The Assembly Human Service Committee unanimously approved a bill that has now been moved to the full Assembly for a vote.

This open records bill–The Adoptees’ Birthright Bill–will give adult adoptees, adoptive parents of a minor or relatives of a deceased adoptee access to original birth certificates.  These records contain the names of the birth mother and child at the time of the birth, as well as other identifying information. 

Some birth parents might not want to be identified or found, so the bill gives them a year to ask the state of New Jersey to remove their names and identifying information from the birth certificates. 

For future adoptions, birth parents will have the option of not being contacted, however, the state will still have to provide the redacted birth certificates and a contact preference form.  The birth parents, if they wish no contact, will also have to provide some family background information including medical information. 

This bill to open adoption records in New Jersey is not perfect.  But OmniTrace believes it does a good job of balancing the rights of birth mothers and adult adoptees seeking their birth family or medical records. 

One caveat:  obtaining your original birth certificate will only be the start of your search.  What you will have, in most instances, is your birth mother’s maiden name and her address at the time of your birth.  OmniTrace can help you with determining your birth mother’s current name, any possible birth siblings and current address information on your family members.

Please write us if you have any questions.  You can also call us toll free at 1-888-965-6696.  Please visit our blog frequently for updates on legislation concerning New Jersey Open Adoption Records.

• When was the adoptee born?
• Where was the adoptee born?
• When and where did the adoption take place?
• Was the adoption done through an adoption agency?
• Was the adoptee born in a hospital?
• Which hospital?
• Any name info on the birth mother (adoption searching for birth mother)?
• Any name info on the adopting parents (adoption searching for adoptee)?

Of course, for most adoption searching cases, we usually begin with only a few of the above questions answered.

Below are just some of the steps OmniTrace takes for each case:

• Interview any available persons involved with the adoption
• Contact local adoption searching experts
• Research birth indexes
• Research legal notices and birth announcements where the adoption took place
• Research hospital medical, nursery and billing records
• Request non-identifying information
• Identify and find any involved attorneys
• Identify and find the delivery physician
• Search court minutes in county of adoption
• Research marriage announcements in county of adoption
• Research church records in county of adoption
• Research census and genealogy databases
• Research school yearbooks
• Research old city and phone directories
• Research voter records
• Research postal records
• Contact County Clerk, City Clerk, Tax Assessor and Chamber of Commerce
• Work with reference library in county of adoption
• Request official records under the Freedom Of Information Act
• Use additional proprietary resources

In addition to the more aggressive approaches to adoption searching listed above, we use some  passive techniques such as searching and placing our clients on the major reunion registries (please read: What Is A Reunion Registry).

Please email us or call us toll free at 1-888-965-6696 if you have any questions about adoption searching.

When you request OmniTrace to conduct your biological family search, here’s what we will make every attempt to provide you:

• The name of your biological mother
• The name of your biological father
• The names of your biological siblings and any additional family relatives (e.g., grandparents, aunts, uncles)
• Non-identifying information and identifying information covering the background history of your adoption  (In other words, what the heck happened when you were born.)
• Any available medical records on your biological mother (when records have not been destroyed)
• Background and genealogical history on your biological family members
• The current addresses and phone numbers of all biological family members that we identify.

Complete the simple form on THIS PAGE and start your biological family search now!

Colorado native, Ray Martinez, writes about living in an orphanage, being adopted and much later in life, finding his birth mother.  The complete story appears in “Mom:  A Celebration of Mothers from StoryCorps” (The Penguin Press, $21.95).  Ray is a former mayor of Fort Collins.  He now heads business development and public relations for Information Technology eXperts Inc.

“I was raised in the Colorado State Children’s Home in Denver. They kept kids from infancy to age eighteen or nineteen years old. I was there from infancy to age five. I remember that the orphanage had this practice where they would allow potential parents to check you out like a library book: they could borrow you for a couple of weeks, take you home, and see if you were a fit for their family.

A couple of times I remember riding in the car, leaving the orphanage with potential parents, and them just trying to make me happy and make me laugh, and me sitting in the front in these little booster seats cars had back then in the fifties. But I never remember…”

You can read the complete article in the Denver Post.  Please share your thoughts with us.

