For a birth parent searching, once you believe that you have a name, sometimes religious records and/or newspaper birth announcements may be useful in a search. You may know the religion in which an adoptee is raised. Birth parents sometimes request that their child be raised in a certain religion. Their wishes in this regard are not always honored, but, they are sometimes. With a name and religion for a child, it is sometimes possible to locate the nearest church or synagogue that the child may have attended.

You may be obtain to obtain christening, baptismal or other religious documents pertaining to an adopted child. In some cases, these records may list both the birth and adopted names of a child. Therefore, that would be one way to verify that you have the right person if the child was named at birth.

It is fairly unusual for adoptive parents to place birth announcements in the newspaper for children they adopt. However, it does happen and is worth checking out in your particular situation. Most announcements say something like "Jane & Tom Smith announce the birth of their daughter born.....". For a listing regarding an adopted child, the article could be more like, "Jane & Tom Smith announce (or welcome) the arrival of their daughter into their family." If an announcement is for a child born to a couple, it is likely that the date of birth and perhaps the hospital will be listed. In the case of an adopted child, it is unlikely that the date of birth or the hospital will be listed.

Even though finding an announcement for an adopted child or religious records may be a long shot, it is still worth the effort to check these two options out. Many of the leads you may follow in an effort to locate a birth family member may not pan out, however, the more avenues you try, the better your chances are for success. It is wise not to ignore any possible leads as you never know which small piece of information must help resolve your search.