Genealogy Chat

HAS ANYONE GOT ANY TIPS AS TO HOW TO FIND A SIBLING THAT WAS ADOPTED IN 1946. I AM AWARE THE LAW CHANGED LAST DEC 2005 WHICH ENABLED SIBLINGS TO SEARCH FOR THEIR LOST FAMILY HAS ANYONE USED AN AGENCY AND BEEN SUCCESSFUL? I UNDERSTAND IT CAN BE EXPENSIVE THROUGH THE AGENCIES SO AS MONEY IS SHORT DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW SOME OF THE WORK COULD BE DONE BY OURSELVES? ANY ADVICE OR HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED. THANKS CINDI

hello, I am no way near an expert on this but I think there are some things you could do... 1. Get the birth cert - this (i think) will tell you if he was adopted or 2. there is some sort of government scheme (you have to pay) that tracks people down (someone else will know more about it) 3. Do you know where he would be living? - look in the telephone book, 4. Not to sound cruel, but he may have passed away - you can search the complete images for deaths 1984-2004 to see if he died then. Hope some of this helps, others will probably have better ideas. tom.

There is a good adoption thread by Jess, if you put in 'Adoption' into the search box above. Hope it helps. Anna x

A birth certificate will only be in the name given at birth,and will have the word 'adopted' written on it. There will be no reference to the name of the adoption agency or the names of the couple who adopted the person.Unless you know the name taken after adoption you will find it difficult. The only realistic way is to use the agencies/social services. If you know the name of the brother at birth then you could try via some of the sites that list adoptees looking for birth families,but they rely on you seeing the post at the right time,or him seeing your post. If you put 'adoption' in the thread search on the tips board there are quite a few threads on the subject. Glen

Thank you for responding your help is appreciated. We do have the birth certificate and we know he was adopted when he was about 3 years old so doubt whether they changed his christian name. Social Services do not have the file this has been checked. Agencies want too much money to help and even then there are no guarantees. We will carry on trying just hope its not too late as he will be 63 in October. Thanks Cindi

I still wouldn't assume that he has the same name,despite the fact he was three years old when adopted. I suppose it is possible he was taken to another country,but it seems odd that SS say there is no record,there will be something somewhere,despite the often used excuse of fire/flood/bombing raid that always seems to destroy adoption records and nothing else. My adoption file was supposedly destroyed by a WW2 bombing raid,and the court and SS were pretty adamant about this.However i wasn't even born until 1966 and eventually they decided i might just be right in saying they were telling porkies. Glen

Hi Cynthia, Firstly do you know which agency arranged the adoption? contact them and ask for them to look to see if they still have any records there, next go onto the Norcap web site, or the adoption section on the GRO web site, this will tell you about the new changes in the law and how you would be able to instigate a search through the adoption agency that arranged the adoption or the SS in the area. In the meantime have you entered his info and his BM's info in your tree? in case he joins this site, are you older than him? maybe he could be aware of your existance, and be searching for you. Also you could try postind messages on the following sites as they all have a section for adoptees and Birth families try to trace each other. www.myfolks(.)co.uk www.missing-you(.)net www.lookupuk(.)com also try the word 'adopt' in the search engine of the tips board and you will find a few threads by Jess that may help you. If you have any queries or questions just put them on your thread there are enough adoptees and BM's on here to try and help you with your search :O) Good Luck! Sheila