Iam too a CA adoptee, recently in reunion; have you read any of Search Guru's post re: starting your search?? She posted today re: CA searches. If you can't find the post, go under the "Members" tab and try to look her up that way. If you need help, you can PM me and I'll help as much as I can. I know the first thing she recommends is getting a copy of your birthparent's "non-identifying" information from the agency your adoption went through.
Another thing that really helped me was locating a "search angel" on the internet; these are people that just help adoptees reunite with their birthfamilies. Most just help because they too have been touched in some way by adoption. I was able to find my bfamily within 2 months with the help of an awesome search angel. Try
www.vsn.org for help in finding someone to help. They often know the ins and outs that most people don't and have access to alot of resources.
Hope that helps...Becka