In the 25 years since, Dukeman, 48, has spent a lot of money and learned a

Read the full article at  The Denver Post Online

“The Colorado State Board of Human Services has approved a new rule in compliance with the recent Court of Appeals ruling which opened records to those whose adoptions were finalized between Julyl 1, 1951 and July 1, 1967. This means that, along with original birth certificates which are available through the Colorado Department of Publice Health and Environment (CDPHE), adoption records as defined by statute which are under the jurisdiction of the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) are now available as well!   Here’s the wording of the new rule:

12 CCR 2509-4
CHILD WELFARE SERVICES 7.306.35 – Concl.

 7.306.35     Release of Information from Closed Records

Rev. eff. A. Pursuant to statute (SECTION 19-1-103(9), C.R.S.), the State Department or

3/1/03 the county department shall release directly or select licensed child placement agencies to release non-identifying background information from closed records to adoptees 21 eighteen (18) years of age and over or their legal representative or adoptive parents. The criteria for selecting such child placement agencies are outlined in Section 7.710.8.

B. Identifying information may be released from a closed adoption record only by court order, with the exception of item C. This includes identifying information, records, and papers (as defined in 19-1-103(6.5), C.R.S.) from adoptions occurring between July 2, 1967 and July 1, 1999, contained in the state department’s files.

C. records, as defined in Section 19-1-103(6.5) and (6.7), c.R.S., from adoptions that occurred in Colorado between July 1, 1951 and July 1, 1967, maintained at the State department shall be released only to the adult adoptee or legal representative from a closed adoption record. Reasonable fees shall be charged to the adoptee for the process and the copies made.

The exact process for obtaining these records may vary, depending on where they are housed. In theory, this rule should apply to all state and county agencies, licensed child placement agencies (whether open or closed), and maternity homes. However, each entity will likely respond to the rule based upon advice from their legal counsel. Some may decide to release records directly to those requesting them. Since the state currently contracts with a licensed child placement agency to provide non-identifying information to adoptees, it is likely that other organizations will fall under this contract. This means prices could vary from very reasonable up to $150 for the time involved for a third party to locate the file, sort through which documents fall under the rule and provide copies of those documents.

For those interested in requesting records through the courts, a new form is being developed by the State Court Administrator’s office which should make the process less confusing. Until now, people seeking records have modified the JDF 343 form, which was designed for the Confidential Intermediary process. This has resulted in misrouted requests and much wasted time and energy.

For more details, see the AIS/CTC website at www.aisctc.org. See the story on the top slideshow banner accompanied by the photo of a gavel. Also, click on our FAQ link for more detailed information about how to apply for records and who to contact.

Best wishes for a great holiday season and Happy New Year!

Rich Uhrlaub
AIS/CTC Co-coordinator”

Please be aware that you may still need the assistance of a company such as OmniTrace to find your birth family once you obtain your open Colorado records.  Names change, families move and much research may still be necessary to locate all of your birth family members. 

For assistance, call us at 1-888-965-6696 or email us at info@omnitrace.com

Currently, original New Jersey birth records are sealed when an adoption occurs.  Adoptees searching for their birth family cannot access their original names or their birth parent’s names.  Birth parents are also denied access to birth records. 

There is legislation in the works that will give adult adoptees and adoptive parents access to original birth records. 

Birth parents will have a 12 month period to file a request to redact their names and addresses from the birth records and then have 60 days to fill out a form with medical, ancestral and social history. 

Learn more details about legislation to open New Jersey birth records  here:  http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/

(Type s611 in the Bill Number field, click the search button and then click on the PDF Format or HTML Format Link)

Eight states currently have open birth records: 

1. Alaska
2. Oregon
3. Kansas
4. Alabama
5. New Hampshire
6. Delaware
7. Tennessee
8. Maine

Several states have partially open records:

• Colorado
• Iowa
• Indiana
• Massachusetts
• Ohio
• Montana
• Michigan
• Maryland
• New Jersey (Only very old birth records can be opened)

The debate to open New Jersey birth records has been ongoing for a number of years and full legislative approval has thus far been denied.  Religious groups, the Civil Liberties Union and anti-abortion groups are opposed to any changes. 

Hopefully some good news—There is bill, already passed in the Senate, now pending in the Assembly Human Services Committee, which may gain approval before mid-January.  The Governor would then have to sign it. 

Please write us at info@omnitrace.com or call us toll free at 1-888-965-6696 if you have any questons about legislation to unseal New Jersey birth records.

OmniTrace is involved with many wonderful reunions between adopted children and their biological parents.  Most go very well and are wonderful experiences for the reunited family members.

