Adoption Search Checklist

1. Know your rights. Get a copy of the adoption records law for the state where your adoption took place at your local library, on line, or from your legislator's office.
2. If you are getting information from your legislator, mention your desire for contact.
3. Contact the agency that oversaw your adoption. Ask what services they provide, how much they charge, and how long the wait is.
4. Register with the International Soundex Reunion Registry (ISRR).
5. Find out if the state where you were born has an adoption registry.
6. Talk to your adoptive parents.
7. Write down everything you can think of that you already know about your adoption. Even if you already have non-identifying information, think about asking for additional information using specific questions about your birthparents' health, education, family backgrounds, and interests.
8. Join a support group in your area.
9. Join a support group in the area where you were born.
10. Find a computer and look for adoption resources on the Internet. (The Fall 1997 Decree lists some of the many sites you can turn to for search and support.)
11. Take time to understand what your search means to you and why you are taking each step in your search.
12. Read about adoption. Many people recommend The Adoption Triangle by Sorosky, Baran & Panor, Lost and Found by Betty Jean Lifton, and Birthright by Jean A.S. Strauss as particularly helpful at the beginning of a search. To read about experiences after reunion, try Birthbond, by Judith Gediman and Linda Brown, for a perspective on the birthmother's experience, read The Other Mother, by Carole Schafer, or Birthmothers: Women Who have Relinquished Babies for Adoption Tell Their Stories, by Merry Bloch Jones.

© This information is from the American Adoption Congress.

Reader Comments Comments are owned by the posters. American Adoptions are not responsible for their contents. Mom looking for her children that was adopted.   (by melva hyre on Sep 20, 2008 06:56:29 PM) Hi, my name is Melva, i'm looking for my two children that are 34 and 35. The girl's name is Stephanie and the boy Doug. Stephanie birth date is 9-23-72 and Dougs birth date is 10-06-74 [comment on this article]  [comment on this comment] Lookin for my birth parents or mother   (by Michelle Gagnon on Sep 05, 2008 04:23:52 PM) I was born at the Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster on August.26.1990.. Grew up in Williams Lake.. My birth last name is Harvey.. [comment on this article]  [comment on this comment] adopted need some help   (by Chad on Jun 02, 2008 05:19:21 PM) Im 19 looking for my birth parents born in middletown CT only know last name Gorski they were 21 -22 and in college when they put me up if your out there im looking.. [comment on this article]  [comment on this comment] i'm looking for elsje hester maria meyer   (by Heinrich herbert markotter on May 12, 2008 02:54:09 AM) it's on my birth sertificate my mother [comment on this article]  [comment on this comment] looking for my parents   (by Crystal Jones on Feb 26, 2008 11:26:06 AM) I am 44 years old. Born 1963 in Baltimore, Maryland. I have 4 children and 7 grandchildren which is part of my reason finding my parents. My name before adoption was Theresa. I was adopted when I was 18 months old. [comment on this article]  [comment on this comment]

....... read more comments