ORIGINAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE (OBC)

Do you know your state's policy for Adult Adoptees access to their Original Birth Certificate (OBC)? 

INTERNATIONAL SOUNDEX REUNION REGISTRY (ISRR)

Have you registered? ISRR is a mutual consent reunion registry for persons desiring a reunion with next-of-kin.

DNA TESTING

International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG) offers a comprehensive Autosomal DNA testing comparison chart

MOST RECENT COMMON ANCESTOR (MRCA)

Know the Methodology

1. Identify your closest match

2. Find the Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) you share with the match using your shared matches tool

3. Build a tree for your MRCA “back” (if needed)

4. Build the MRCA’s tree “forward” into the present

5. Repeat for more matches

6. Determine where the descendants of these MRCAs intersect and connect

GEDMATCH

An absolute beginner's guide to using GEDMACH

MAKING CONTACT

The American Adoption Congress has assembled an excellent guide to making contact with birth families