From the Back Cover: Something had been missing in Mary Elizabeth’s life. Fear had kept her from seeking answers to questions she had carried with her over a lifetime. Accompany her on the phenomenal, rewarding and life-changing journey when she undertook to find her birth parents. Missing Pieces will inspire you and will help you change the way you think of yourself as a member of the adoption triad as well as de-mystify and simplify the process of search and reunion. You too, may learn the secrets that have been revealed by Mary Elizabeth and others like her, who have embarked upon such a similar journey.

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About the Author: Beth Sherrill was the only one of six sisters and brothers given over to the adoption system. With the help of Paul, the co-author, she found her birth parents. Beth has her bachelor’s degree in Human Services, worked as a counselor within that field for five years, and now owns and operates her own business. With her husband of twenty-one years, she is raising their four children in their small town in Tennessee.

Paul Drake, JD, has done genealogical research for more than fifty years, teaches and lectures on the subject frequently, and has published several popular guidebooks for uncovering ancestors, all published by Heritage Books. He is a father of three and a grandfather of seven, and lives with his wife and their little dogs in Crossville, Tennessee.

From the Back Cover: Now that most personal records are easily searchable online and the bureaucratic red tape that used to protect our secrets from prying eyes has been stripped away ... we are all naked in cyberspace.

Without taking sides on the right or wrong of using online ingredients to compile a detailed dossier, Naken in Cyberspace: How To Find Personal Information Online is a veritable cookbook for electronic researchers.

Written by Carole A. Lane and edited by Helen Burwell—two of the most savvy and respected online researchers in the world—this book reveals the most useful resources for personal research.

Author Carol A. Lane reveals how you can use online & CD-ROM technology today to:

• Gain competitive intelligence

• Locate people

• Recruit employees

• Investigate people

• Uncover adoptee birthparent information

• Conduct prospect research (fundraising)

• Search for assets, debts, liens and judgments

• Screen potential suitors, partners, tenants, etc.

• Find genealogical information

• Identify prospective customers and investors

and much more

From the publisher of Online magazine, Naked in Cyberspace is a must-read for employers, marketers, lenders, journalists, biographers, private investigators, genealogists—anybody with a computer and the need to research people.

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About the Author: After earning her bachelor’s degree in psychology, Carole A. Lane spent over a decade designing databases and systems in the medical and consumer credit fields. Throughout her career, she has been involved with personal records, which took on greater emphasis when she opened her research firm, TechnoSearch, Inc., in 1993.

Carole has served on the advisory board of the Special Libraries Association and on the board of directors of the Association of Independent Information Professionals. She has taught classes on locating personal records online, as well as information brokering. She has written articles on various subjects including locating people and competitive intelligence. She is also a frequently requested speaker at conferences throughout the United States.

Carole makes her home in Oceanside, California, along with her husband, Barry Wang, and son, Skylar.

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Compiler’s Note: The 1996 edition includes a reference to KinQuest BBS, an adoption-related computer bulletin board system (BBS) the Compiler had created and maintained at the time.

Now that DNA testing for genealogical purposes has existed for nearly a decade and a half—and been refined and improved during that time—it has established its value among family history researchers. It is now becoming accepted as another tool in the kit of well-rounded genealogists. This book covers this fast-growing application of genetics, empowering genealogists to apply this information to further their research. It will also enable general readers to understand how genetic information can be applied to verify or refute documentary research—and to break down frustrating walls that block the discovery of ancestors. The book describes the three major categories of DNA testing for family history research: Y-chromosome tests for investigating paternal (surname) lines, mitochondrial tests for investigating maternal (umbilical) lines, and autosomal tests for exploring close relationships. Expert genealogist David Dowell provides guidance on deciding which test to take and identifying which members of your family should be tested to answer your most important genealogical questions. Readers will also learn how to interpret the results of tests and methods for further analysis to get additional value from them.

