How to Search for Pre-Adoption Birth Certificate

This is a fairly personal topic as I myself am adopted. Years ago, I had some questions about my family history and decided to see if I could acquire an original birth certificate.  For adoptees, this is a highly charged search.  States vary in their policies, but New York, where I was adopted has always been one of the toughest nuts to crack.

Unearthing State Vital Statistic Secrets
Years ago, when a young woman got pregnant outside of marriage it was considered a tremendous shame.  These women would be hidden away in maternity homes, institutions, and the like until the birth of the child.  Often they would have no choice in adoption.  It was essentially required, especially in higher economic classes.

When a child was born and placed with an adoptive family, a process that could take months, the original birth certificate was "amended" to imply that the adoptive parents were the birth parents.  The original certificate was then hidden away by the State, never to be seen again.

With our newly found obsession with "full disclosure", many adoptees want to see their original birth certificates in order to reconnect with their biological families.  They are encountering obstructionism on every front.  Six states have made it possible for adult adoptees to access their original documents, the rest have been dragging their feet or issuing policies that protect the birth parents.

The Debate over Sealed Adoption Records
The real debate in birth certificates issued in adoption is a matter of privacy versus openness.  Birth mothers were assured of their privacy in a time when having a child out of marriage was considered a big deal.  Today teenage pregnancy doesn't carry the same stigma.  The States have overwhelmingly fallen on the side of protecting the mother and disregarding the child's need to find some closure.

In an age where open adoption is the norm, it is very difficult for adoptees to be told they can't see their original birth certificates.  After all, we consider our heritage to be one of our most prized possessions.  Adoptees are essentially told to deny their need for connectedness, a basic human desire.  Unfortunately, this isn't a place where a middle ground is realistic.

Getting around the System for Your Birth Certificate
Sometimes, it is possible to sneak around the system.  In my case, I found out that although New York issues a new birth certificate to the adoptive parents, they didn't change the numbers.

It was possible to go to the public library, dig through the records for my day of birth and come up with my original birth name.  That and the "non-identifying" information that I got from the adoption agency that placed me would have been enough to start a reasonable search.

There is one catch though; New York in particular was guilty of altering the last names of birth mothers when filing birth certificates, but it wasn't an uncommon practice.  Whether that happened in my case, I don't know because I opted not to pursue my search.

For those who want to try to get around a restrictive system, I suggest searching the birth records by number as well.  It can be time consuming but there is a potential informational reward.

Searching Online for a Birth Certificate
If you do have a reasonable amount of information and don't want to try the library route, try a good birth certificate search service.  These services have access to all the data in every state database and can help you narrow down your likely birth certificates before you head out the door.  With this in hand, your search is much more likely to be successful.