Adoption Search & Reunion
Adoption search and reunion can be an emotional and rewarding journey. Once you've decided to start your search, you may be faced with many options on how to move forward. It's possible that the agency used to facilitate the adoption offers post-adoption services that include a registry or third party intermediary who will attempt to locate and contact the member of the triad you are searching for.
Often, services available through agencies or professional searchers do cost money, so it's important to research the services you are investigating before taking that first step. Becoming active in online adoption communities will allow you to speak to others who may have used the services you are considering or it may lead you in a whole different direction altogether.
In addition to paid services, available through agencies and professionals, there are a number of online websites, including the adoption.com reunion registry, which allows you to not only search for someone at no cost, but also to add your information to a large searchable database for free. There are also a large number of groups that offer searching services at no cost. These groups are normally referred to as search angels and a search angel is someone who, for little or no money, will scour the resources available to them searching for a match for your information.
Once you've started your search, you'll want to prepare for reunion. It's important to keep your expectations of the relationship low and take things one step at a time. It's easy to get caught up in the moment and leap forward while emotions are high, however, taking time to ease into the relationship and build a strong foundation is important in the very first stages. Try to keep communication light and easy until you've gotten to know the person a little better. Once you've gotten to know your adopted child or birth parent, you can then start to address the emotional topics, which will inevitably come up.
As we've already said, search and reunion is an emotional topic, be prepared for anything that might come your way. Good luck!
Adoption Reunion Discussions