The primary impetus for most early-day legitimations seems to have been the need to confer rights of heirship for stepchildren or for children born out of wedlock. These records are taken primarily from the Minutes of the County Courts. Entries from the Circuit Court are so identified. Those entries taken from the legislative records are labels TPA (Tennessee Private Acts).

Two and Half Men meets Love Story is the simplest way of describing None That I Know Of. It is the story of one man’s incredible journey. After living years as a single dad through three marriages, and in between a series of serendipitous relationships, tragedy strikes Joe. A motorcycle accident claims the life of his only child Joey, his clone—the sunshine of his life. Knowing he can’t replace Joey, he creates a website called NoneThatIKnowOf.com. The purpose of the website is to enable men to discover an unexpected child or children they don’t know of, children born from one night casual sex encounters, or those serendipitous meetings known as “ships passing in the night.” Accepting he can’t replace Joey, Joe feels there is no reason why he can’t experience the joy and rewards he felt as a parent with another child. Joe’s website, NoneThatIKnowOf.com asks mothers the question, if for some unknown reason after our serendipitous encounter a child was conceived and you were unable to locate me—or you choose not to, I am looking to be found and make things right. It’s never too late to start a family. To make is easier to be found, recalled and recognized, NoneThatIKnowOf.com consists of photos of himself through the years along with information including details of his life. Joe also reaches out to adopted children searching for their natural parents, telling them, “If you look like Joey or me you may be my child.” After months of waiting, Joe receives seven responses that offer hope, heartbreak and tears of joy. This is the story of those seven encounters; a child acknowledged, yet maybe lost to adoption, a mother informs him that he has a daughter, although shields the truth to avoid a scandal and another woman uses blackmail to divulge his child’s and grandchild’s identity. But it is the seventh response, a strange letter from Europe, which may not only provide him with a daughter, but a chance at a new life and a complete family.

Temperance organizations such as the American Female Guardian Society stepped in, establishing orphanages and homes for unwed mothers and battered women: “homes for the friendless.” Some of the children in the homes were orphans, but some were “surrendered” by parents who were unable to take care of them. Nearly 250,000 of these children were fostered out to families across the United States via the “orphan trains.” Recently several Orphan Train Rider organizations have been formed, providing opportunities for the riders to reunite with family and loved ones, and to seek sources that provide clues to their roots. This book contains valuable entrance records from several of the surrender books of the AFGS Home for the Friendless in New York. Volunteers from the Orphan Train Heritage Society of America painstakingly indexed the surrender books, which had been left to the Rockland County Historical Society. Perhaps these records hold the key to your past! The Orleans County Genealogical Society held an Orphan Train Re-enactment in Medina, New York, in 2004. Photos of that event illustrate the emotional journey of the Orphan Train Riders.

This volume of records from the “surrender books” of the American Female Guardian Society’s Home for the Friendless in New York spans the years 1880-1930. The books contain records of children being admitted and discharged from the homes. Nearly 250,000 children were fostered out to families across the United States via the “orphan trains.” Orphan train riders and their destinations are identified in some of these records. Volunteers from the Orphan Train Heritage Society of America painstakingly copied the surrender books, which had been left to the Rockland County (New York) Historical Society. These records were found in an old barn at The Rockland County Historical Society in New City, New York, by the author who realized their historical significance. They were later sent to The Orphan Train Heritage Society. The American Female Guardian Society was a nineteenth-century temperance organization that established orphanages and homes for unwed mothers and battered women: “homes for the friendless.” Some of the children in the homes were orphans, but some were “surrendered” by parents who were simply unable to take care of them. Recently, several Orphan Train Rider organizations have been formed, providing opportunities for the riders to reunite with family and loved ones, and to seek sources such as these surrender book records that may hold clues to their roots. The number of children who were sent on orphan trains is continually being updated as new information comes to light. The latest figures are in the 400,000-500,000 range.

