A question for PI's

What experiences and responses have you had when you worked on a case helping adopted children find their parents.

And not parents that are still together.

_________________
Jay Shell
Covering North East AL.
AAA / Eagle Bail Bonds, LLC
Anniston, AL
256.235.2437

I have experienced several issues.

1) Legal issues..court orders, sealed documents, classified documents, sealed medical records, sealed police records, etc.

2) Emotional issues.

3) Who is looking for whom ? The abandoned child in search of biological birth parents ? Or birth parents in search of Child placed for adoption ?

4) Birth parent(s) vs Adopted parents

5) Age of adopted child(ren) ?

6) Various state laws...who lives where ? What state has jurisdiction ?

1 case I am working on right now is a young man who was placed for adoption by his birth mother when she was only 18. The client is a product of a "date rape". He wants to find his birth mother. His adopted family and other birth family relatives do not want him too.

Records are sealed, alot of obstacles. I may end up having to advise the client to hire an attorney and engage the FOI: Freedom Of Information Act.

Other adoptees have used this act to legally force open sealed records.

Hope this helps.

_________________
River City Associates
Decatur, Al. 35601

Haven't had a case like that yet, but people have told me that it can be difficult trying to get info from the agency that handled their adoption. Try to get as much info you can from the client, which I think wouldn't be much if they decided to hire a PI.
If you find the counselor or social worker who handled the clients case try an unofficial visit if they are still working in that field, because I think you would get more info that way.
Good luck.....I think you will be successful. I haven't heard of any body not getting the info...at least in my area.

Try looking at:
www.OmniTrace.com


Not that you couldn't get this advice on your own, but here is some that I have found. Hope it helps

Beginning the Search
The first objective of an adoption search is to discover the names of the birth parents who gave you up for adoption, or the identity of the child you relinquished.

1. Just like a genealogy search, an adoption search should always begin with yourself. Write down everything you know about your birth and adoption, from the name of the hospital in which you were born to the agency which handled your adoption.

2. The best place to turn next, is your adoptive parents. They are the ones most likely to hold possible clues. Write down every bit of information they can provide, no matter how insignificant it may seem. If you feel comfortable, then you can also approach relatives and family friends with your questions.

3. Gather together all available documents. Ask your adoptive parents or contact the appropriate government official for documents such as an amended birth certificate, petition for adoption, and the final decree of adoption.

4. Contact the Agency or the State that handled your adoption for your non-identifying information. This non-identifying information will be released to the adoptee, adoptive parents, or birthparents, and may include clues to help you in your adoption search. The amount of information varies depending upon the details that were recorded at the time of the birth and adoption. Each agency, governed by state law and agency policy, releases what is considered appropriate and non-identifying, and may include details on the adoptee, adoptive parents, and birth parents such as:
* Medical history
* Health status
* Cause of and age at death
* Height, weight, eye, hair color
* Ethnic origins
* Level of education
* Professional achievement
* Religion

On some occasions, this non-identifying information may also include the parents ages at time of birth, the age and sex of other children, hobbies, general geographical location, and even the reasons for the adoption.

5. Register in State and National Reunion Registries, also known as Mutual Consent Registries, which are maintained by government or private individuals. These registries work by allowing each member of the adoption triad to register, hoping to be matched with someone else who might be searching for them. One of the best is the International Soundex Reunion Registry (ISRR).

6. Join an adoption support group or mailing list. Beyond supplying much needed emotional support, adoption support groups can also provide you with information concerning current laws, new search techniques, and up-to-date information. Adoption search angels may also be available to assist with your adoption search.

7. If you're very serious about your adoption search and have the financial resources (there is usually a substantial fee involved), consider petitioning for the services of a Confidential Intermediary (CI). Many states and provinces have instituted intermediary or search and consent systems to allow adoptees and birth parents the ability to contact each other through mutual consent. The CI is given access to the complete court and/or agency file and, using the information contained in it, attempts to locate the individuals. If and when contact is made by the intermediary, the person found is given the option of allowing or refusing contact by the party searching. The CI then reports the results to the court; if the contact has been refused that ends the matter. If the person located agrees to contact, the court will authorize the CI to give the name and current address of the person sought to the adopted or birth parent. Check with the state in which your adoption occurred as to the availability of an Confidential Intermediary System.

