Are you a searching adoptee?  If you are then you have stopped at the right place.  Me?  I am an Indiana adoptee living in the wilds of Texas.  Yes I know it is a running joke of mine.  I live in the country side of Texas.  Texas is all that I really know.   I have been to Indiana but I don't know much about it.  Adoption plays funny mind games with those living adoption, adoptees, birthmothers and adoptees.

I began actively searching three years ago.  Actually it was longer than that.  I got my first batch of non identifying information about eleven years ago.  It was a different set of information than  it was three years ago.  I had to fight with the Indiana Vital Statiistics office to get that second batch of information because I lost the first batch.  The state of Indiana does not like giving out the information a second time around.  That is something to keep in mind when you are searching. 

So where do you start?  It depends upon your state.  If you are lucky in that you live in Maine, Oregon, Alabama, Kansas, Alaska or New Hampshire, you just walk into the vital statistics office and request that pesky little document called the original birth certificate. It should be that way in all fifty states but sadly it is not.  

As an adoptee who has not ever found, I would start with knowing what your state laws say.  I would ask  your adoptive parents to help you out.  You don't have to but they just might have some valuable information that the state will not give you.  Adoptees sometimes get a guilt complex about asking their adoptive parents questions about their adoption.  That is a normal reaction.  You have to realize that it is a journey of self.  YOURSELF!  It is absolutely okay to search.  You really do not even need to justify that search.  Sadly societal views often ask us to do so.  I am here to tell you that you do not need to take that action. 

I have spoken with several other adoptees about this issue.  You will soon find a series of writings from adoptees all over the internet.  We all have solid advice in helping your search.

• Know the laws in your state.  You need to understand what your rights are in regards to your records.  
• Adoption Animal House says that you need to keep a hard copy of everything.  She also says to keep it organized and easily accessible.
• Have an email address specific for adoption only.
• If you can afford it, get an ancestry monthly membership.  If you can't, then use your local library's membership.
  
• Join a state specific group for your search.
• If you have to use a confidential intermediary, ask around about the confidential intermediary.  Get references good and bad about the confidential intermediary.

You have a basis in which to begin searching.  It is okay to be a searching adoptee.  You do not need anyone's permission to search especially if you are an adult.  This also includes searching mothers/birthmothers.