Compiling the most recent genetic developments in medical specialties, The Practical Guide to the Genetic Family History is a valuable resource which outlines the proper methods for taking and recording a patient’s family medical history, allowing primary care physicians to be more efficient in diagnosing conditions with potential genetic components. With genetic screening forms, an overview of directed questions, pedigree nomenclature, and outlining common approaches used, genetic counselor Robin L. Bennett provides readers with the basic foundation in human genetics necessary to recognize inherited disorders and familial disease susceptibility in patients. As the only guide which is geared for the physician in this field, The Practical Guide to the Genetic Family History includes remarks by renowned medical geneticist Arno Motulsky, as well as information on structuring an accurate pedigree and its components, including:
• Using a pedigree to identify individuals with an increased susceptibility to cancer
• Family history, adoption, and their challenges
• The connection between the pedigree and assisted reproductive technologies
• Making referrals for genetic services
• Neurological and neuromuscular conditions
• Tables covering hearing loss, mental retardation, dementia, and seizures
• Five case studies of genetics in practice
An essential reference for genetics clinics, medical geneticists, and counselors, The Practical Guide to the Genetic Family History is also an invaluable aid for both primary care and specialist physicians who need an up-to-date reference that emphasizes both the science and art of modern clinical genetics.

From the Dust Jacket: In Florida, a doctor who performs abortions is assassinated by a right-wing extremist opposed to abortion. In Long Island, New York, the trial over custody rights of a surrogate mother and biological father makes the headlines. In the Pacific Northwest, a waiter refuses to serve an alcoholic drink to a pregnant woman, and the case ends up in court. Such are some of the varied controversies and intense emotions provoked across America by issues relating to pregnancy.

Pregnancy itself is not a controversial issue, merely a biological fact. But the medical technology developed in recent years, the passing of abortion laws, and the changing situation of women have introduced the possibility of choice into the act of childbearing.

In this book, Kathlyn Gay presents the controversies swirling around the issue of choice. The author explores the arguments over “forced birth control,” the debates over abortion and the rights of the unborn, and the legitimacy of using fetal-tissue transplants in medical research. As a result of astonishing advances in reproductive technology, unresolved questions remain on the use of surrogacy and genetic planning. Also included are the heartbreaking accounts of drug babies born to addicted mothers, as well as those of children suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome because their mothers drank during pregnancy. Finally, the problem of safety in the workplace for the pregnant employee is an issue that often surfaces in court.

Gay examines the debate over who should be in charge, and in the presentation of both sides, many complexities emerge. This is an informative, well documented, and fair discussion of one of today’s—and tomorrow’s—most pressing issues.

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About the Author: Kathlyn Gay is the author of numerous award-winning and best-selling books on social and scientific issues. Her book Silent Killers: Radon and Other Hazards was starred in School Library Journal and named a 1988 NSTA-CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children. In 1987, her Crisis in Education was selected by the National Education Association as one of the most important recent publications in education. Reviewers consistently describe her work as “well-documented, well-written, and well-organized.” Kathlyn Gay lives with her husband in Elkhart, Indiana.

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By the Same Author: Adoption and Foster Care (1990, Enslow Publishers), among many others.

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Compiler’s Note: See, particularly, Chapter 6: The Impact of Medical Technology on Reproductive Choices, pp. 48-60.

From the Back Cover: For all those participating in a “reunion” between an adopted person and their birth family, a potentially traumatic journey lies ahead and they will need help to prepare for it. Preparing for Reunion explores the emotional dynamics of this sensitive process from the firsthand perspectives of adopted people, adoptive parents and birth parents. It has been compiled by Children’s Society staff who specialize in birth records counselling.

A vital resource for all those in the adoption circle who are seeking emotional preparation for reunion and a better understanding of the journey they are about to undertake.
★ Addresses the questions most commonly asked by adopted people, adoptive parents and birth parents, including:

— When should I search?

— What am I letting myself in for?

— Am I being disloyal?

— Should I keep this a secret?

— What if they don’t want to know?

— What will be in my records?

