female adoptee searching

Hi, just a note to send you. I have just recently found my birth mother in Maple Ridge, BC. I posted my name on this list and was emailed by a private investigator in Calgary( I am from Alberta). She told me to check the Henderson Directory for the address in the city you were born in. You can get this information from Vital Statistics. Good luck on your search. Email me if you have any questions.

Hi Stacy, Thanks for replying to my post. I'm really happy for you that you have found your birth mother! Good for you. I'm so new at this and I have never heard of a Henderson Directory. Would it be of any help to me even though I have no more information than what I posted? I really would like to know more about this and how it could help me out in my search. Do I need to contact Vital Statistics or can it be done on the internet? Sorry for all the questions:) Thank you for your interest and help. Monique:)

Hi again. I called Vital Statistics and sent them a cheque for 50 dollars, and they sent me a copy of my original birth registration. This had my mothers maiden name, her address at the time of my birth and some other info. What really helped was her address. The Henderson directory will tell you who lived at what address in that year and what their occupation was. This is what I did. Then I contacted the Burnaby Library(city where I was born)by internet and they helped me out by looking up the information I needed and emailed me back the info. Very helpful people. They sent me my grandfather's name, so I went on the internet on people search(white pages) and found 5 people by that name, so I called them. The second person I called was my grandfather's number. He then contacted my birth mother and we were in contact the next day. She is coming to see me tomorrow, it is such a strange but wonderful feeling. My birth parents are married and I have a birth bro and a nephew. So exciting, I have been trying to find them since I turned 18, 10 years ago, off and on and then within 3 days of finding out about this Henderson Directory I found them. Thanks to a private investgator in Calgary who saw my posting on this site. There are some wonderful people in this world, that don't always want money for their services or information. She told me she tries to help one person a week the same way she helped me. She can't wait to see reunion pictures, she hangs them on her wall of reunions. If you have any more questions or just want to let me know about your search please feel free to mail me back. Good Luck, Stacy

Hi Stacey, So it has finally hapened! I have all my info, including my birth mother's full name and residence at the time of my birth! This is so exciting for me and my family, especially my children! I tried to find out about the Henderson Directory that you mentioned but everyone I ask about it has no idea what I am talking about??? Bizarre I think. Well I was wondering if you coud help me out with that. Also, I was wondering if you know if the P.I. from Calgary that helped you out would be interrested in helping me out as well. I am trying to think of everything possible to get my search on the move. How did things go for you with your reunion with your birth family? I have been thinking of you and it for some time now. I hope that it has turned out just as you hoped it would! Well, I should go for now, work is calling.... hope to hear from you, take care, Hugs, Monique:)

Excuse my budding in, but you might be able to find someone to help you without hiring a private investigator. Not sure if you are still in the Netherlands? The Henderson Directory is like a phone book, but it also lists the persons occupation and address. The libraries or Provincial Archives in British Columbia, well all provinces actually, know what the Henderson Directories are. You already have your birthmom's full name, so the Henderson directory would be beneficial in say determining who else lived at the same address, possibly obtaining her parents names that way or perhaps a brother, who would be easier to track down. Another way to search is to look through obituaries of that surname. There are many places on the web to do this with, including some newspapers that have started archiving the information. [url]http://www.canada.com/vancouver/[/url] for one then there is [url]http://www.rootsweb.com/~obituary/[/url] BC archives is online but the dates go way back [url]http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/index.htm[/url] If I can be of any further help, feel free to ask ~Shannon

Hi Shannon, Thank you very much for posting a reply to my post. I live in the Okanagan, so I'm not as far away as you thought!;) Thankfully, and hopefully my birth mother hasn't gone back to Germany!! That could make things difficult! You gave me some ideas that I hadn't thought of yet and I will definately look into it, thank you for your ideas, any others you may have or think of are definately welcome too! Thanks so much, hugs, Monique:)

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