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.