Beginning a Search for Birth Family Members

Yesterday I received a call from a friend whose adult son wants to begin searching for his birth family as his daughter, my friend's grandchild, is ill and the doctors want to know her medical background. This begins an arduous journey for her son, as all the adoption records are sealed by law.

Based on things I know that have been helpful in searching for birth family members, I suggested the following:

1. Register at the New York State Adoption Registry. (It can't hurt to be on the list and maybe a family member an original family member is already listed there.) Register at other adoption registries too.
2. Locate the original birth certificate. That may provide clues.
3. Request non-identifying information from the adoption agency. They redact identifying information but could make a mistake and you may receive identifying information, if you're lucky. 
4. Explore searching on Facebook by posting that you have begun The Search.
5. Get in touch with a Search Angel (people who help adoptees search for their original families, usually for free.)
6. There are also three DNA sites to get involved in. They are 23andme.com (23 and Me), Ancestry.com (Ancestry DNA) and FamilyTreeDNA.com (Family Finder). You send in a saliva sample and they try to match you with your relatives. You will get tons of 2nd cousins, 3rd cousins, etc. What you're looking for is a close family match, i.e. 1st cousin, sister, brother, mother.

Lastly I suggested that if he was born in the City of New York, he may be able to find his original name in the birth books at the New York City Public Library. I will go into this in detail when I soon start blogging about my own search. (The detailed information is now located in the post, "

The Search, Post 2, Finding my Original Last Name.)