With advances in DNA technology and the ever-growing giant that is social media, it is easier than ever to locate long-lost friends and relatives. This is especially useful in adoption situations that have previously been closed, especially if DNA or a name and location is all you have to go on. While it is often good to hire a private investigator to look into an adoption or submit information to a DNA registry, these avenues can be costly. With adoption records becoming more readily available and accessible on the Internet, people who were adopted are finding that a reunion with their birth parents may only be a click away.
If you are looking for your birth parents, the first and easiest step will be to search social media. Depending on the information you have, even just the name of your birth parent and the place you were born may deliver some promising results. Social media also provides the benefits of a virtual “word of mouth.” Many people have posted information about their adoption, such as names and dates, and these posts have been shared globally. Many of these posts have resulted in the reunion of birth parents and even whole birth families.
Another great resource to tap into is adoption registries. These registries allow anyone to use the information they have such as date, names, locations in order to render a search to see if any member of their birth family is also looking for them. You can also register your information to be available in case your birth parents or any member of your birth family uses that registry to search for you. Adoption.com is one of the most popular, easy to use, and effective adoption registries to use in this search. You can find out more about how to use the registry or start your own search here.
Finding your birth parents for free may be easier for some than others. If you were part of an open or partially open adoption, it may be as simple as asking your adoptive parents or the adoptive agency on information about your birth parents. It is commonplace for birth parents to be willing to have the agency provide information to a child when the child is old enough to reach out on his or her own terms. Even if an adoption is closed, it can’t hurt to try the adoption agency to see if they have any information they are able to release. Depending on the circumstances, you may be hesitant to ask your adoptive parents if they have any information they have not yet shared. It is easy to be fearful of hurt feelings and worry that your parents will take your search personally. Many have been surprised at the support they found when they did reach out to their parents for more information and the understanding their parents had for their need to seek out their biological connections.
In any of these free avenues to finding your birth parents, it really is a matter of utilizing every tool available. Many of these assets are right at your fingertips. Seek the support of friends and family in your search if possible. Take an inventory of all the information you already have to find the best avenue through which to start your search for your birth parents.
Lita Jordan is a master of all things “home.” A work-from-home, stay-at-home, homeschooling mother of five. She has a BA in Youth Ministry from Spring Arbor University. She is married to the “other Michael Jordan” and lives on coffee and its unrealistic promises of productivity. Lita enjoys playing guitar and long trips to Target. Follow her on <a href=”//www.facebook.com/halfemptymom/”>Facebook.</a>