Are you wondering how to find your family of origin? It’s a big step for an adopteee.
But if you’ve thought it through and want to start searching for your birth family, there are a number of steps you can take.
- Ask your adoptive parents or other family members what information they were given or told. Paperwork from the adoption proceedings can hold valuable clues.
- Also, check the regulations in place for the state where your adoption was finalized. Rules have been changing in recent years. Presently, some states will provide an original birth certificate to an adoptee.
- If an agency was involved in your adoption, contact them to see if there is any paperwork you haven’t received.
- If you know where you were born, the hospital may be able to provide records.
- Many states use a Mutual Consent registry. Check for one in the state your adoption was finalized. If one of your biological parents signed up to a registry, their information can be released to you.
However, if finding paperwork doesn’t help in your search for birth family (or if you are an abandoned baby, and usual adoption records don’t exist), it’s time to use DNA to expand your search.
I’ll talk a lot more about DNA but here’s the basics of how the testing works:
- DNA tests include a small tube or swab to collect a sample of your DNA.
- Send your sample in for processing, and your DNA is sequenced into a digital file. Your file is compared to tens of millions of people who have taken tests before you.
- Basically, areas in your DNA that match other people are identified. Those results are provided to you. You’ll also get an estimate of how close a relationship you have with this person.
- The matches you’ll receive depends upon what relations of yours have tested and have their DNA on file. Results can range from distant cousins right up to parent/child matches.
- You might get useful matches with your initial results. Or you could have only distant matches when you first test. But people are testing all the time, so new matches will pop up.
- You may decide to contact your DNA matches, or you can decide to use this new information to search public records or build a family tree. These are Genetic Genealogy techniques which I’ll talk about in detail later.
For some searchers, available paperwork allows them to find the answers they are looking for. But for others, DNA tests and extensive public records searches might be necessary to find their origins.
If you haven’t built family trees or searched public records, this can seem daunting! However, I promise there are many people willing to help with your puzzle. For example. Facebook groups such as DNA Detectives are filled with people who are happy to help.
Searching for your birth family can take time, energy, and patience. It can also be both frustrating and rewarding.
Just start at the beginning, take it one step at a time, and ask for help as you go – many, many people who have taken this journey before you are glad to assist!
