If you begin a search, you have no idea where it might lead you. Some searches may involve other countries, sometimes unexpectedly so. I did have to stretch my imagination to tie in the Eiffel Tower to this post! The Eiffel Tower happens to be a favorite of mine.

Adoption searches can lead you to different states or countries. One adoptee that I know found her birth family in Finland.

With a new year beginning soon, are you considering a search? Here are some beginning steps:

1. Register with the most popular registries. Reunite.com and issr.org have the most popular and well-known ones.

2. Get your non-identifying information from the State or the agency that handled the adoption. Also request to put a letter or any necessary forms in the adoption file to indicate that you want contact.

3. Contact triad members who have successfully completed a search in the state where the adoption occurred. Find out if your state has a birth index and how to access it. Also determine from other support group members what records are locally available to help access records.

4. Talk to any family members who were around during the time of the adoption. This advice pertains to either birth parents or adoptees searching. Adoptees may gain some very useful information from their adoptive parents, and if the adoption was private, they may have her name. Birth parents who search may obtain some important details from others who may have been around during the birth and/or the adoption.

5. Find out what provisions your State has to obtain access to adoption records and/or locate birth family members. You want to know if they have: a) a state registry, b) the confidential intermediary system; c) the affidavit system; and/or d) do searches.

6. Petition the court to obtain records if this is required in the state where the adoption took place.