Liz's Ohio Adoption Information Page.
Scenic Ohio is where I was born.
I'm a reunited adoptee. While I did hire a searcher at the end of my search, I had most of the information I needed, I just didn't know what to do with it. My searcher, Jaymie Frederick, was able to locate my birthmother using the information I had and some of her own sources. If you decide to use a searcher, I reccommend her. Please tell her I said hi!
I followed these steps to gain the information that I had. I hope that they help you too. While some of them are specific to Ohio, many of the techniques I used are applicable in most places.
I could not have found my birthfamily without the help of strangers. If this information helps you in any way, please pass on a kindness to someone else.
Before You Start
I began my search by registering with the International Soundex Reunion Registry. This registry is a passive reunion base- they will not perform a search for you. They will, however, inform both parties, should there be a match. For information on the ISRR, click here. This is a free registry, but they certainly accept donations.
The State of Ohio also has a adoption reunion registry, but even the people who run this registry tell me that it's not very effective, and it costs at least $50. As a result, I chose not to register with them. Evidently, birthparents and adoptees are not always informed about this registry.
Ask your adoptive parents for any information that they may have. You never know what they were given when they adopted you. One piece of paper that my Dad had was the most important lead I had in my search.
The second thing to do is contact the agency that handled your adoption and request your non-identifying information. This information can range from a sentence to many pages. In my case, I received information about the IQ's of everyone in my birthfamily, occupations, height and weight and very little else. My next step was to write to the agency again and request more specific information. Here is the letter I wrote. When you write, include questions that will help you in your search, such as
Also include other, less important (in terms of a search) questions, such as
Thanks to my friend Heather for these questions.
Note:I have included these adoption agencies so that if you were adopted through any of them, you can contact them easier. They are a resource for getting non-identifying information only. Here are some adoption agencies and some adoption agencies in Ohio. These are adoption agencies currently in business.
The Birth Index is a great place to begin a search.
It lists every child born for a particular location on a particular day, under both their adopted names (when applicable) and their original names. A lot of people have asked me for information about the Birth Index for other states.
Until now, I only knew about Ohio, but now have a listing of where to write: click here for the addresses of all 50 states. The availability of the birth index is different for almost every state, but if you can use it, it's a wonderful search tool.
My next step was to request a copy of the Ohio Birth Index. Evidently this index is on Microfilm, and you can either go to the Bureau of Vital Statistics and search it yourself, of your can request that a copy be sent to you. Searching the Microfilm is a tedious and dizzying process. There is a charge for this, but I think it is well worth it.
I learned that there is not a computer index of births before 1957, so if you're looking for information older than that, it may not be as accurate as some later dates.
The state of Ohio is not doing Birth Index searches right now because they're getting ready for Y2K. For a Birth Index lookup, along with oodles of helpful advice, contact Jaymie Frederick. The BOV did my search, while they were still doing them. Here's what my results looked like:
| OBS | VOL | CERT | LSTNME | FRSTNME MI | DOB | MAIDEN | POB |
| 1 | 27614 | 031575 | Compton | Lisa K | 03107 | Wilson | 2501 |
| 2 | 27614 | 031612 | Vara | 03107 | Stollings | 2501 | |
| 3 | 27614 | 031608 | Spencer | 03107 | Spencer | 2501 |
The second list was the Birth Supplemental List, which includes the amended, or adoptive names. It has the amended cert. number.
Example:
| OBS | VOL | CERT | LSTNME | FRSTNME MI | DOB | MAIDEN | MOMFRST MOMI | POB |
| 1 | 00000 | 538354 | Davidson Jodi | A | 03101967 | Karlin | Harriet S | 2501 |
By looking at the Birth Index, you can usually narrow your search down to a few names.
Things to look for:
According to them, (p. 3) under "Marriage Divorce" there's a subheading "DATE OR PLACE OF OCCURRENCE UNKNOWN" It says: "Statute provides for a special search of the State Vital Statistics Unit files and records to determine the date or place of a birth, death, marriage or divorce record. Please see the fees section for more information."
Here's the section on SPECIAL SEARCHES:
The fee for a search when the date or place of occurrence is unknown is $3.00 for each hour, or fractional part of an hour, for each record name searched. Because the searches are manual, approximately ten years of indexes can be searched for one name in one hour. Please use this to estimate your fee costs.
Vital Statistics will also do special searches for births, marriages, & deaths over a 10 year period for $3.00 per search.
After searching is completed you will be informed if the record is on file.
If you live some distance away from the Bureau of Vital Statistics, having them do this is a good option. Just keep in mind, that, like all things bureaucratic, speed is not a priority for the person doing this search. Expect to wait at least 2 months for your results.
I wrote both my agency and the State for more clues. The State just kind of laughed at me, and told me about the The Ohio Adoption Reunion Registry, a little used registry that will allegedly reunite birthfamilies, but only if both, or all, parties register. My agency has all the information I requested, but was very careful about following the law and told me very little that could be construed as identifying.
Once you have a name and a city, you can use the Polk directories to locate the family you are looking for. These directories list the residents of each home and their occupations, and occasionally, the children living at the home and their ages at the time.
This is how you can get parts of these directories:
Call the library in the city your bmom was from and talk to the reference department. Don't explain why, just ask politely if there is someone who could xerox the (your birth last name here) pages from the years surrounding your birth year. Polk doesn't come out every year, so you may have to ask for, say 70-75 if your birth year was 1973. I got 3 years of listings.
They will charge you for making the copies (amounts to probably a few dollars). You will need to send the request in writing most of the time. The library will look it up, make copies, write back and tell you what you owe and then send it to you.
Thanks to Sheryl for that information.
My Adoption clip at Clip2.com has many excellent resources, and links to some wonderful books about adoption.
Once you have a last name and a location, you can search the many databases available online, for free. This led me to many members of my birth family.
The databases I like are:
Hopefully, your hard work will pay off and you will find the person you are looking for!
ALMA (Adoptees' Liberty Movement Association)
P.O. Box 727 Radio City Station
New York, N.Y. 10101-0727
(212) 581-1568
Some adoption links:
Adoptees Internet Mailing List
Adoption.org
Alana's Birthmom List Great source!
Columbus Dispatch Obituary Search
Denise's Reunion with her son, Kevin Wonderful people, wonderful story!
More Ohio Information
Ohio Resources This one is GREAT!!
Tina's Adoption Resources Page
Liz's Adoption Clip