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The Search Begins

I made a pretty big decision last week.

After countless years of wondering who my biological parents are, I finally decided to get serious about my search and hired a private investigation agency that specializes in people searches. The firm guarantees within a year I’ll have the names of my birth mother and father, along with other pertinent information such as marital status, financial standing and current residence.

Or so I’m told.

When you’ve had a question like this go unanswered for almost 30 years, it’s easy to be a little skeptical of firms that make these big claims and promises. But what’s the alternative? On my own, my feeble search efforts were always tiring, demoralizing and frustrating even before they ever really started.

Having never gone through this process before, most people are unaware and frankly surprised to hear the few birthrights an adoptee has. At birth, you are completely stripped of your right to know who gave birth to you and are legally barred from knowing this precious information. And this isn’t just a Pennsylvania thing. There are only six states in the U.S. where adult adoptees have unrestricted access to their own original birth records.

I don’t have the time or energy to deal with hiring a lawyer and going to a court that will decide whether I find out who my birth parents are. Can you imagine standing before a judge who has the power in his hands to grant or deny access to this information? No thanks.

Instead, I’ve turned to what I’m envisioning are a team of moustached-men who will be digging through microfilm and maybe following someone’s tail. I will even be getting email updates from the investigators who are handling my case.

I have no idea how any of this will turn out. I could be sitting here a year from now with the same information I have today. But I hope not. All I really want to uncover is the answer to the long-standing question of where I really came from.

(P.S. I would be remiss if I didn’t give props to the very helpful and very nice people at Catholic Social Services in Scranton, PA. Your refusal to return my calls or respond to letters of simple inquiry showed the class and sophistication your organization possesses.)