Deciding to search for your birth family is the first and truly biggest step of the process. Once you decide to search you may find that it can be a very time-consuming, stressful, and confusing process. Hiring a qualified experienced professional can make all of the difference in your adoption search. There are many reasons to outsource to a professional like a private investigator, adoption search angel, or to hire your adoption agency to assist (where offered).
1. Save Time
Private investigators who specialize in adoption searches and other adoption search professionals are specifically trained to assist in the adoption search process. They know how to access the information you may not either know how to access or have the ability to search through professional databases only available to private investigators due to their licensure, which is required in some states. Professionals who do this work daily as their careers know how to get the answers you are seeking. Make sure you are working with a private investigator who is licensed and vetted.
2. Save Money
The one obstacle to hiring a professional to help assist with an adoption search is oftentimes the costs associated with the process. Individuals may think they will save money by searching themselves. Oftentimes, however, the databases, online search tools, and other search costs add up quickly and cost more than a private investigator or professional would be. There is also the value of time. It can take thousands of hours over many months to find the answers you are seeking. An adoption professional can cut to the chase and find the answers you need or facilitate a reunion in a fraction of that time, saving you hours.
3. Get the Specific Answers You Need
Private Investigators are trained and seasoned professionals in getting you the very specific answers you are seeking. They can use anecdotal evidence you may have acquired over the years like family gossip, your birthplace, or information on your birth parents to get you the information you are seeking and facilitate a reunion. They know how to access databases only available to them through their licensure, public records, court records, and other means to help facilitate an efficient search with targeted information.
4. Ensure that the Information is Correct
Adoption search professionals can take the information you already found and verify it is accurate and complete. They can confirm facts, individuals, addresses, court records, etc. through their search tools and databases only available with a professional license. Before you ever reach out to someone, verify they are who you believe them to be. This can save a lot of time and heartache.
5. Protection from Fraud
Most of all private investigators can ensure as licensed and trained individuals that the information you may have already found is real and accurate. There are too many heartbreaking stories of adoptees getting scammed by fraudulent individuals who pose as birth family members. Protect yourself and your family from cons and verify that individuals you may believe are your birth relatives actually are who you believe them to be.
6. Assist with a Reunion
Adoption search professionals can ethically assist with a face to face or phone reunion. Many are very skilled at connecting you with your birth family members and ensuring they are open to a reunion or being contacted. They can act as a middleman which will protect your privacy and identity and your birth parents. This can also help you gain the emotional strength to reach out directly after it is confirmed by the professional your birth family would like to be contacted. They can make that first phone call or visit.
7. Help you Find Other Birth Family Members
Once the adoption professional helps you locate the information you desire or a birth parent, you may want more information or to locate other individuals. Your birth mother may have lost contact with your birth father or placed other children for adoption. The adoption professional can continue the search and help you save time, money, and stress in continuing the journey with you.
For more adoption training, check out the new adoption information website.
