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The Top 5 Places to Search for Adoption Certificates
Adoption certificates do not only serve as proofs that adoptions have taken
place, they are also regarded as 'evidence of legitimization'. These documents
have been used for settling many legal matters such as issues related to probate
and property ownership.
Access to adoption records has proven to be a hot topic because the number of
adopted individuals has been conservatively estimated to reach 6 million in the
United States. All but five states (Alabama, Alaska, Kansas, New Hampshire, and
Oregon) limit or restrict access to adoption records.
Although certificates of adoption do not fall under such restrictions, finding
copies of them can sometimes be a problem. The 6 million American adoptees can
only hope for a centralized government body that can handle such concerns.
Where to Look for Adoption Certificates
Adoption certificates and other records related to the adoption process may be
found in a number of places, depending on where the adoption originated and
where it was finalized.
• Vital Records – The first place to look would be the
Vital Records Office in the state where the adoption was finalized.
• US Citizenship and Immigration Service – When a child was adopted outside the
US, a good place to search would be the
immigration office of the state where the child was naturalized. Immigration records typically
contain adoption papers, which were attached as supporting documents for the
granting of citizenship.
• Adoption Agency/Orphanage/Social Service – Another alternative is the child
placement agency that handled the adoption. If the originating agency is found
abroad, its US counterpart should be able to help.
• International Social Services is an international
organization that, among its many social service functions, helps adopted
individuals look for their overseas birth families. ISS may also be able to help
track down adoption papers.
• Search Agencies – Some services charge fees for active searches for birth
families to be conducted, very much like private detective services. A number of
these are even managed by the state government, while others belong to
commercial enterprises or support organizations. Some of the latter are
country-based (e.g., Korean support group for adopted children). Adoption
certificates may be easier to track down than people, so fees should be
affordable.
• Government of the Birth Country – Foreign governments have vital records
offices that may be attached to any number of agencies, such as census or
statistics, health, or even law enforcement bureaus. Visit the
US Department of
State website for country offices
that can help find vital records offices abroad.
• Lastly, try online public record search services.
The good thing about this option is that you find out NOW whether they have the
records you are looking for or not.
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