Searching?

Family & Children’s Agency provides search services for adoptees and birth parents who may be looking to learn more information and fill in the missing pieces. If you believe FCA can help you, please send us an email or contact us at 203-855–8765.

If you are under 18 years old, you will need parental consent to begin a search.

How Do I Initiate a Search?

To begin a birth parent or adoptee search, we must verify if your file is at our agency. To request a file search, contact us at 203-855-5765 or email us. Upon receiving your information, one of FCA's social workers will be in touch with you to discuss next steps.

After verifying that we have access to your file, you will need to complete a Search Services Request Form which your social worker will be able to provide you with via email, fax or mail. This Search Services Request Form is to protect your confidentiality and provide written notice of your request to initiate a search.

Is There a Search Fee?

Yes. If we discover that we have access to your file at our agency, we verify your identity before beginning search work. Family & Children’s Agency provides two types of search services:

Non-identifying search ($150) - We review your file and collect as much information as possible about your adoption story, information about your birth parents, extended family, and any medical information documented in your file. We then write up a summary of these findings, excluding any identifying information (such as last names, birth dates, etc.) and provide that to you. By Connecticut law we cannot release your actual record so this summary is the way we can provide you with the information included in it.

If we can locate them we can then request they provide us updated medical information or if you are looking to have contact with them, we proceed with the next steps according to the pace at which you and the person/s contacted are comfortable with (e-mail, phone, face-to-face). Of course, all searches vary by case, and can have very different time frames and outcomes. In the event of finding a birth parent or child deceased, you are legally permitted access to his or her identifying information.
Full search ($150 without the Non-Identifying report, $300 with the Non-Identifying report) - Utilization of search databases and other search processes, allow us to locate birth parents or child placed for adoption. If and when we find possible leads to who we are searching for, we attempt to contact them depending on what contact information we are able to find.

If we locate them, we can then request the information you are seeking. If you wish to have direct communication, we proceed with the next steps according to the pace at which you and the person(s) contacted are comfortable with (e-mail, phone, face-to-face). Of course, all searches vary by case, and can have very different time frames and outcomes. In the event of finding a birth parent or child deceased, you are legally permitted access to his or her identifying information.

If you have any questions about this search fee, please contact our adoption staff.

Will my Birth Parent/Child Know if I Initiate a Search?

Birth parent or children will only be contacted at your request. This process is completely driven by you. We go at the speed you are comfortable with and wait for your approval before initiating any contact.

Important Note: Under Connecticut State law, individuals who were adopted and those who previously made an adoption plan, do not have access to their adoption files. However, the adoption team at Family & Children’s Agency can locate your file and can provide you with information directly from those documents.

If you believe FCA can help you begin a birth parent or child search, contact Margaret Woglom, Assistant Director, Adoption & Early Childhood at 203-523-5341 to begin your search.