Why is In-Family Adoption Important?

In-family adoption plays a critical role in maintaining biological family bonds. It ensures that children continue to grow within their own familial and cultural heritage, providing a sense of belonging and identity. This type of adoption often occurs in situations where the biological parents are unable to care for their child due to various reasons, ensuring that the child remains within a loving and familiar environment.

How Would I Know if I Was Adopted with In-Family Adoption?

Understanding your adoption story can be a journey of self-discovery. Indications of in-family adoption might include:

• DNA testing can show matches of individuals in the family you were raised with, but at a more distant range than expected (we can help determine this!)
• Official documentation or adoption records.
• Conversations with family members about your adoption story.
• Distinctive family dynamics or references to your adoption in family discussions.

Remember, every family’s story is unique, and understanding your personal history may require sensitive and open conversations with your family members.

Adoption Searches and DiscoverFamily.net

At DiscoverFamily.net, we are committed to helping individuals discover who their birth parents are. Our compassionate approach ensures that every individual’s journey towards understanding and acceptance is met with empathy and professionalism.

About DiscoverFamily.net:

As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, DiscoverFamily.net is dedicated to helping people find their birth parents and understand their adoption stories. Our team of professionals provides support, resources, and guidance to those embarking on this often emotional journey. We believe in the power of family connections and are committed to helping you uncover your story with respect and care.

The post What is In-Family Adoption? appeared first on Find Birth Parents | Adoption Search | Finding Biological Parents.

The post Using Ancestry DNA Testing to Find Your Birth Parents in a Closed Adoption appeared first on Find Birth Parents | Adoption Search | Finding Biological Parents.

The post Navigating a DNA Discovery: Tips and Strategies appeared first on Find Birth Parents | Adoption Search | Finding Biological Parents.

Hear Tiffany’s remarkable story! An adoptee who along with her identical twin sister longed to find and contact their birth father. You can listen above, or also find this podcast on your favorite podcast platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

The post A Twin’s Promise – Podcast Episode 4 appeared first on Find Birth Parents | Adoption Search | Finding Biological Parents.

So at this point, let’s assume you have a name and hopefully some other “identifying information”. That means you have other information that will help confirm it’s the person you are looking for. This could be a birthday, information about where they grew up, or some other piece of the puzzle. At this point, you are ready to start looking for that person(s) somewhere out in the world.

Online background checks

The quickest and often most accurate method to locate someone is a background check. Our team has tested many different systems and the largest and best we have found is TruthFinder.com. At this website, you plug in the name and the last known location:

As the database is searched, it may ask you some clarifying questions which you can answer if you have that information. But if not, simply indicate that you don’t know the answer. The information that comes up free may give you some insights, but to see the full report you will need to purchase an account with the website*.

Searching online

The next method for searching is, of course, Search Engines! The most popular by far is www.Google.com. Most people who use Google don’t even know how to unlock the full potential of search. You’re in luck! We’re about to teach you.

Search Operators are special characters or commands that help refine a search. For a detailed explanation and list of search operators, check out this great article. For our purposes, we are going to dive in and just show you how they work.

First off, let’s say we have a first and last name. For this exercise I am going to just make up a name, combining some of our names here at DiscoverFamily.net. On Google, you will want to put the name in quotes, like this:

Depending on how common the name is, you may get A LOT of results, and it could be difficult to sift through. So a few ways to filter the results would be the following:

• Search with a full name.
  • Example: “Jenni Ryan Mize”

• Search with a location or physical detail.
  • Example: “Jenni Mize” +Florida
  • Example: “Jenni Mize” +Chamberlain +High +School

• Search with a legal or criminal term.
  • Example: “Jenni Mize” +arrest
  • Example: “Jenni Mize” +mugshot
  • Example: “Jenni Mize” +felony

Please note in these searches that you put the exact name in quotes, and add other keywords with a “+” in front of each word. This means that you are looking for exactly that name, along with these other words on the same page. Adding the “+” means that words have to be on the page to be shown in the results.

How to sort the results

Depending on the name and how you search, there may be a massive number of results! It most likely will show pictures of people, and you may be tempted to start chasing leads because that person that pops up seems to “have your eyes”. Please remember what you are looking for is corroborating evidence. Basically, information that will link a person to you.

