One of the most important steps you can take in your personal search is to try some memory recall. It really isn’t difficult to do at all. Often, over the period of your life so far, you have heard or seen things, been exposed to, or have pieces and slivers of information that may not seem like anything.
For me personally, it was being encouraged to take French lessons for all those years in middle school and high school. At some point I even remember someone telling me, my adoptive mother perhaps, that it was because I had French lineage. When I finally saw my birth mother’s last name, it all made sense. It was a very French sounding last name. But I would have never thought to include that information during my search.
Spend some time and write down every detail, every shred of information that you can remember. Anything anyone ever told you about your adoption or birth family. There may have been remarks made in passing that were casual, but they could be the key piece in your search.
Ask questions to anyone you possibly can – family members, relatives or friends that were around at that time.
Record everything, even if it doesn’t seem significant.
Involve your adoptive parents if you can. I know this is a difficult situation, but they can provide invaluable to the search process. Remember, they were there at the time, and were exposed to many different documents and paperwork. Some of which may have included clues to what you are looking for.
Once you have all the information down, it needs to be entered into a search notebook. As you are searching or contacting agencies and others, this information will be easy to find, and you will have everything at your fingertips.