Question:
My grandfather was adopted as an infant. How do I go about finding information on his birth family?

Answer:   
Historically, knowing one's true ancestry has been thwarted for adoptees because of the practice of “sealing adoptee's records,” which began in the 1940s. Until the last few years this created a nightmare for adoptees doing genealogical research. It has been estimated that 118,000 U.S. persons were adopted per year since 1940, totaling approximately 6,000,000 adoptees. This in turn has created almost 20–90 million descendants of adoptees who have been stonewalled in researching their blood lines. But social and legal avenues are now opening for adoptees to access their information.

A search for a grandfather (or anyone) who was adopted will depend both on where and when he was adopted. The website www.abcadoptions.com/adoptionrecords.htm will inform you of exactly which states allow access to information for which years.

In 2000, only three states allowed open access to information; now, nine short years later, we have approximately 30 states with varying types of open records. Laws are being presented each year to open the last 20 states' records. Below are the basic categories of U.S. access laws today:

States with Open Records:
About nine states have open records with no restrictions on years. (However, some do allow waiver-against-contact forms for birth parents.) These open record states are Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Kansas, Oregon, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.

States with Court-Order Access:
About three states allow access by court-order only. These states are New Jersey, North Carolina, and Idaho.

States with Mutual Consent Registries:
About 17 states have mutual consent registries: both parties must come forward to allow access to information and contact. These states are Arkansas, California, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.

States with Conditionally Open Records:
About 21 states have open access with conditions such as confidential mediators, or restrictions for certain years. These states are Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.

Several states have multiple systems in place: registries, confidential mediators, court orders, records open for some years but not others, and so forth.

Most adoption records are maintained in one of the following locations:
• Probate Courts/Orphan Courts
• State Vital Records Departments [where birth certificates are maintained]
• State Departments of Adoption

Pre-1940 Laws 
Generally speaking, adoption records did not close nationwide until about 1940. You may be able to obtain some birth certificates prior to that date, unless they were sealed retroactively by the state.

If birth indexes are available, you may be able to find your grandfather by his date of birth, and by process of elimination. Sometimes guardianship records were created for children orphaned so you could search those records by the name of the new guardian.

However, if your grandfather was born and adopted from 1920–1940 you may or may not be able to find his information in vital records because many adoptees born during this time were never officially processed through any court system and no records exist.  

Issues usually came up when men were enlisting in the service and needed to prove their identities, however, so records could have been created then. If your adopted relative assumed his/her adoptive parents' last names unofficially, he likely would have had to go to court to change his name as an adult.

Hiring a Researcher
Hiring a competent searcher for your specific locality is wise. The Internet site www.iscsearch.com may help you find a searcher who expertly knows the records and access availability for your area. Once you have an original name to search, normal genealogical research methods are applicable.

Online Adoption Resources
Excellent resources are available on the following websites for adoption-specific genealogical issues:

Tina's Adoption Pages    
www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/9606  
Mega-sources of adoptee- searching references. State-by-state data of all agencies involved in adoptions.

Cyndi's List         
www.cyndislist.com  
Multiple sources for states and adoption searchers.

Adoption.com      
www.adoption.com
Has year by year/state registries of adoption parties looking for relatives. Also has discussion forums by year of adoption, which may contain valuable clues for your year/state of searching. 

Canadian Sources  
www.generations.on.ca/adoption.htm  
Multiple links to registries and other sources for Canadian adoptee searching.

International Soundex Registry     
www.ISRR.org 
A non-profit organization that serves, through reunion registry, interests of adults desiring and seeking a reunion with next of kin by birth.