— Do l really need counselling?
★ Personal accounts from all perspectives of the adoption circle
★ Includes a young woman’s diary of her reunion, describing the day-to-day ups and downs of the tracing process
★ Also includes a professional and historical perspective on adoption and tracing.

Reg Niles was an amateur genealogist who, in response to an advertisement in The New York Times, met an adoptee who ultimately introduced him to Florence Fisher, the founder of the Adoptees Liberty Movement Association (ALMA), not long after he had read the story of her search in The Search for Anna Fisher. According to the Preface, “Before long, I was enlisted as a volunteer ... and became thoroughly addicted to the adoptees’ rights movement. ... I was asked to begin registering the dates of births of adoptees in the hope that natural parents and adoptees could be reunited. ... This compilation grew ... into ... the ALMA International Reunion Registry.” The book is divided into three sections: “Questions & Answers (which explore the adoptee’s situation and his search for his natural parents)”; “State-By-State List of Sources of Information (including Canadian Provinces & Selected Foreign Countries)”; and “List of National Organizations & Agencies”; as well as a Bibliography.

The Reunion Book contains over 70 stories by people who were reunited after being separated by adoption. The stories are compelling and cover a broad spectrum of experiences with participants ranging from ages 16 to 61, having been reunited from 4 weeks to 18 years and discovering a variety of different circumstances. The most important aspect is that they have all survived and benefitted greatly by knowing their families.

This book consists of fifteen accounts of such meetings and, as can be expected, covers a range of real-life scenarios involving a gamut of emotions from elation to despair. All of the stories are instructive and thus the book is a welcome addition to the number of publications that provide us with insight concerning the growing number of such meetings.

From the Back Cover: After a traumatic reunion with her own birth mother, Pamela Slaton realized things: She wanted to help other adoptees have happier reunions with their birth families and she had a unique skill to do so—a strong ability to find what others could not. Reunited shares the riveting stories of some of Pam’s most powerful cases from her long career as an investigative genealogist, and the lessons she’s learned along the way. From the identical twins separated at birth, unknowingly part of a secret study on development, to the man who finally met his birth mother in the nick of time, Reunited is a collection of these unforgettable moments, told by the woman who orchestrated and witnessed them firsthand. Both heartbreaking and inspiring, it will move anyone who knows the true life-affirming power of family.

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About the Author: Pamela Slaton is known as a miracle worker by the nearly three thousand adoptees she’s helped. After founding her own practice and using a never-quit policy to get around restrictive state laws, she has been able to locate 90 percent of her clients’ missing relatives, and has earned a reputation as one of the country’s leading investigative genealogists. She helped Darryl “DMC” McDaniels find his birth parents on VH1’s Emmy Award-winning documentary My Adoption Journey, and now facilitates powerful reunions from start to finish on her Oprah Winfrey Network show, Searching For.... Pamela lives in New Jersey with her family.

Reunited In Search of is a search handbook for adult adoptees, birth mothers, siblings and family members who are searching. This handbook, which was created by Professional Adoptee Researcher Marria Guzman, was put together for every person who is searching for his/her biological family, encompassing 25 years of the author’s searching and reuniting experiences, as well as her personal search tips and provides searching information for every state. The reunion stories have been written up in several media outlets including the Washington Post. Everyone deserves to know who they are, and what happened to the child they put up for adoption.

From the Dust Jacket: “IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE ADOPTEE.” This is the reason given for sealing adoption records and withholding all information about birthparents, even when that information is requested by an adult adoptee. Is this wall of silence always the best policy? Millions of adoptees and a growing number of birthparents think not. The desire to know about ourselves is very strong—our heritage, where we came from; and, although no court has yet found good enough reason to unseal records, the medical need-to-know is sometimes a matter of life and death. As a result, many adoptees on their own are actively tracking the information. And Search is the first handbook written expressly for adoptees and birthparents showing them how to:

• set guidelines for a search

• get organized

• use the reference resources of libraries, government, and genealogical records

• use birth, marriage, divorce, death, school, church, military, property, and other official records

• get effective results from newspaper and magazine ads

• keep accurate records

• write letters to agencies

• make out a budget for this undertaking

• enlist outside assistance

• hire someone to do the search

• go to court

Author Jayne Askin, herself an adoptee who sought and found her birthfamily, explores the fundamental question of whether one should begin such a search. She considers how the search affects the searcher, what can be expected from family and friends, how to deal with the feelings of adoptive parents, how and where to look for support, how to face possible rejection at the end of the search, and how the right to privacy of the person sought balances against the searchers need to know.

