Search Basics for Beginners, Page 2

Apply for your non-ID.

Non-identifying (non-ID) information from your adoption files can be released upon application, sometimes for a fee. This does not include information that will identify your birth parents and their families by name. Non-ID can include their physical descriptions, education, current (at the time of the adoption) health and health history of their families, and other bits and pieces. Each state has its own regulations about who can apply for and receive non-ID, and what documents and/or waivers must be submitted in order to prove identity and authorize release of the information.

Applications for non-ID are made to the state, or court in the jurisdiction where the adoption was finalized, or to the adoption agency or attorney that handled the adoption.

Join a support group.

This is where the adoption community shines. There are groups and individuals willing and able to give you emotional support, search support, reinforcement, and guidance whenever you need it.

Online support can be found in groups like Sunflower Birthmoms, on forums for the entire adoption community hosted by reunion registry owners like Angry Grandma, on specialized lists like the Black Market Babies Mail List and 1950's Adoptees Mail List, and on others targeted to searchers connected with foreign-born adoptees, like the Irish Adoptees Search list.

Almost every state has local search and support groups for various segments of the adoption constellation, and for a bit of the unusual, the Washington-based Adoption Search and Counseling Consultants offers search and reunion counseling in person and by phone - locally and long distance!

There's more to it than this.

Of course there's more! But if you're just starting out, it's important to get a good understanding of what The Search can mean. For many, it becomes almost an obsession. For others, it means depression. For others, it's a roller-coaster ride. It can last days, weeks, months, years... or it may never end.

Read everything you can find. And then read some more. The adoption community has been enormously generous on the Net with advice, personal stories, and professional guidance. Groups of dedicated people, who have either searched and found or who are still searching, man the lines on phones, run email lists, mastermind registries, and keep Web pages updated with current information so that others can find help when they need it.

Add Your Comments!

We want to know what you think. Your comments are important to us and the other readers. You are what makes this site special.