Genealogy Chat

Hi. Don't know if anyone can help with this one but any tips would be really appreciated. My husband was adopted in the early 60's and applied to see his adoption records. After waiting nearly a year, he finally got to see a 'counsellor' who would act on his behalf. We have since received a letter telling him that the junvenille court handling the adoption accidently shredded the records so we are unable to find out who the adoption agency were through the usual route. Does anyone know how we might find out another way? This is so incredibly frustrating after waiting nearly a year!! Any help would be so very welcome! Thanks, Sarah

That is a dreadful blow, Can you get back to them and ask what you should do? I wonder what records it was they shredded? any idea ..or just 'his records' Does he know his birth name even? Jess x

Have you tried going to the origional courts where the adoption took place and work it back from there, You will probably find as I have that your husbands birth family will be closer than you think. Mine were all less than a 25 muile radius from where I grew up. Also it is very likely that the origional court will have the paperwork from the social workers and or the foster parent (my foster mother lived in the same village as my natural father!) It's worth a shot, good luck, be prepared though for good and bad news. If you need any help let me know Amanda

I was in a similar position, my birth family traced me when I was 23 yrs old, I hadn't tried to find them as I'd been told they wanted nothing to do with me as a child. (I later found out this was total rubbish, and we're now very close). If your husband has his birth cert, I presume his biological mothers, if not fathers, details are on there. He could go to local papers asking if anyone knows these people, or just write a letter to the paper if he wants to be more discreet. Missing You is a free site to put details on, and its very well organised. Also Norcap may be able to help. They offer a lot of free legal advice concerning adoption records.

Thanks so much for your replies - this has been a very frustrating experience so help is really appreciated. The counsellor did actually contact the original court and it appears this is where it all falls down because they have no records of the name of the adoption agency. I expect there are some records somewhere, in an archive perhaps, but we would have to find out the name of adoption agency ourselves because the court can't help!!! Also, we do know quite a lot about the situation, birth name, mothers name, mothers d.o.b, her parents, her siblings names, but we do not know if she married so can't find her current whereabouts. To be honest, I could go on and on about everything because we have got so much info but it leads to a dead end every time. We thought about using a tracing agency but of course they cost money and may not come up with anything - does anyone have experience of using them? I think the suggestion about using newspapers is a good one. We know the areas she lived, but think she may have moved away, but someone must know something. Definitely worth a try. Thanks again, Sarah

hi just had another thought my birth family were trying to trace me via my origional name, worth a thought really wish you both well, keep the site posted would love to know if you are sucessful. regards amanda