Certain California Counties are "open counties," meaning they interperet section 9200 of the California Family Code to allow adoptive parents to access identifying information at any time for any reason. I asked my adoptive parents to do so and the records are on their way. These counties are: Santa Clara, Contra Costa, Santa Cruz, Alameda, Glenn, Marin, Napa, Orange, Shasta, and Sonoma Counties. Contact the records unit of the Superior court and ask their policy. They only require a notarized letter from the adoptive parents, or that they show up. It seems that this info is not widely known, but has made all the difference for me. This is where I got this info:
http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill...es/CAopen.html
This page also has contact info for the courts of each county.
Additionally, this page has similar info for all 50 states.