In addition to identifying adoptee support groups that can be helpful to the searcher, Search contains a state-by-state compilation of laws governing inheritance and the sealing and opening of records; it provides addresses of state information departments, state agencies that handle adoption/relinquishment, courts of jurisdiction empowered to handle these matters, and offices where records are held.

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About the Author: Jayne Askin was born April 25, 1940, in Memphis, Tennessee. She was relinquished several days later, and placed in the care of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society. When she was officially adopted on December 10, 1940, the circumstances of her birth and pertinent medical information were sealed by the court, at which time her “official” life began.

At the age of 35, no longer able to ignore or pretend that there were no influences from her birthfamily on her life, she felt strongly that she had a right to learn what traits she might have inherited—to know who she was. Her search began with an innocence she now finds hard to believe. But after encountering frustration, discrimination, and many closed doors, she finally designed a workable plan that led her to her birthfamily. She knows her medical history, that she is of Irish and Scottish heritage, that she has six half siblings, and that there is longevity in both sides of her family. Her search has brought her closer to her adoptive parents. She has not met her birthparents and does not feel the need to, but she has spoken with them and heard the details of her relinquishment. In Search: A Handbook for Adoptees and Birthparents, Jayne Askin shares her method of research in seeking the facts of her birth, the problems and fears that searchers face, and her heartfelt belief in “the right to know.”

Molly Davis, a San Francisco-based freelance writer, has written for numerous national publications. Ms. Davis is also currently a public relations consultant for several Bay Area companies. She specializes in promotional literature, marketing strategies, and media relations. Ms. Davis earned a Bachelor of Arts in English literature from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1988.

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Compiler’s Note: Detailed descriptions of both Geborener Deutscher and KinQuest BBS, based upon information provided by the Complier to the Author upon her request at the time, are included under “Search Resources and Services” in the Second Edition.

From the Introduction: Within the past decade, books concerning adoption have surfaced in ever increasing numbers. Many of these are, of course, geared toward infant placement and the rearing of children not born into the family. At long last, other crucial subjects are being investigated and the facts made public. We are beginning to deal with the lifelong process of adoption and its effects on adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive parents. ... This book is written for those who searched and for those who did not search—for the seekers and the sought For when they meet begins the period of Search Aftermath and Adjustments.

Includes search tips and search resources. Highlights strategies and obstacles in obtaining hospital, adoption, and birth records. Relates perspectives of other searchers, as well as their trials and triumphs in seeking lost kin. Shares experiences regarding the employment of a professional searcher, the use of an intermediary, the value of a support group, the reactions of family members, and the reactions of found adoptees. highlights author’s reunion with 23-year-old son. Is adoption “The Solution” for unmarried mothers who refuse abortion? Is continuation of pregnancy a crime, punishable by the signing of relinquishment papers? Discusses loss, grief, post-traumatic stress disorder, and birth mother trauma syndrome. Cites research. Sheds light on professional ethics and adoption. Compares the effects of closed-adoption secrecy to the effects of forced silence surrounding incest. Reflects on whether it is moral for adoption agencies (and others) to abort an unwanted biological mother. Points out the present realities of both closed adoption and open adoption. Presents careful research and appendices, including useful bibliography and resources.

From the Back Cover: The movement of adopted adults to search for their birth families is strong and growing in the United States today. If you’re an adult who was adopted as a child and are now considering searching for your birth family, Searching for a Past will help prepare you emotionally and psychologically both for your search and what you find.

