How do you find a sibling that was put up for adoption without having to hire someone.?

Question

I was recently informed that I have a 1/2 brother somewhere who is 2 years older than I. The only information I have to go off of is the Hospital he as born at, the birthdate, & caseworkers name who claimed him? Any information you could help me with would be deeply appreciated!!!

Answer 1

This will depend what information you already have. If you know the child's name that is a big help. If you just know it was a boy, then it would help if you knew the mother's name rather than the father's name. This is because the child might not have the father's surname, but the registers of births will have the mother's maiden name, even if she was married and the child has a different surname from her.  As you know the hospital and the birthdate, you can go to the registry office that covers that hospital. If you are not sure where that is, you can either ring the hospital and ask for their registration district, or go to your own nearest registry office and they may be able to help you with the name of the registry office that covers that hospital.

If you can visit that registry office, give them the mother's name and the date of birth and the hospital and they will probably be able to search for the entry and then give you a copy of the birth certificate. If you only have the father's name, it will depend if he is named on the birth cerifictae as to whether or not they can identify which birth it is. If you can't visit the registry office you can write to them. The birth certificate will cost you £7.00 and there may or may not be a small search fee. Once you have the birth name of your half brother, you can start looking for him. There are web sites that can help you with this. For example, if it is a more unusual name,  you could google his name and see what comes up. You could join 192.com which costs about £20 for a year and put his name in there. This lists phone numbers and some electoral records. Of course if you have a John Smith who was from the London area, it would be very difficult to track down who it is. I would start looking in the area he was born. The other thing you could do is go on freebmd.co.uk and add 16 or 18 years to his birth date and start looking for any marriages of men with his name. Freebmd gives you indexes of births, marriages and deaths. This just gives you the man's name, the registration district where he was married and in which year and which quarter. You would have to buy the certificate to find out the actual address he was living at when he got married. This would cost £7.00. He may not be living there now, but other relatives might be and might know where he is. Alternatively you could try putting an ad in the paper of the area where he was born asking for him by name.  Sorry this is a long reply, but good luck.

Answer 2

Through registries and public records and with the help of people who know the ropes

Your State may have a sibling registry also

Start by registering and searching for a match with these

http://www.isrr.net/

http://registry.adoption.com/

and search online for other adoption reunion registries.  Look for ones specific to the State where your sibling was born too

Good luck, and if you need any help at all don't  hesitate to ask

ETA  whilst Lynne B's advice is great for British Adoptees - where adult adoptees and birthfamilies have access to adoption records - If you are looking in the USA (in 44 States) there is a completely different (and draconian) system whereby the records are sealed away from the very people they pertain to.  This makes things difficult because you are then searching without a name in most cases.

Answer 3

try www.adoption.org

it has a free registry that you can search & put your information on

Answer 4

Join the free registry -- case workers will usually only give minimal info.  Good Luck.

Answer 5

well right now im helping my friend find his adoption parents without help from anyone professional. we started a group on facebook put an add in a tv guide that goes all around parts of canada, and also if you know thier last name try typeing in his last name on www.411.com if you know what state or province you could call all the people with that last name it'll take awhile but probably get some postive results good luck

Answer 6

What about the parent you share?  Is that parent part of your life are they willing to help you?  What about other relatives?

I gave up a child for adoption when my son was 2 1/2.  When his brother turned 18 I helped him find him, in that I gave him all the information I had, and pointed him in the right direction.  He did the work - phone calls etc. it took him about 6 months but he did finally find him.

Good luck.