Reunion Stories
Every now and then I read someone's reunion story. It's pretty neat how quickly most adoptees are able to find their biological families. Many of them match with members of their families with DNA tests.
Unfortunately for international adoptees such as myself, this is not always the case. Being that I was adopted from India, the likelihood of people taking expensive DNA tests over there is slim.
In fact, majority of my closest matches are 4 to 5 generations away. And 2 of them that I've reached out to are also adopted.
It's a bizarre feeling not knowing my mother and father, and not knowing if I have any biological siblings. I often wonder if my biological father, or siblings even know if I exist.
The hardest part for me in searching for my family is that I have none of my original paperwork. My adoptive parents claim they don't remember where they've kept any of my adoption paperwork. And so, I'm in the process of trying to get my paperwork via other methods.
Being that my birth certificate is from Texas, the first thing I did was lookup their Vital Statistics to obtain my original birth certificate. I figured they might have my non-certified copy.
The form I had to fill out is the "VS-145 - Adult Adoptee Application for Non-Certified Copy of Original Birth Certificate".
Unfortunately they did not have an original birth certificate on record. They advised that I fill out form "VS-143 - Request for Identity of Court of Adoption" to determine which court did the adoption. Once I have that information, I could petition the court to release my adoption file. I filled out this form and sent out in November of last year (2019). And then cam the long wait.
I finally got a letter in the mail on February 29th, 2020. It was the information for the Court of Adoption used in Texas. Since then, I've been trying to figure out the best way to appeal to the court. I don't want to mess up my chances and have a judge deny me my adoption paperwork.
I've reached out to a few people I know, and to some groups on Facebook on how best to proceed. Someone suggested I start with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. They have a form that I can use to get all documents used during the immigration process. All I need to do is fill out the G-884 form (Request for the Return of Original Documents). This feels like my next best step. As I don't have to appeal to a judge and worry about being denied.
Unfortunately, the world is experiencing pandemic. Many of us have been given a Stay-At-Home order. Thanks to this pandemic (COVID-19 virus), the USCIS Offices are temporarily closed to the public.
I feel like my search is stuck in limbo, at least until things settle down from this pandemic. That being said, any of you reading this now, I hope you're staying safe.
This pandemic has brought a whole lot more to light as I've had plenty of time to think about my adoption. I will keep up with my search, and will certainly post about it. Fingers crossed everything goes well and I'll be able to get more of my paperwork. And maybe one day I'll have a reunion story of my own.
Thanks for reading!
Unfortunately for international adoptees such as myself, this is not always the case. Being that I was adopted from India, the likelihood of people taking expensive DNA tests over there is slim.
In fact, majority of my closest matches are 4 to 5 generations away. And 2 of them that I've reached out to are also adopted.
It's a bizarre feeling not knowing my mother and father, and not knowing if I have any biological siblings. I often wonder if my biological father, or siblings even know if I exist.
The hardest part for me in searching for my family is that I have none of my original paperwork. My adoptive parents claim they don't remember where they've kept any of my adoption paperwork. And so, I'm in the process of trying to get my paperwork via other methods.
Being that my birth certificate is from Texas, the first thing I did was lookup their Vital Statistics to obtain my original birth certificate. I figured they might have my non-certified copy.
The form I had to fill out is the "VS-145 - Adult Adoptee Application for Non-Certified Copy of Original Birth Certificate".
Unfortunately they did not have an original birth certificate on record. They advised that I fill out form "VS-143 - Request for Identity of Court of Adoption" to determine which court did the adoption. Once I have that information, I could petition the court to release my adoption file. I filled out this form and sent out in November of last year (2019). And then cam the long wait.
I finally got a letter in the mail on February 29th, 2020. It was the information for the Court of Adoption used in Texas. Since then, I've been trying to figure out the best way to appeal to the court. I don't want to mess up my chances and have a judge deny me my adoption paperwork.
I've reached out to a few people I know, and to some groups on Facebook on how best to proceed. Someone suggested I start with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. They have a form that I can use to get all documents used during the immigration process. All I need to do is fill out the G-884 form (Request for the Return of Original Documents). This feels like my next best step. As I don't have to appeal to a judge and worry about being denied.
Unfortunately, the world is experiencing pandemic. Many of us have been given a Stay-At-Home order. Thanks to this pandemic (COVID-19 virus), the USCIS Offices are temporarily closed to the public.
I feel like my search is stuck in limbo, at least until things settle down from this pandemic. That being said, any of you reading this now, I hope you're staying safe.
This pandemic has brought a whole lot more to light as I've had plenty of time to think about my adoption. I will keep up with my search, and will certainly post about it. Fingers crossed everything goes well and I'll be able to get more of my paperwork. And maybe one day I'll have a reunion story of my own.
Thanks for reading!