if you know your child went to a family with a particular religion (maybe of your choosing) you could try to do the same, maybe over a six-month period.

17 Orphan search? You can try calling the Catholic churches that are around orphanages to obtain baptismal, 1st communion and any other info they might have. They may keep it in a separate book.

18 Adoptees, if you know your natural parents' high schools, colleges, tech schools, try to get or go see in the library copies of the annual year books, or post for help on the Internet Mailing lists -- maybe you can get info for each other. You can maybe look for resemblance (may work for some) or maybe you have a first name and can contact all those people. Find the school website; maybe there is alumni info or people to contact. Find people who may have been in your natural mothers class- people remember who disappeared, whose sick aunt in another town needed caring for, or was pregnant visibly.