[FamilyDigger89]

First I will give you a little background of my situation. I am 23 and doing some research on my family.

My great grandmother gave up a child for adoption in 1918 because she was unmarried. I have found the child's amended birth record, the home where she was born, gotten copies of the adoption records ( in the state of IN if the birth took place before 1941 then the adoption is a matter of open record) and have been in contact with the child's daughters. I was able to look up the amended birth record because my great grandmother's name was never whited out in the index.

My question is if the biological mother's name in the index was never whited out and the adoption is supposed to be a matter of open record, then should the birth record with the birth parents names on it really be sealed? Has anyone ever been through anything similar before? Or had sucess at opening a birth record? All of those involved (birth mother, adopted child, adopted parents, and i'm assuming the birth father, even the adopted child's siblings) have passed away long ago. My mom and I and the adopted child's two daughters are the only family memebers left.

Both I and the child's daughter have tried talking to our local health department where birth record copies can be obtained, but the lady was very rude, unhelpful and pretty much refused to talk to us. All she would tell us is those records are sealed. I have also been in contact with the granddaughter of the woman who ran the maternity home where the child was born and she has told me that as far as she knows there were never any records kept and if there were they have been destroyed long ago.

The child's daughter's would like to know who their biological grandfather was, but are hesitant to get lawyers involved. Can anyone give me any insite or advice?