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At a meeting my husband and I had with LDS family services, I asked about this. They told us that the church's position is that once a child is legally adopted and sealed, that they are then "grafted in" to your family, and your biological geneology becomes THEIR geneology. ...it was a HUGE relief!
Outsider hopping in for a moment to thank the LDS and FamilySearch for some recent revelations. It turns out ad and I are biologically related...and so are dh and I!--a little over 200 years back, our families converge to a common ancestor. I know that making this type of connection is not the central purpose of the records, but I was looking for a way to share this happy tidbit and this thread seemed like a good place. FWIW, ad thinks this news is "cool." :)
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Hadley2, That is incredibly cool and very thought provoking...the world is incredibly small when you can find a biological connection from a random (poor word but can't think of a better one) event. Are you/have you created a complete family tree? What correct geneological title are you to your daughter (in addition to being mother and daughter)? Cheers!Dickons
I'm sorry, I'm not versed in genealogy and don't know the correct title. DH and dd's biofather are bio brothers, so not quite so random, I'm sorry I should have clarified that. Once past their maternal grandmother, their connection goes straight up the male line. Mine is quite a bit more crooked, but still straight up child to parent. Still, my link to them does seem random at first given that dh and I met far from the family's original stomping ground and long after the families diverged and spread across the United States.
For each generation past the siblings of the common ancestor, it's 1st, 2nd, 3rd cousins. For example, children (Jay and Lois) of 1st cousins Randy (parent of Jay) and Mae (Parent of Lois) are 2nd cousins to each other.But if the generations aren't exactly the same then it's called "cousins x times removed". For example, the parent Randy and Lois, Mae's daughter, would be 1st cousins once removed.So, lets say you are 7 generations away from the common ancestor, and your husband is 6 generations away. You and hubby would be "5th cousins once removed" and you and your child would be "6th cousins", because she is 7 generations away from the common ancestor as you are. (you and your mother in law would be 5th cousins twice removed etc...).Also, another term for the siblings of my grandparents in relation to me is "great aunt/uncle". And the siblings of my great grandparents (aka my grandparent's parents) would be "great great aunt/uncle". I consider family history to be SO fascinating! Even if it's not mine! I'm in the process of trying to map out my dd's bio parents geneology. It's TOUGH to even find info for 3 generations back!
Noko, I'm glad you asked this question and started this thread. DH and I are planning to adopt a baby who is being born in November to LDS parents (who aren't married to each other). I've got each parent's name and am planning to go to the Mormon library to do some research on DS's family tree. Fortunately, I have a Mormon friend out there who promised to help me find my way. I agree that, in spirit, DS's family tree will be ours but in the likely event that he one day asks "where do I come from?" I'd like to have some details.
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We adopted through a private, non-religious agency and when I asked if I could request that the potential birthparents sign permission for me to do genealogical research (of course sharing all my findings), the SW at the agency told me not to bring it up until later. I did ask later (quite a few times), and the birthparents didn't see the importance of it, and didn't help much. My advice is to do as much of it as you can in the early stages of parenthood (when you have the freshest contact and info) because you don't know if the birth family will be out of touch later.For what it's worth, my son claims his adoptive genealogy and really has no interest in his biological roots. I still want to help him with it, because it fills the void, should he ever want or need to know.
Hadley that is really cool I am still searching and probably always will for a connection between my families lol I just know one day I will go far back enough to find it! It's wierd, must be a mind thing, but it wasn't until I was 40, after I had reunited and started to research my bio tree, that I realized, or put it together that I wasn't so related to all those dead ancestors that I never met from my adopted family. I didn't really inherit a thing from them, except my mom and dad. Then I noticed it wasn't just me, a friend was bragging as many backwoods southern men do of how he was related to all these confederate officers.... and it was up to him to carry on family traditions... he was adopted, and half native american.... It was just odd, had to retrain my brain. I agree, adopted geneaolgy doesn't replace, it adds to.
UndauntedSpark
At a meeting my husband and I had with LDS family services, I asked about this. They told us that the church's position is that once a child is legally adopted and sealed, that they are then "grafted in" to your family, and your biological geneology becomes THEIR geneology. ...it was a HUGE relief!
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While the teachings of the LDS church say that the person is "grafted" into the adoptive family in a spiritual sense and the adopted family's lineage becomes the adoptee's lineage, for professional genealogical purposes, they remain a part of their first family's line. This is of particular importance when it comes to memberships in heritage-based organizations such as Daughters of the American Revolution or First Families of Virginia. Even if you qualify to be a member of such a organization, your adopted child DOES NOT. They have to be a direct line descendant. The reverse is also true: If your adopted child is a direct line descendant of a patriot listed in the DAR registries, but you are not, they can become a member of the organization. If you have access to their original birth certificate, you can potentially sign them up as a member. The trick is having access to their original, unamended birth certificate to which very few adoptees, adoptive parents, or first parents have access. And + 1 to what disolveme said.