Drawing from the experiences of dozens adult adoptees, adoptive parents, and birth parents, Searching for a Past will show you how adoption has affected other adopted persons, what motivated them to search for a birth family connection, what they found, and how they handled their discovery. You will learn about:

• the importance of joining a search support group

• how to prepare for the impact of the search on your birth family, your adopted family, and your own family

• special considerations for teenage or mid-life searches

• what to do when your birth parents don’t want to be found

how to incorporate birth family members into your life

A thorough and helpful guide for any adopted adult, Searching for a Past is also en essential resource for adoptive parents, spouses of adoptees, adoption counselors and agencies, ministers and care-group leaders, and anyone desiring a better understanding of the search and reunion experience.

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About the Author: Jayne Schooler is the Adoption Coordinator for Warren County Children’s Services in Lebanon, Ohio. She has been involved with this agency since 1981, first as a foster parent, then as an adoptive parent, and later as a staff member. As part of her duties wit the agency, Jayne assists adopted adults with search and reunion issues.

In addition, Jayne conducts workshops on foster and adoptive parent issues both on the state and national level. She is a regular columnist for the Adoptive Families Magazine and has contributed over 160 articles to other local, regional, and national publications. She is the author of The Whole Life Adoption Book: Realistic Advice for Building a Healthy Adoptive Family.

Jayne and her husband, David, are the parents of two children, Ray, now age twenty-seven, who joined their family by adoption at age sixteen, and Kristy, now age eighteen. She is a graduate of Cedarville College in Cedarville, Ohio.

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By the Same Author: The Whole Life Adoption Book: Realistic Advice for Building a Healthy Adoptive Family (1993); Telling the Truth to Your Adopted or Foster Child (with Betsy Keefer) (2000, Bergin & Garvey); Journeys After Adoption: Understanding Lifelong Issues (with Betsie L. Norris) (2002, Bergin & Garvey); Mom, Dad... I’m Pregnant: When Your Daughter or Son Faces an Unplanned Pregnancy (2004, NavPress); and Wounded Children, Healing Homes: How Traumatized Children Impact Adoptive and Foster Families (with Betsy Keefer Smalley & Timothy J Callahan) (2010, NavPress).

Deciding to look for a long-lost family member or loved one is a difficult decision. In fact, due to fear, uncertainty, or simply a lack of information, the majority of people looking for someone wait years before beginning a search. Searching for a Piece of My Soul is the first book to guide the reader through both the emotional and the practical process of locating a child placed for adoption or a birth parent. Included are personal search experiences (including the author’s), advice from psychologists who specialize in counseling those on both sides of the search, and, of course, factual information about how to search.

In the years following the Second World War, literally thousands of German children, most of whom were born out of wedlock and whose fathers were American servicemen, were put up for adoption and adopted by Americans. This practice of adopting-out German children to foreign couples stopped in the 1970s, but the legacy remains: thousands of German-born American adoptees who, like their domestically born counterparts, have the need to find their roots. Although adoption records in Germany were opened to 16-year-old or older adoptees in 1977, the cultural and other differences between the United States and Germany present a significant hindrance to searching in Germany (or the other German-speaking countries). This guidebook provides information and guidance to allow the searching German-born adoptee to conduct the search on his or her own. Includes appendices of forms, sample letters and documents. Also included is a “Brief History of Adoption in Germany” and an article about acquiring dual citizenship by William L. Gage.

From the Publisher: Searching in California is a complete and convenient guide to California records. It includes the names and addresses of all important record sources in the state, as well as abundant and practical hints on tracing people. Through use of this extensive resource book, both amateur and professional searchers will learn what types of records are available, where they are located, who may obtain access, what information they contain, and how they can be utilized to locate people.

Searching in California is the first in a series of state search books published by Independent Search Consultants, Inc., the only professional association of search consultants in the United States.

