[Carol1966]

I'm in search of my birth family and am hoping this is will help get me closer. The adoption records are sealed in Albany, NY, but does anyone know if there is there any way of obtaining them?

I was born on Nov. 2 1966 in Brookhaven Hospital, Brookhaven, NY. My birth mom named me Carol but my a-mom changed it after I was adopted. I was in a foster home from birth I until I was adopted at the age of 10 months. I believe my birth family lives somewhere on Long Island, NY. My birth mother is blond, artistic, petite and of Welsh, Scandinavian and Dutch heritage. My birth father has dark hair and is tall. His family immigrated here from the Ukraine and is Greek Orthodox.

The weird part of this is that I didn't find out I was adopted until I was 27 and finally dared to ask my mom. She wanted this kept secret and to this day I will never understand why.

[InionGrinn]

Hi Carol,

Fellow NY adoptee here. Yep, you can't get your records opened in our fine state without petitioning for "good cause" whatever the heck that means. Perhaps an overarching health issue.

Did you write to the NYS Department of Health for your non-identifying information yet? Do you know what agency your parents used for the adoption? You may obtain more info by contacting the agency. I would go that route, perhaps your birthfamily left some good info. Don't be afraid to ask for any small details they may be able to provide. I'd ask for # of siblings, parent's occupations, all that little stuff.

I received non-id info and believe it or not, I located my birthfamily using clues I pieced together in that info. It CAN be done, so keep some hope there.

Is Brookhaven on the island or in Queens? If you were born in one of the 5 boroughs you can go to the new york public library and research your original birth certificate in the archives there.

Good luck, keep us all posted, I'll be thinking of you.

[Carol1966]

Originally Posted by InionGrinn

Hi Carol,

Fellow NY adoptee here. Yep, you can't get your records opened in our fine state without petitioning for "good cause" whatever the heck that means. Perhaps an overarching health issue.

Did you write to the NYS Department of Health for your non-identifying information yet? Do you know what agency your parents used for the adoption? You may obtain more info by contacting the agency. I would go that route, perhaps your birthfamily left some good info. Don't be afraid to ask for any small details they may be able to provide. I'd ask for # of siblings, parent's occupations, all that little stuff.

I received non-id info and believe it or not, I located my birthfamily using clues I pieced together in that info. It CAN be done, so keep some hope there.

Is Brookhaven on the island or in Queens? If you were born in one of the 5 boroughs you can go to the new york public library and research your original birth certificate in the archives there.

Good luck, keep us all posted, I'll be thinking of you.

I haven't written to the NY State Dept. of Health yet. Actually, I didn't know that was an option, thank you for that info!
My adoption was through Suffolk County and Brookhaven is out on the Island somewhat, but not in any of the boroughs.
I did write to the county when I found out about my adoption, which is how I know some of the non-id info but it didn't give me enough to assist me in finding them. I don't even know which part of Suffolk County they lived in and it's a pretty large area.
Thank you so much again for the lead re- writing to the State Dept. of Health, I will go forward with that.

[jenn_e_ritter]

try SearchBug - Your People and Company Finder or ZabaSearch - Free People Search Engine

They be able to help you. If these don't ask me and I will give you more.

[InionGrinn]

Here's the link to the DOH adoption information registry. There's a pdf form you can print out and mail in. I believe you have to get it notarized.
When I received the info from the DOH, which took about 4 months, it had hardly any info on it. I got MUCH more from my adoption agency. So I'd advise to check the box on the form that says you'd like to get information from your agency.

Adoption Information Registry - New York State Department of Health

Good luck and keep us posted!

[vicrose]

Hi Carol....I live in Brookhaven, NY...so if I can be of any assistance to a fellow adoptee...I would love to help you....how about high school yearbooks....that might be a start??!! Hugs, Brenda

[Wizard298]

Hey how long did it take you to get the non id from new york state?


this has to do with yearbooks issue

Check this out, i asked my boyfriend he asked his adoptive parents and asked where his birthfamily lived an d they stated that non of them lived in geneva NY and they didnt have the names only how old they was

well later on after our son was born they said she peeked and got a last name but didnt know how it was spelled

we think its spelled "Fischer"

well anyways we know his Bmom went o geneva to get her health care

so i called every school in ontario county high school and grade chool and checked the years accordingly to how old she would of been


there was one person we tracked down but we told his aopdtive parents and they laughed at us and told us again she wasnt living in geneva

well the only school that had that fischer name was in geneva high school

the librarian checked for me and found one name and it wasnt the on

the librairan, told me to check classmates.com which i did

and i found someone in geneva high school, which ended up being the sister of the one we found before and she just registered through the classmates as years she attentend 78-82

my boyfriend was born in 1978 in geneva general hospital but yet the adoptive parents state she didnt live in geneva


beleive or not to beleive?

so after finding it on classmates.com ifound out through the librairan she was never in the yearbooks the entire time she was in school......

i even checked papers that would give birth info for the entire month of june and didnt find anything

so i started with basic stuff

I dont beleive it anymore after throughly searching schools in entire ontario county

do you guys think she may have lived there?

