ADOPTION RECORDS HANDBOOK

"I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do."
--Edward Everett Hale

Now available. To order click on this link to Amazon.com or you can order it from your favorite bookstore under the ISBN number or ask your library to order a copy. A positive review at Amazon.com would be greatly appreciated if you like the Adoption Records Handbook.

How To Locate Your Birth Family

An estimated 1 in 10 Americans are adopted (over six million). At least as many more Americans have an adoption in their immediate family. DEFINITION: "Immediate family" includes: one's grandparents, parents, brothers, sisters, spouse, children and grandchildren. -The Family History Center, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; reprinted in "Dear Abby," Los Angeles Times, 5-30-92.

Inside the covers of this book are twenty-two pages of imaginative and helpful search tips, letter examples, Waiver and requests for Non-Id information forms, lists of Search Angels who will help in searches at no charge, registries, state statutes, etc. There are also templates of an Affidavit, Notice, Petition, and Order including statutes that apply to every state that can conform to Pro Se (doing it yourself) court filings. The Adoption Records Handbook is a road map to help birth families discover the past and the future with step-by-step directions to lead the way down their path. This book will have a profound impact on current adoption search methods. ISBN 978-0-9743438-6-0

With over six million persons being adopted in the United States and many more that are part of the adoption triad along with their immediate families, tens of thousands of adoptees are searching for their birth families to discover their medical histories, heritage, and possible reunions. Forty-four states currently have laws permanently sealing adoptee's birth certificates forever, thus forcing birth families to search on their own. Moreover, in some states where adoption records are opened, the birth family will still have to petition the court to obtain them and hope that a judge will grant their Petition.

Register for Free Giveaway

During National Adoption Awareness Month in November we will be giving away five copies of the Adoption Records Handbook. All you have to do to enter is click on the following link and submit your name. Entry Submission. Only one entry per person to avoid elimination. Please set your email address book so our notification doesn't land in your spam filter. Your email address will be kept confidential. Good luck!

Pocketbook Adoption Records Search Tips

Taken from the Adoption Records Handbook are 31 pages of Search Tips that will fit in your purse or back pocket and provide you with a multitude of avenues to proceed with your search. Only $3.95 Continential U.S. The Pocketbook will be mailed out within three business days.

Reviews

"Teresa Brown demystifies the misinformation clouding adoptee birth family search and provides a clear path of easy to follow checklists and search tips to guide the adoptee through the maze of legal roadblocks and closed doors. The Adoption Records Handbook represents that long awaited light at the end of the darkened tunnel where hope and reality finally meet. An essential roadmap to a successful search" - Richard Fischer, Editor / Publisher of Adoption TODAY & Fostering Families TODAY Magazines.

"The Adoption Records Handbook by Teresa Brown is essential for anyone looking to find their birth family. Well written and clearly presented to help cut through the maze of stumbling blocks, this book is a must." - Joe Soll, LCSW, psychotherapist and author of Evil Exchange and Adoption Healing... a path to recovery.

"The Adoption Records Handbook is an important -- even invaluable -- resource for everyone setting out to solve the mystery of their past, so they can move on to a better-informed and less-secretive future." - Adam Pertman, Executive Director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute and author of Adoption Nation.

"As a search tool, this handbook is indispensable. Written in a straightforward manner, Brown's book is meant to help members of the adoption triad get the job done as inexpensively as possible. She gives step-by-step instructions for requesting an original birth certificate, including templates for the documents needed to file a Court Petition if normal channels do not work. Once a birth certificate is obtained, the information given on it is the basis for a search."

"Brown addresses how to approach obvious channels, like the adoption agency or attorney who facilitated the adoption, as well as more obscure options, such as home security alarm registrations and pet licenses. Some are surprisingly simple; for example, one woman found her birth siblings by placing classified ads in the newspaper for the area she was born in."

"The search for a birth family can be daunting, but Brown believes that no one should be denied the right to his birth information." -Foreword Magazine

The Most Important Step To Take

The absolute first most significant thing you can do is register with the International Soundex Reunion Registry, ISRR. Their new location is: P.O. Box 371179, Las Vegas, NV 89137. By phone call (775) 882-7755 or 888-886-ISRR. You need to be 18 to register. They do NOT accept applications via the internet! Your free registration form can be filled in and printed out afterwards from their only official website at: www.isrr.net and then snail mailed to the above address. This is the oldest and largest free reunion registry in the world (but donations are accepted) and the most likely place to find a match if anyone in your birth family has registered as well. It is a confidential, mutual consent registry, which means that information sent to the ISRR will not be given to any third party or used to solicit business for professional searchers. If you are already registered you should call the phone number above to update your contact information if it has changed.

Author Teresa Brown is a retired Paralegal, a reunited first mother, the daughter of adoptive parents, and the sister to an adoptee. She has been around adoption most of her life and is familiar with all sides of the adoption triad. She believes that all birth family members have a right to discover their answers, regardless of the final outcome.