Every now and then, we all grow curious about our roots and family history. For adoptees, this is something that some of them think about their entire life.
An Adoptee’s Search
Jeannie was adopted into a loving family as a baby, but as time went on, her curiosity about her biological family continued to grow. About 14 years ago, she hired a search company to see if they could help her find them. But, even with her adoption birth certificate and the name of the hospital where she was born, the search was unsuccessful.
An Adoptee’s Opportunity
In 2014, Former Governor Chris Christie announced that all adult adoptees in New Jersey would have access to their original birth certificates. Jeannie applied on a whim, and a month later, she had her original birth certificate in her hand! With this single piece of paper, she learned her birth mother’s maiden name and address at the time of her birth. Between searching social media, the library in the town that her biological mother was from, and Google, she was able to find some potential relatives. She also found an online obituary which contained a condolence from a woman who’s last name matched her mother’s maiden name.
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An Adoptee’s Dream
Thinking that she was onto something, Jeannie came to Spokeo. She wanted to learn more about who this woman might be before she decided to reach out to her. By doing a name search, she was able to find some information on the woman, as well as corroborate a few names and addresses of the potential relatives she had previously found.
“My Spokeo experience gave me the confidence that I could take the next step in reaching out to her with the knowledge that she was by all accounts a regular person with nothing shady to worry about.”
After doing her research, Jeannie opened up a P.O. Box, and wrote a letter to the woman asking her to let her know if she wasn’t the person she was searching for, so that she’d know if she needed to direct her search in another direction. But to Jeannie’s surprise, the woman wrote back and confirmed that she was her biological mother!
“I have since met my parents and three siblings and have a full relationship with them, and I also have six nieces and nephews, which is great!”
We’re so happy that we were able to give Jeannie the reassurance she needed to reach out to her now-confirmed biological mother, and that she gained another loving family!