For many decades, it was not common practice for adoptive parents and adoption agencies to give information to adoptees about their birth families. Known as closed adoptions, adoptees in these situations were not allowed access to details about their origins or birth family.
Lack of access to information, however, does not stop adoptees wondering where they come from and exploring other ways of uncovering details about their birth history. Search Angels are one resource that can help adoptees find information about their birth parents.
What are Adoption Search Angels?
Adoption Search Angels are people who volunteer their time to locate public documents for free or a minimal fee. Search Angels have usually been touched by adoption themselves and want to help others on their search.
Working specifically for adoptees and sometimes birthmothers, each volunteer offers different services depending on the resources he or she has access to. Most Search Angels specialize in researching resources in a particular geographic area. Some searchers focus on helping adoptees looking for critical medical information about birth parents and others help with genealogical research.
What Do Search Angels Offer Adoptees?
Search Angel volunteers help adoptees look for information in the public domain but do not make contact with birth family members on behalf of the searching adoptee. Most volunteers indicate in which city, state and province they can help find information and their willingness to do the legwork for adoptees living elsewhere.
Adoptees may use the services of an adoption Search Angel to find birth certificates, death certificates, census data, marriage licenses, criminal records, newspaper clippings, contact information, photographs and other documents that give information about the adoptee’s birth family. Common resources adoption Search Angels are able to access include:
- Telephone directory look-up
- Internet and database searches
- Adoption registry checks
- Public library, archive and courthouse document searches
- Research of local schools and businesses
Although the searches are done by people volunteering their time, adoptees will likely be asked to cover cost of stamps, printing, long distance phone calls and any relevant travel expenses.
How Do Adoptees Find a Search Angel?
There are several adoption Search Angels throughout the U.S. and a few in Canada. Adoptees wanting the help of a volunteer should check discussion boards and support groups. There are also some internet listings of Search Angels by geographic region.
Adoptees should also provide as much information as they can to the Search Angel to assist in the research, as no detail is too insignificant.
Adoption Search Angels are a valuable resource for adoptees who are seeking information about their birth parents. By volunteering their time to research databases and do legwork for an adoptee, Search Angels help adopted people learn about their origins.
Angela Krueger - As an adoptive parent and PRIDE adoption trainer, Angela uses her insights to help others on their adoption journey.
