Celebrate National Adoption Awareness Month - 30 days of ideas to help promote adoption.

Search Overview

Getting started with search is the biggest hurdle. This overview is intended to help you consider the many options available, from the first decision to search to taking your petition to the courts if necessary, to obtain information.

Make the decision to search
It's important to remember that search is your decision to make, and you don't need to justify that decision to anyone.
First Steps to Take in Search
Once you make the decision to search, there are several things you might want to do as first steps.
Gather information
New searchers are now faced with perhaps one of the most difficult stages in the search process: the beginning.
Find and Use Reunion Registries
What they are, how they work, and where to find them.
Obtain Adoption Records
- Birth Certificates: In any adoption-related search, birth certificates help establish a starting point.
- Laws Regarding Access to Adoption Records: Alabama, Alaska, Kansas, New Hampshire, and Oregon are "open records states," meaning that adult adoptees can receive copies of original documentation about their adoptions just by completing an application process. Other states may also provide for the release of original information with some restrictions.
- Petitioning the Court: Petitioning the court to open your records is something every adoptee should try.
Share Your Story
Telling others about your search is not only a great way to release some of the pent-up emotion, and share the outcome of your search, but your story could also provide much-needed suggestions for others.

Search Overview

Reunion

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