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I have a name! Uh, now what?
Eventually, the forces of luck, hard work, and patience will have combined in your search efforts to bring you to the point where you have a name to work with. You might have just a first name, a first initial and a last name, your birth name, or one of your birthparents last names or full names. Or you might have a name and have no idea how it ties in to your birth and adoption at all. At this point, your search will take a very different turn. Heretofore, you have been engaged in a search like no other. Scrounging around for clues hidden within sealed records is a difficult procedure, made harder by the emotions and taboos that surround the whole exercise. Tracing names, however, is something that groups and individuals from genealogists to bill collectors engage in, resulting in 'how to' books, archives, and assorted other resources that far outnumber the few items available to adoption searchers to this point. Further, when you are researching a name, 'genealogy' is a good cover story, one that is, technically, even accurate. On the down side, many searchers often find themselves, up to the discovery of a name, coasting merrily along. It has been relatively easy to forget temporarily about a search, or to put a hold on search efforts in the midst of a work or family crisis. Once you have found a name, however, you may find yourself feeling like you're out of a control on a speeding train. It becomes very difficult to think about anything else, and many searchers find themselves obsessed. At this point, it sometimes becomes more affordable and more practical to turn the search over to a private investigator. On the other hand, once you are armed with a name, many searches become much more simple, and the end looms ahead, but many searchers find that 'just around the corner' is a phrase they'll use many times over several more months or even years. Each search and each situation is different As difficult as it is, try to treat the discovery of a name as you have every other bit of information, a piece of the puzzle (albeit a very large one) to be looked at along with all the other pieces.City Directories
City directories were discussed in an earlier post, and they will likely be something that you have become very familiar with in the course of your search. At this point, they can be your best friend. City Directories are a lot like phone books. They contain listings of businesses and individuals, their addresses, and their phone numbers, and are bound by city,or groups of towns, or regions. These books are usually hardbound and can be found in university and public libraries for surrounding areas, usually from about 1930 forward, but often much earlier. City directory listings contain more than phone books do, however, such as occupations, places of employment, and the names of others living in the same household, such as spouse or adult children. The first thing you should do with your newly acquired name, assuming that you have a last name to work with, is go to the library and check out city directories for the period of time shortly before when you were born and/or adopted. You might not know exactly, or even vaguely, where your birthparent(s) were from, but the city directories can help you. Start with the city or town where your adoption agency was located or the city or town where the court finalized your adoption. If you only have a last name, make copies of the pages that contain all entries with that last name. Next, move to the city directories for suburbs or small towns nearby. Buy a map and draw a red cricle with about a 150 mile radius around the city or town where your adoption was handled. Check the city directories or old phone books for every community in that area. Then, sit down with all of the copied pages, (abbrieviations in the city directories for occupations are usually explained at the beginning of each volume, so make sure you have made a copy of that page as well, for reference) and your search journal, and try to match up some information. For example, if your birthmother was a teen and likely living at home, then try to see if any of the listings match what you know about your grandparents, such as retired miltary or that your grandmother was a seamstress. .If you might have your birthfathers or birthmothers name, and they were college students, look for all male and femals listed with that name who were students. Remember, if you have a first name, that it could be a nickname, or a middle name. Eliminate the listings that you can, but keep them somewhere in the back of your search journal just in case. As with any other piece of information that requires you to search in the area of your birth and/or adoption, if you do not live in the are or cannot get to the library or institution of research, call the library that houses the information and ask about hiring a research librarian to do the research for you. Usually the will do so at a nominal fee, such as the cost of copying the documents, or a small hourly charge. Another option is to find a volunteer who will do 'legwork' for you in the area you were adopted. You can find a search buddy on a mailing list, post a note on alt.adoption and soc.adoption.adoptees, or check out the Volunteer Search Network.
Medical Records, Birth certificates, and other documents
Now is the time to try and obtain your hospital records and other documents that you haven't been able to get. Again, just because you have a name, don't assume that the clerk will be any more receptive to your adoption story. DON'T MENTION ADOPTION. Write for your hospital records, including the full fee, as 'Baby Girl' or 'Baby Boy' (last name) if you do not have your given first name, and include all the other information you have, such as mother's first name. If you are male, you will need to sign your request with your birthname. Women can use the fact that many will assume their names changed upon marriage. Also, it's worth a shot to try and write for your original birth certificate. Scribble illegibly all of the information you don't know, (such as first names).
Baptismal certificates and other religious records
If in the course of your inquiries, you are able to determine if you were baptised shortly after birth, or if you were placed by a private agency with a religious bent, particularly a Catholic agency, you might be able to obtain a baptismal certificate that could contain information about your birthname and birthfamily. Churches in general keep excellent records and if there's any indication that your birthparents were active in a church or specific organized religion, it pays to look into it further. Again, utilize city directories to find what churches were in the area of your birth and/or adoption at the time of the adoption.
Birth announcements
While in most cases, an adoptee born to an unmarried woman or who was scheduled to be adopted after birth, will not have a birth announcement in the papers, mistakes have been known to happen, so it pays to make check announcements for the date of your birth in the papers for the city or town of your birth.
Continue to section two of I have a name! Uh, now what?
This post was authored by Shea Grimm except where otherwise indicated. It may be copied and distributed freely, in whole or part, as long as it is not sold, and as long as this notice is kept intact.