Once you've identified the name and other identifying information on your birth parent or adopted, your adoption search can be conducted in much the same way as any other people search investigation.

_________________
If the world didn't suck we would all fall off. (Luvonda)
Nobody has power over you that you do not allow them to have. (Scott)
Be careful of the seeds you plant because one day they will be harvested.

Dave
Private Investigator
Licensed by the NYS DOS Division of Licensing

All the above is good advice.. I just want to add one thing, Run your client first of all as there could be R/O's some where as all adoptions are not just because someone can not take care of a child. If and when you find your person
i never give out their info, i will give them the other person info and let the party decide if they want to have any contact. As always just my 2 cents worth. We don't take on a whole lot of cases of this type as they can tie you up for sometime.

_________________
The Rose Investigations LLC
Collection Agency
Security & Investigations Consultant
Retired Private Investigator & Bail Enforcement
NAM VET 1969- 1975 US Army (RECON)
Office 260-220-3877
1-888-631-5520
Fax 260-456-6062

James and his sister are both adopted. They both invoked the FOIA to have the records unsealed. We found James' biological mom before we left Texas or got into this type business. We met her and his half-siblings and some other relatives. We visited back and forth for a while, but in this case he could choose his family...

She had limited knowledge of his biological father (not the person listed on the B/C) but heard he had died. He never knew about James. The last record I could find was in 1979. Periodically I would do cemetary searches and a few months ago finally found his grave. It was on the east coast and we didn't have knowledge of anywhere but TX. I ran a 411 search for the last name, and James made some calls and talked to a couple of his relatives. If he ever gets out there he might look them up.

James' sister also had us looking for her biological parents. I ran open internet searches (Google, Yahoo, Superpages, etc) for the names and finally located a half brother. We contacted him but he didn't want any contact with her. He then talked to some of the other siblings and changed his mind. Her mom had also died and nobody really knew who her dad was. She stays in regular contact with her biological family now.

I had a neighbor whose dad had deserted her and her mom when she was little. She had been looking for him for years with no luck. I finally found a possible phone number and it happened to be his widow. The widow was happy to talk to my neighbor and fill her in on what she knew. She even sent some pics. The widow had lost track of the other siblings, but had just enough info on one of them that I was able to track him down through a state professional license. He was also happy that she had found him.

Please note that every person I found was through open records searches that anyone could have done if they knew where to look. That way there was no violation of anyone's privacy. Obituaries are an excellent tool for locating relatives .

_________________
Kathy Blackshear
Blackshear Investigations
Blackshear Bail Bonds
Sales Associate, Prepaid Legal Services, Inc.
Walsenburg, CO

Proud Member of the AB Reject Club

Sorrrreeee . . . I just could not resist LOL

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Do not consider anything for your interest which makes you break your word, quit your modesty, or inclines you to any practice which will not bear the light, or look the world in the face .... Marcus Antonius

I AM Some Folks "KARMA" and A MODERATOR @ FRN

It is time consuming. This one is an interesting case though. My client retained an attorney and he then called me with the information they had. In the beginning it was very simple. Once my client turned 18, she filled out all of the required paperwork with the state and pretty much just received a copy of an original birth certificate. On the birth certificate my client was never even given a first or middle name, no father listed, but it did have the mothers name and social. Well I went and talked to the woman on the birth cert. and she has children that are 17 and 23. I knew that much. So why would she put the middle child up for adoption? She also said she has never had a 3rd child.

Well after scratching my head a minute, I decided to continue with the case. I’m still working the case, but it appears the woman on the birth cert. divorced a man with the same last name as my client 3 years before my client was born. He then married a woman a year and a half after my client was born. Here’s the good part. When I pulled the divorce papers from both marriages, the hand writing from the second marriage matched the signature on the birth cert. Forged maybe? It sure looks like it.

You were also right about these type cases being emotional. At least my clients adopted parents are supportive.

_________________
Jay Shell
Covering North East AL.
AAA / Eagle Bail Bonds, LLC
Anniston, AL
256.235.2437