Although I am usually fairly faithful in keeping up with comments, I found a buried request recently for information about searching in Washington State. Washington State does have the confidential intermediary system. My son found me through the agency in Washington that handled his adoption. It took them nine months to find me as I had moved several times over the years. There were also several name changes as well due to marriage and divorce.

Using confidential intermediaries has its pros and cons, like any search method. However, in some states with sealed records, it may be your best chance for locate your birth parent or child.

Some adoption agencies in the state will do searches for adoptees. The fees can be fairly high. I am not certain if they also do them for birth parents. However, if your adoption or your child's was through an agency contact them first to see what they do offer. If the adoption was not through an agency, check with the state itself to determine what means they have available to reconnect.

This link provides the information for Washington state searching in the E-book on Adoption Search and Reunion that I wrote for adoption.com. One of the best resources for searching in the state is through Washington Adoption Reunion Movement("WARM.") They can help provide you with information or they have confidential intermediaries who do searches as well.

WARM has support groups and a variety of resources available. Washington State does allow birth parents to obtain a copy of the original birth certificate. WARM instructed me on how to go about obtaining a copy after reunion. What I received was an uncertified copy of my son's original birth certificate. Until reunion, I would not have been able to have gotten it, because I did not have enough information to do so.


Further Reading:
Adoption.Com Reunion Registry - Washington State

Washington State Search Resources

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