The following reunion (not one of our cases) has a truly startling twist.  Here’s a story shown on ABC News about an adoption that took place in New Jersey.  It involves a mix-up between two people who waited their entire lives to meet, and it is absolutely heartbreaking:

ABC News Story

It’s hard to know exactly where things went wrong.  It could have been at the hospital.  In that case, the hospital records were likely destroyed years ago and the mystery will never be solved.  Or, the mistake may have taken place at the New Jersey adoption agency– the son was one of six other children adopted around the same time and a mix-up might have occurred.

Unfortunately, those agency adoption records that might help to reveal the truth are currently sealed according to  New Jersey state law.  What ABC News failed to include in their story is that  New Jersey Adoption Records may soon be opened. 

A while back, we wrote that a Bill (S611) to open adoption records in New Jersey had been passed by the New Jersey Senate and was being considered for approval by the New Jersey Assembly.  If passed, an adoptee would have access to his/her original birth certificate as long as a no contact veto was not signed by the birth parents.

 Bill S611 has been in Committee (Assembly) since March 2008 and, to date, no schedule has been set for its review.  If and when Bill S611 is approved by the Committee, it will then go before the full Assembly and, if approved, then will be signed by the Governor. 

You can obtain a copy of the proposed bill here:  S611.  You can also call (609) 292-4840 for information. 

We’ll keep you posted on anything new we hear about this important legislation.  Hopefully, if and when the bill is passed, the father and son mentioned in the ABC News Story may possibly find the answers they seek.

Please leave a comment if you have any questions.  You can also call us toll free at:  1-888-965-6696. 

Troy The Locator has been reuniting birth family for over twenty years and is one of the most viewed shows on WE tv.  Millions of people have witnessed Troy The Locator conduct reunions between birth parents and adoptees.

A new episode of  Troy The Locator airs Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009,  9:00 PM Eastern Time and 8:00 PM Central. 

Here is what WE tv has to say about Troy The Locator:

Troy Dunn is a true phenomenon: From finding birth parents to organ donors, his brilliant investigative skills are a marvel to all who see him in action. His impressive track record for locating people means that he and his staff are routinely inundated with dozens of new cases to solve on a weekly basis.

But for one week each month, Troy devotes all of his staff and resources to one important case that they call the Angel Case. This Angel Case usually comes to Troy because there is an urgent need to find someone and because she has exhausted all other possible avenues. The Angel Case meeting begins with Troy’s staff presenting him with three to four potential cases and after a brief discussion, Troy decides which challenge he wants to take on. On his way out of the meeting, Troy assigns specific tasks to his staff members to streamline the search process.

Join Troy and his team on these emotional journeys, where everything from creative tactics to sheer luck provide breakthroughs in his quest to reunite loved ones and reconnect lives

Like Troy The Locator, OmniTrace -The Adoption Search Experts - reunites birth parents and adoptees all over the world.  We estimate that Dave Betz and his search team currently conduct more adoption related searches than any other company in the world.  We believe our success rate is unsurpassed by any other search firm!!!  

If you do not have the opportunity to reunite with your birth family via WE tv’s Troy The Locator, please contact us and one of our experienced and friendly search consultants - Sheila, Barbara, Sharla, Lisa, Michelle or Diane will provide you a FREE search consultation and answer any questions you have about your search.  You can call toll free at 1-888-965-6696 or email us at:  info@omnitrace.com.

We hope you enjoy this season’s episodes of We tv’s Troy The Locator.

Social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Google can be very helpful when conducting an adoption search.  Not only can you search these sites for listings your birth family members might have posted, you can also post your adoption search details on many of these sites.   

Here is a New York Daily News video and article on how Jonathan Frank conducted an adoption search and found his birth brother and birth sister with the help of Facebook.

Here is a CNN News Story on how a Pennsylvania woman used Google to resolve her adoption search and find her birth family. 

When OmniTrace begins a new adoption search, we utilize state-of-the-art databases, a worldwide network of researchers and private investigation methods to find birth family.  We also take advantage of the many free social media websites so we have every chance to successfully complete your adoption search.

If you are conducting an adoption search on your own, please be sure to visit the many social media sites that can assist you.  If you still need help with your adoption search, please email us at:

info@omnitrace.com

Or, call us NOW toll FREE at 1-888-965-6696.  One our search consultants, Sharla, Dianne, Lisa, Michele, Barbara or Sheila will provide you a free and friendly search consultation and answer any questions you might have about your adoption search.