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My mother was an adoptee whose records were sealed, and I'm trying to find out who her biological father was. We found the adoption order and original birth certificate, but neither lists her father. I found what appeared to be a listing for the mother on a town history webpage that has since been taken offline, but that didn't shed any light on who the biological father was. I'd appreciate any ideas you might have for other avenues of research. Thanks!
My mother was an adoptee whose records were sealed, and I'm trying to find out who her biological father was. We found the adoption order and original birth certificate, but neither lists her father. I found what appeared to be a listing for the mother on a town history webpage that has since been taken offline, but that didn't shed any light on who the biological father was. I'd appreciate any ideas you might have for other avenues of research. Thanks!
DNA may, for example, reveal a cousin, but you probably would still have to do more research to figure out who in the cousin's family was the bio father.
You can do the DNA while continuing to do research to uncover facts about the bio dad.
I was at DNA detectives yesterday, ancestry's holiday sales really put a lot of tests in the database. Once you get the test back you upload free to my heritage, FTDNA and GEDmatch Genesis. They all give family matching. Both my heritage and FTDNA charge a fee to do ethnicity and chromosome browser. My Heritage has all sorts of neat add ons like sorting by how many matches are in each country. GEDmatch Genesis could have users from 23 and me. The directions are in the thread I linked to
That will leave 23 and me for you to eventually test when they go on sale.
My mother was an adoptee whose records were sealed, and I'm trying to find out who her biological father was. We found the adoption order and original birth certificate, but neither lists her father. I found what appeared to be a listing for the mother on a town history webpage that has since been taken offline, but that didn't shed any light on who the biological father was. I'd appreciate any ideas you might have for other avenues of research. Thanks!
Usually the original birth certificate would list the father, but not the adoption order.
I would agree with the others, DNA will be your best option at this point.
Thanks for your advice. I meant to do AncestryDNA during the holiday sale, but got sidetracked.
I thought DNA ancestry testing was good only for ethnicity estimates that were based on migratory patterns. I didn't realize it was detailed enough to possibly identify a particular ancestor.
Thanks for your advice. I meant to do AncestryDNA during the holiday sale, but got sidetracked.
I thought DNA ancestry testing was good only for ethnicity estimates that were based on migratory patterns. I didn't realize it was detailed enough to possibly identify a particular ancestor.
As long as you opt into DNA matching with other testers, you can often use those matches to identify your shared ancestors, even when they are unknown to you. It takes work, it's not like it will automatically tell you who your grandfather was by name, but by working with your DNA matches, investigating their trees, etc, it is often possible to figure it out. I figured out who my grandfather's bio father was with DNA.
There's a Facebook group called DNADetectives that can be helpful as well. They helped me out.
My mother was adopted and we know the area she was adopted from, but that was it. She had zero interest in knowing anything or anyone.
So, with my DNA.. I got my dad tested.. Which allowed me, on 23andme, to differentiate between his side and her side.
Found the highest ranking person from her side, which was a second cousin at 5.71%. Got my half-sister and a half-first-cousin tested to determine percentage areas.. The half first cousin was a percent less than the mystery person.
I tracked that mystery person down via Linked in and several other apps (Government worker).. And DNADetectives helped me track her mother.. Who we figured was a half-sister to my mother.
I spoke with her on facebook and paid for her to do a DNA test.. Confirmed our suspicions. She was born about a year after my mother.. Her mother was, at the time, the 16 year old daughter of a Baptist preacher in the south in the 40's. Basically, her mother was sent away to have the baby, it was put up for adoption, she returned home and within 6 months was married to someone else and in just over a year, had another child. Unfortunately, we were about 7 years too late as her mother had passed in 2011.
We have not been able to determine who her father might have been.
So.. Yeah. DNA is the best option, but it's still not simple. Alot of interpreting and alot of false starts and mistakes to work your way through.. And.. I was lucky. This woman talked to me. Her daughter, who I originally tried to contact, would not. I just didn't give up and kept climbing the tree.
Labonte18, thanks for sharing how you worked with DNA results to track down your biological relatives.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Labonte18
Her mother was, at the time, the 16 year old daughter of a Baptist preacher in the south in the 40's. Basically, her mother was sent away to have the baby, it was put up for adoption, she returned home and within 6 months was married to someone else and in just over a year, had another child. Unfortunately, we were about 7 years too late as her mother had passed in 2011.
We have not been able to determine who her father might have been.
I suspect this is what happened with my mother's adoption. Census reports show that her bio mother lived in one town her whole life. But the address on the original birth certificate was 45 minutes away from that town and on the same street as the doctor's office where my mother was born. The doctor's office was about four blocks away from where my mother's adoptive family lived. It sounds to me like her bio mother was sent away for the birth.
I used Google Maps street view to hop from the house where my mother grew up to the doctor's office where she was born. I get goose bumps as I imagine my mother's jaw dropping as I take her on a street-view hop from her childhood house to her place of birth, but she passed away before I got her original birth certificate. Her bio mother passed away in 1995.
I'd love to find a picture of her bio mother, but haven't had any luck. I do know that she married shortly after giving birth to my mother, and she had around six children in that marriage.
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