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About the Author: Patricia Sanders, the founder and Executive Director of ISC, Inc., has been involved in the national adoption movement for nearly a decade and is a nationally recognized authority on search techniques. She is also the co-author with Nancy Sitterly of Search Aftermath and Adjustments.

From the Publisher: Searching in Florida is a complete and convenient guide to Florida records. It includes the names and addresses of all important record sources in the state, as well as abundant and practical hints on tracing people. Through use of this extensive resource book, both amateur and professional searchers will learn what types of records are available, where they are located, who may obtain access, what information they contain, and how they can be utilized to locate people.

Searching in Florida is the second in a series of state search books published by Independent Search Consultants, Inc., the only professional association of search consultants in the United States.

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About the Author: Diane C. Robie is the Co-Director of Adoption Consultants, Inc., developed the first course in “Parenting the Adopted Child” in the state of Florida, and co-author of Open Adoption and Open Placement.

From the Publisher: Searching in Illinois is a complete and convenient guide to Illinois records. It includes the names and addresses of all important record sources in the state, as well as abundant and practical hints on tracing people. Through use of this extensive resource book, both amateur and professional searchers will learn what types of records are available, where they are located, who may obtain access, what information they contain, and how they can be utilized to locate people.

Searching in Illinois is the third in a series of state search books published by Independent Search Consultants, Inc., the only professional association of search consultants in the United States.

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About the Author: Both Gayle Beckstead and Mary Lou Kozub are Independent Search Consultants and genealogists. Ms. Beckstead founded and is director of Adoption Reality in southern California; Mrs. Kozub is co-founder and Assistant Director of Adoptees’, Birthparents’ Association. Both are former residents of Illinois.

From the Back Cover: Searching in Indiana is a comprehensive guide to Indiana records. It contains the names and addresses of all important record sources in the state, as well as a great deal of practical advice on tracing people. Through the use of this extensive resource book, both amateur and professional searchers will be able to discover the answers to these questions:

What types of records are available?

Where are the various records located?

Who may obtain access to records?

What specific information do the records contain?

How can a searcher utilize records to locate people?

Searching in Indiana: A Reference Guide to Public & Private Records, is invaluable to:

Librarians

Tracers of Missing Persons

Genealogists

Private Investigators

Adoptees

Researchers

Birthparents

Historians

Searching in Indiana is the fourth book in a series of state search books published by Independent Search Consultants, Inc., the professional association of search consultants across the United States and Canada.

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About the Author: Mickey Dimon Carty is the founder and Director of Adoptee’s Family Circle in Richmond, IN, and an ISC National Search Consultant. Ms. Carty is also a genealogist and adoption researcher.

From the Publisher: Searching in New York is a complete and convenient guide to New York records. It includes the names and addresses of all important record sources in the state, as well as abundant and practical hints on tracing people. Through use of this extensive resource book, both amateur and professional searchers will learn what types of records are available, where they are located, who may obtain access, what information they contain, and how they can be utilized to locate people.

Searching in New York is the fifth in a series of state search books published by Independent Search Consultants, Inc., the only professional association of search consultants in the United States.

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About the Author: Kate Burke is the current Director of Region IX of the American Adoption Congress. She has been active in the national adoption reform movement for ten years and is an ISC National Search Consultant.

From the Publisher: Adopted people’s search and reunion with parents continues to attract a lot of media attention as Pauline Prescott’s recent story of reunion with her adopted son testifies. Based on a unique research study about why some adopted people want to search and other do not, this workbook highlights the issues involved and provides a greater understanding of the complexities and feelings that may be encountered on the way. Suitable for group work or those working alone, the book will be useful in areas concerning identity, relationships and all kinds of loss.

By the Same Author: The Adoption Searcher’s Handbook: A Guidebook for Adoptees, Birth Parents and Others Involved in the Adoption Search (1992, Diane Books); How to Find Almost Anyone, Anywhere (1994, Rutledge Hill Press); and The Man with the Turquoise Eyes: And Other True Stories of a Private Eye’s Search for Missing Persons (1995, Rutledge Hill Press).