Birth Books aka Birth Indexes for the Five Boroughs of Manhattan

I just found out today that the Birth Books (aka Birth Indexes) for the 5 boroughs of NY are no longer available at the Milstein Division of the New York City Public Library. The Milstein Division no longer holds New York City birth indexes for years after 1909. The indexes had been on loan to the New York City Public Library from the Department of Health, who recently requested that the NYPL return the collections, including the death indexes after 1948 in accordance with the City's Health Code.

I asked the librarian if she could give me the address of the Department of Health. She gave me the following:

• Office of Vital Records | New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene | 125 Worth Street, Room 144  | NY, NY 10013 

For possible access to the indexes, inquire with: 

• Nicholas Elcock | Chief Privacy Officer | nelcock@health.nyc.gov

Note:

• In Room 119 of the Milstein Division available on microfilm are birth, marriage and death indexes for NYC, with date ranges that vary with each borough - however none of the indexes include 1911 or subsequent years.
• Family Search makes available NYC birth indexes freely searchable (1846-1909)
• Italian Geneology Group
• Municipal Archives at 31 Chambers Street, New York, New York
• NYC Public Library, Milstein Division, Introductory Guide to Researching Vital Records

Now that the birth books are at the Department of Health, Office of Vital Records, I wonder if people can still request the books and search through them. ?? 

If I had not been able to search for the number on my birth certificate, in the actual 1953 birth book, I would not have found my name at birth. For more information on this, see my post, The Search, Post 2, Finding my Original Last Name

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.)