She gave birth to the hospital there and had her health care there and he was privatly adopted

[Carol1966]

Originally Posted by vicrose

Hi Carol....I live in Brookhaven, NY...so if I can be of any assistance to a fellow adoptee...I would love to help you....how about high school yearbooks....that might be a start??!! Hugs, Brenda

Brenda,
Thank you so much! The people on this forum have done so much more than I ever expected! Everyone here is so supportive, positive and willing to help, I'm so happy to have found this website.

Unfortunately I don't know any of my birth family's names so I wouldn't even know who/what to look for in a yearbook. I wish it could be that easy. My birth mom was 19 when she had me so if she attended Brookhaven I'm assuming she would have graduated in 1965 or 1964... she was blond, petite and artistic, which probably describes a lot of the students, lol. she was also attending manicure school at that time and her parents had just divorced.
My birth father was about 6'2" with dark hair and was athletic... I think he played football. His family came here from the Ukraine. He was 18 so he may have still been in high school in '66.

Thank you again!

[vicrose]

Long Island is not as big as some people think...we all read the same newspaper on the train to work...we all read the Long Island Newsday....have you ever thought of posting a personal ad in Newsday....it would be seen by a lot of people, and might just jog someone's memory....do you know from your non-id info if your birthmother spent any time in a maternity home...I remember there being a maternity home on the border of Medford/Patchogue...off Rt. 112...it's not there anymore....but the girls that stayed there..would of given birth at Brookhaven....and if your birthmom was not in a maternity home...then chances are that she lived in the surrounding area in Brookhaven Township...not a very big area.....one thing about Suffolk County is that everyone knows someone who knows someone...I would list the personal ad with a p.o. box, and see if you get any info....do you still live in NY?? Brenda

[Carol1966]

Originally Posted by vicrose

Long Island is not as big as some people think...we all read the same newspaper on the train to work...we all read the Long Island Newsday....have you ever thought of posting a personal ad in Newsday....it would be seen by a lot of people, and might just jog someone's memory....do you know from your non-id info if your birthmother spent any time in a maternity home...I remember there being a maternity home on the border of Medford/Patchogue...off Rt. 112...it's not there anymore....but the girls that stayed there..would of given birth at Brookhaven....and if your birthmom was not in a maternity home...then chances are that she lived in the surrounding area in Brookhaven Township...not a very big area.....one thing about Suffolk County is that everyone knows someone who knows someone...I would list the personal ad with a p.o. box, and see if you get any info....do you still live in NY?? Brenda

I don't know if she was in a maternity home, is there a way to track the mothers who stayed there during that time even though it doesn't exist anymore? She did give me up to a foster home pretty early and if I remember correctly my letter from the county said it was at birth. She and my biological grandmothers came to see me regularly when I was in the foster home. She didn't give me up to the state until I was 6 months old so I think she contemplated whether or not to keep me.

I lived in Northport adn lived there until the age of 12. My dad was transferred to Michigan, which is where I live now. We used to go back and visit relatives every Christmas and July 4th week but now that I have my own family I don't go back as much.

I've considered taking out an ad in Newsday, do you think it would generate any positive feedback really? I will give that a try, what do I have to lose.

[InionGrinn]

I like the Newsday thing idea, Brenda...I called a newspaper about putting in a classified ad of the sort and the editor said "why don't you submit an editorial?" so I did. It was a basic informational thing but got alot more space and coverage then the back of the paper ad section.

Email Newsday and see if they'll take an editorial piece from you with the info you have.
Hey, you never know!

[Linda Tupper]

Carol1966
I was born in Buffalo and adopted out of an agency in Syracuse, NY. I contacted the adoption agency and rec'd all the non-identifying information which led to finding my bmother. Now when you were adopted there were adoption papers that were generated and with that you were named by your Bmother. I was able to get those from my Amother. So if you were named at birth (your Bmother possibly gave you her last name) If you need to chat about it e-mail me and I will help you if I can. tupperl@pogoproducing.com. Good luck

[Carol1966]

Originally Posted by InionGrinn

I like the Newsday thing idea, Brenda...I called a newspaper about putting in a classified ad of the sort and the editor said "why don't you submit an editorial?" so I did. It was a basic informational thing but got alot more space and coverage then the back of the paper ad section.

Email Newsday and see if they'll take an editorial piece from you with the info you have.
Hey, you never know!

Did you receive any feedback from your editorial? I'm going to email Newsday this morning and see what they recommend. I think an editorial would certainly get more exposure, let's see what their criteria is now.

[InionGrinn]

Well, the editorial went in and was printed and I must say it got a really great spot in the paper, but nothing came of it - within my OWN birthfamily that is. My birthmom resides out of the country so she never would have seen the editorial but I didn't know that.

However I did put information in the article about the New York State Adoption Information Registry, with addresses and websites so that perhaps others could use it.

If I can find the article, I'll pm it to you. I posted it here in an old post of mine from Feb 05.

[Carol1966]

InionGrinn
If you still do have it may I use it as a reference?