[tomatillo]

Hi all,

First time poster. I hope I'm posting in the right sub-sub forum!

I was just at an LDS Family History Center looking at a microfilm I ordered, an index of all New York City birth certificates from my birth year of 1963. I had a birth name that my adoptive mother gave me a couple of years before she passed away but put my search on hold until now. It blew me away that she had known a name all these years but never mentioned it. And I had always assumed my adoptive parents didn't know so didn't think about asking.

Anyway, there were two people listed in the registry with that first and last name but the birth dates didn't match mine. However, there were 16 boys with that last name and the first name simply "MALE", and one of them matched my birth date and the borough in which I was born. Woohoo! That could be me. So I made a note of the birth certificate number.

So my next step is attempting to order my original birth certificate.

On the NYC Vital Records online ordering form, they want your current legal name to be the same as the birth certificate name, or provide legal proof of a name change. I thought all I would need was a birth certificate number and name. Does anyone know if there is a way around this? I am planning to call the number for NYC Vital Records tomorrow, but am worried if I say I'm an adoptee looking for my original birth certificate they may refuse, even if I have a name and certificate number.

Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks!

T.

[tomatillo]

Well, I got an answer to my question above. "The records are sealed." I called NYC Dept. of Vital Records and they said if I am adopted I needed a court order to unseal the original birth certificate, it didn't matter if I knew the original name and had the original birth certificate number. Not sure what to do next. My original surname is one of the top 30 most common surnames so no help there.

[leight]

join the yahoo group NY adoptees- they have people who will help you. Do you know if you were an agency or private adoption? Have you any documents from your adoptive parents. I am sorry to hear that you lost your adoptive mom- can you ask your dad for any of his remembrances? If your mom had a name they may have had documents such as your order of adoption. Do you know where the adoption was finalized? OR if not-where your family was living when they got you? (Most often where the adoption took place.)

[tomatillo]

Thank you, Leigh, for your response. I will look for the yahoo group.

Both my adoptive parents are gone now (they lived into their 80's and were top-notch parents!), but I think I do have the name of the adoption agency somewhere (I think it was Sheltering Arms). I doubt it still exists. I have taken over all my parents' papers and there are no documents regarding the adoption except for some incidental information which I had had for some time about my diet, habits, and living situation up until my adoption at 2 mos., things that were included in my "Baby Book."

I requested and received the non-identifying information about my birth parents from the state several years ago. Other than that my birth mother was an artist and claimed to have been date raped, there was nothing remarkable about it.

Thanks again

~tomatillo