[wendycross]

I am in need of some assistance in finding my birth family. I was born at the Mission Hospital in Huntington Park, California on 4/10/1965. I am a female. My birth name was Wendy Louise Elchuck. Please contact me if you can help. I just found out that I am adopted. I am told that I have bio-siblings. I have grown up as an only child. I am really wanting to know heritage/culture information and medical information and I want to know who I am. Thank you in advance.

[thesearchguru]

Welcome to the Search and Reunion Message Board!

The most widely known and recommended search angel organization is the Volunteer Search Network:

http://www.vsn.org/

However, before you contact a Search Angel you should request your non-identifying information. See information about search angels at the bottom of this post.


***Non-identifying information***
Information can be requested from the adoption file by contacting the adoption agency that handled the adoption. The non-identifying report should have most or all of the following about the birth family. If the information you currently have was given to your adoptive parents at the time of your adoption you should request “updated non-id”. Or, if the report does not contain all of the information below contact the agency for updated information:

A. Age of birth parents at the time of relinquishment
B. State of birth of birth parents
C. Marital status of birth parents
D. Other siblings born before the adoptee to the birth parents
E. Physical description of birth parents
F. Ethnicity of birth parents
G. Religion of birth parents
H. Occupation of birth parents
I. Education of birth parents
J. Information about aunts, uncles and grandparents such as ages and occupations
K. Reason for relinquishment


***Waiver for Consent to Contact Form***
The Waiver is a form that can be used by adoptees, relinquished siblings or birthparents to give their permission for contact should a waiver be filed by both
parties.

NOTE: If the name of the agency is not known, or if it was a private adoption, this office can be contacted for the above services:

State of California
Dept of Social Services, Adoptions
744 P Street MS 3-31
Sacramento CA 95814
Phone: 916-651-8088

INFORMATION ABOUT SEARCH ANGELS


Search Angels are volunteers and do not charge for helping you with your search. You can find Search Angels by state/region.

. Once you have information from the search angel source there are several factors to consider before contacting the person that might be your biological relative. Talk to several search angels before making a decision which one to use for your search.

· Ask the search angel to match up information in your non-identifying information to the person that they have located. Sometimes the non-identifying information can be similar for many people with a common, similar or identical name.

· Make sure that you and the search angel have discussed and are in agreement about your contact preferences when your birth family relative is located. If you want to make the initial contact yourself make sure this is fully understood before the search starts. Also, if you do not want other members of the birth family notified that you are searching for their relative (in-lieu of actually finding the birth parent or adoptee) be sure to inform your search angel not to contact extended family relatives. Many possible reunions have been derailed because the birth mother heard from a relative (who did not know about the relinquishment and adoption) that you were looking for her. Always be respectful of the privacy of the person that you are trying to locate. Contacting relatives is not respectful of a birth parent or adoptee’s privacy.







Other great websites to check out:
http://www.adoptionchat.com
http://www.adoption.com
http://www.adopting.org
http://www.adoptionregistry.com

[LibertyArk]

Hi Wendy, I've PM'd you information. Hope this helps!