If you are an adoptee who has absolutely no information about your biological family and you’re disheartened to think there is no hope in ever identifying them, there is hope for you! Thanks to a heightened interest in DNA registries over the last several years, there is a better chance than there ever has been for adoptees to learn about their biological heritage and identify family members.
I recently identified and located biological parents for a client whose only information he had was that his birth mother was possibly from Canada. Through Ancestry and 23andMe, I was able to narrow his birth father down to a triad of three brothers. After working down through his maternal line, I identified his birth mother who was, in fact, from Canada. Then the identification of his birth father came easily.
The great thing about registering your DNA is that, even if answers don’t come immediately, you have opened the door to the possibility at a later date. As your biological family members register their DNA in the future, the mystery could be solved.
Another area not to be overlooked is placing a letter to your birth parents in your adoption file (with the agency or attorney who facilitated your adoption if you have that information). If either of them ever decide to contact the agency or attorney in order to locate you, your letter will be waiting for them.
In a similar vein, you can place a waiver of confidentiality in your adoption file. This waiver gives the agency or attorney permission to share your identifying information with your birth mom or birth dad, should they start searching for you.
Finally, don’t discount adoption registries. Many states have registries and there is an international registry known as the International Soundex Reunion Registry. It’s definitely worth your time to register in all applicable locations. Start with the state where your adoption took place if you have that information. These registries pair adoptees with their biological family members once both parties have registered their information.
So don’t throw in the towel before you ever get started, wishing you had more information to initiate a search. You don’t need any information to start a search. There is a glimmer of hope for you.