Now give it a try! A great way to get started is to try searching your own name and see how the results come up. If you’re like me, there are tons of people with the same name (including a country music singer, and a NASCAR driver). This will give you some great practice to experiment and find out what’s out there.

The post How to search for a birth parent(s) if you know their name(s) – Part 2 – The Tools appeared first on Find Birth Parents | Adoption Search | Finding Biological Parents.

Before I dive into the tools that we use for searching, we will always ask the question: How sure are you that you have the correct name of your birth parent(s)?

Typical responses include:

• My adopted parent(s) told me
• My other birth parent told me
• A relative told me
• It’s the name on my original birth certificate
• I have a document with their name

You may feel very confident about the name you have, but when it comes down to the concrete evidence, you may not have a good case. The risk of using the first three responses as your evidence becomes real when you find and reach out to this person. That person may not know they fathered a child (if looking for a birth father), or may simply deny it and hang up. If this case a response of “Ya huh! My grandma told me you are the father!” may not go over very well.

We strongly encourage proceeding in a search when you have concrete evidence. The most concrete evidence you can have (in our opinion) is DNA evidence. We have seen documents such as birth certificates be wrong with the names of parents (though usually, the mother’s name is correct, paternity is always in question). Even if your birth parent has not done a DNA test, you can still determine if they are your birth parent based on other relatives who have. If there is a relationship that is a first cousin or closer, it can be easily determined who a parent is (though sometimes still challenging if you don’t know if you are looking for a birth mother or birth father)

Recently, I contacted a birth father who was very surprised to know that he had a biological daughter. In fact, he denied that it could have been him, and suggested that he knew the name of a person who it most likely was. I told him through DNA testing we had determined that he was the father and that the only other possibility would be his brother (which was VERY unlikely based on his age at the time). I spent the next half of an hour explaining how DNA testing proved he was the father, without him ever having done a DNA test.

So the first step of doing a name search is being as sure as possible that this name is the person you are looking for.

Haven’t done a DNA test yet? You can help support us by clicking here and ordering your own. We will help get the answers you are looking for. Click the link in our menu to ask for help.

Check out our other blogs in this series as we outline the tools we use for a name search.

The post How to search for a birth parent(s) if you know their name – Part 1 appeared first on Find Birth Parents | Adoption Search | Finding Biological Parents.

But when and how will this go into effect? We are currently working with adoptees who want to get their birth certificates now. And since we are not the type of people to sit our hands, we started reaching out to find where the request can be made, and the timeline for response. In other words, we want to be at the front of the line when the doors open!

So, I sent this message to the New York Department of Health:

“Hello,
We are assisting several adoptees in the search for their birth parents who were born in New York state. All the current process online are for acquiring their updated birth certificates. With the recent change in the law, can you direct me to where we can submit a request for their original birth certificates?
Thank you,
Troy Olson Co-Founder DiscoverFamily.net”

I sent this message in June of 2019. A short 75 days later I got this response:

“The bill has passed in both houses but it remains a bill. The Governor has not signed the bill and it is not a law. Also, if he does sign the bill their will be procedures that need to be placed in effect and trainings for staff members along with applications made and fees to be determined.  If he signs the bill it will not go into effect until January 15, 2020.”

So the answer seems to be, not for a while. We are monitoring the situation and will provide updates as we are able to get birth certificates for New York adoptees. The coalition is doing a great job of monitoring, and we recommend you check out their steps here: https://nyadopteerights.org/ny-adoptee-rights-whats-next/

In the meantime, have you considered getting our help? Have you considered a DNA Test? Getting a birth certificate from a state can be very helpful, but there are many paths to discovering your family!

The post How to get your New York Adoption Records with the new law, the current answer is wait . . . appeared first on Find Birth Parents | Adoption Search | Finding Biological Parents.

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify Podcasts
• Anchor.fm
• Google Podcasts

Be sure to check it out and subscribe! We have new episodes in the works!

Our mission is to provide the tools and support for all those searching for missing or unknown family members. This includes adoptees. Through interviews and stories, we provide the tools and hope to continue on in the journey to discover our families.

The post Our Podcast is live! appeared first on Find Birth Parents | Adoption Search | Finding Biological Parents.