Adoption Search Services

Welcome to your adoption search journey. Thank you for letting us help in any way.

Why Search?

Adoptees search for many reasons.

Many are looking for an updated medical history or biological answers. Still others search out of curiosity and the hope that they might answer many of the questions that have always swirled around in their head. But the overwhelming reason an adoptee searches is so they can say “Thank You” to their birth parent. There is a need to let the birthparent know that they are alive and well and appreciative of the benefits being adopted has provided them. There is the understanding that they were placed for adoption not because the birth parent didn’t love them or care but because the birth parent loved them SO much that they chose adoption.

There is the hope that they can offer their friendship to the birth parent and invite the birth parent to know them and share in the joy of their life.

Most people grow up with the stories surrounding their birth and first few weeks of life. But as an adoptee, no matter how much you love and are loved by your adoptive family, you are still an adoptee and your “story” began before you were brought home by those loving parents. Many adoptees want to know the “rest of the story.”

Searching for the birth parent is a way to answer many of the lifelong questions as well as helping the adoptee feel they have made the attempt to put the birth parent’s mind at ease. There is no intention of intruding or disrupting the birth parent’s life.

Missouri Court Approved Search

We are your leading adoption search provider in Missouri and Kansas specializing in the Kansas City, St. Joseph and western MO areas. Kansas City was home to many maternity homes such as St. Anthony’s, the Willows, Fairmount, Florence Crittendon, and the Cradle. The birth records are maintained at the County Court that finalized your adoption. Access to the birth record is regulated by Missouri law and an intermediary is required to locate and make confidential contact with your birth mother and birth father.The adoptee can make a request for a full search directly to the Missouri Court that finalized their adoption. The Court will then authorize a search and perform the search utilizing court staff or the court will allow an authorized Searcher or “confidential intermediary” (CI) to search on their behalf. The Searcher will conduct the search and contact the birth parent to inform them of the adoptee’s request for information. They will either agree to the release of their identifying information to the adoptee or they will decline. The Searcher will help mediate a level of contact that is agreeable to both the birth parent and the adoptee.

• If the birthparent is found to be deceased, a search is conducted to try to obtain as much information about the birth mother as can be found such as cause of death and other updated background information that would be of interest to the adoptee. Following Court approval, the identifying information on the birth parent is released to the adoptee if the other birth parent has provided their consent, is also deceased, or is unknown.
• Per Missouri law, we are allowed to confidentially contact other family members (ie. siblings or decendents) in an effort to obtain information. They are offered the same chance at a connection as the birth parent would have been if they were still alive. The Searcher will help facilitate the first connection.
• Attempts to locate the birth father, if known, are completed in every search. He is provided the same opportunity at a connection as the birth mother.
• Per Missouri law, if both birth parents are found, located and respond, the approval of both birth parents is required before any identifying information may be released. If one birth parent says yes and one says no, the no stops the release for both birthparents.
• If one birthparent provides their consent and the other birthparent is deceased, the identifying information on both birth parents can be released.
• At the conclusion of the search, a report is made to the Court with recommendations. If the birth parent has provided their written consent to the release of their identifying information, this consent is provided to the Court.
• When the Court has reviewed the case and provided their consent,
  • If making a connection: the Searcher will contact both the birth parent (or their descendents) and the adoptee to set up a pre-arranged time for the adoptee to make that first phone call!
  • If the birth parent(s) are deceased and the qualifications for release are met, the identifying information on the deceased birth parents is released to the adoptee.
  • The file will have identifying information about your birth parents. After receiving the information about your birth parents, you may want to hire an intermediary to locate them and contact them on your behalf. Our association with the local courts allows us to provide the intermediary services needed to locate and contact the birth mother and birth father. This is completed in accordance with Missouri law on birth records. We have over 22 years of experience in providing competent search services and compassionate understanding to adoptees and birth parents. Check out the web site with the Missouri State Adoption Law for the legal specifics.

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