Americans seeking lost family members are usually adult adoptees, adults who grew up in foster care, birth parents seeking children given up for adoption and adoptive parents who need more information about their adopted children's background, according to the federal Child Welfare Information Gateway 2004 fact sheet "Searching for Birth Relatives." Searchers also include adult children of divorced or separated parents trying to find birth parents and siblings. Regardless of the situation that caused you to lose your family members, there are many resources for finding them.
Step 1
Read several books about the process of searching for missing family members, such as Tammy L. Kling's 1997 book, "Searching for a Piece of My Soul: How to Find a Missing Family Member or Loved One."
Step 2
Question your current family members, and collect all the information you have about your missing family members in a folder or notebook. Keep duplicate copies of all information you collect in a fireproof lockbox or scan the papers into computer files and store them in an email folder.
Step 3
Upload pictures of your missing family members to free online age progression websites such as the University of St. Andrews' Face of the Future, and get an updated photo of them.
Step 4
Contact the state foster care agency, adoption agency and any other government or private agency that might have had contact with your missing family members. Review federal and state public records databases such as Public Records Center site, which can search databases in all 50 states.
Step 5
Join online support groups for people conducting your type of search. For example, join the Bastard Nation if you are an adoptee or Foster Club if you were in foster care. Other people in these support groups can share with you tactics that worked for them.
Step 6
Visit family genealogy websites for people with your missing family members' last names, and ask if anyone has heard of your family members. Some genealogy websites such as Family Tree DNA will test your DNA against the DNA in their databases and connect you with relatives who registered with them.
Step 7
List your contact information in free online reunion registries such as the International Soundex Reunion Registry so that your missing family members can see it if they are looking for you. Some states have adoption reunion registries where you can leave contact information for birth relatives.
Step 8
Put an ad asking for information about your missing family members in the online and print classifieds of the newspaper sold in the area where your missing family members were last known to be living. Create a Facebook page or a blog called "Looking for [your relatives' names]" that has your contact information and the updated photo of your relatives.
Step 9
Hire a private investigation firm that specializes in finding missing family members. Ask for references and get information about the firm from the Better Business Bureau before retaining the firm.
References
- Child Welfare Information Gateway: Searching for Birth Relatives
- "Searching for a Piece of My Soul: How to Find a Missing Family Member"; Tammy L. Kling; 1997
- Foster Club
- Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization
- Public Record Center
