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Searching for Birth Relatives
A Factsheet for Families
By National Adoption Information Clearinghouse
There are few reliable statistics on the success rate of these registries; however, as expected, passive registries tend to show a much lower match rate than active registries. One study of passive state registries found an average success rate of less than 5 percent in 1998, with only two states showing double-digit success rates.
Access to information about state laws as well as which states offer reunion registries can be found at the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse (NAIC) Web site.
Obtaining Missing Documents
At this point, the searcher may want to attempt to acquire some of the missing documents that could help with the search. There are many types of documents that may lead to locating a birth parent or child or provide a breakthrough to this information. The following is a list of potentially helpful documents: - If the name of the adoption agency is known, the searcher can request nonidentifying information or even records. For instance, in her book, Search: A Handbook for Adoptees and Birthparents (Oryx Press, 1998), Jayne Askin provides an extensive list of possible questions to be addressed to the agency, including questions about siblings, medical information and consent to release information. Askin also recommends that the searcher supply a waiver of confidentiality to the agency, so that information about the searcher can be provided to the birth child or birth parent, if that individual also contacts the agency.
- Hospital records, when they can be obtained, may provide information on the birth mother, birth father, attending physician and incidental health information. Adopted persons generally need to know their birth name, as well as the hospital's name and location. If the searcher has difficulty obtaining these records, a request made by a doctor may have a better chance for success.
