How to go about finding your birth mother if you have absolutely no information about her?

You could ask the adoption agency, but its most likely a lost case.

Adoption laws are different from state to state. I am assuming you are in the U.S.A. As far as I know a lot would depend on whether it was an open or closed adoption.

I am not sure who does this or if its allowed, but you take a sample of your DNA and see if a match comes up in any of the DNA databases. I am not sure if DNA matches can only be done for your parents or their siblings or some other family member down your family tree…I think you should be able to some extent (%)..don’t know. If you get a hit on anyone this way there must be at least some information available to find more information about your mother.

Yeah…this may be a whacky one but all I can think of.

It depends upon the country’s laws from which the baby was adopted. It may also depend upon the agency’s rules. Then there is always the possibility that the baby was abandoned with no clue left behind. If the adoption agency name is known, that is the first place to start.

If you were born in the US, it comes down to state laws. In some states, you can apply to receive a copy of your “original” birth certificate that lists your birth mother.

Oregon for instance passed a law (link below) that allows anyone over the age of 21 to apply for their original birth certificate.

Other states have other ways you can access similar records so it may be another avenue to pursue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Ballot_Measure_58_(1998)

Register with an adopted child search group, giving date and place of birth. My sister was reunited with her adopted daughter this way.

Do you happen to know where you were born? For example I was adopted. I lost my social security card and when I got the replacement it oddly had my original name (huge mistake on their part) I used that info, the date of birth and the hospital to track it down. It wasn’t really that easy and a mistake was involved – I’m under the impression those records are usually kept secret after the name is officially changed and a birth certificate is issued with the adoptive parent’s names

a few months ago my mother in law discovered that she had a half brother. He employed some sort of private investigator to find us.

If you do want to go the DNA database route (I’m not saying it’ll be fruitful necessarily) I would recommend Family Tree DNA. They have the largest database of its kind. And they’ve been in business for 10 years, one of the longest in the industry. IF you decide to pursue that route, know that it’ll probably return little to no useful information at least at first, but you can keep your information active in the database basically forever at no extra cost, so maybe eventually you’ll get something. The $339 mtDNA + Family Finder test package on this page: http://www.familytreedna.com/mt-dna-compare.aspx is really the best value. That’s what I would order if I was in your shoes. If you have other questions about this, feel free to PM me, I have way too much experience in this.

I was born overseas and adopted by American parents from the U.S.

@AshlynM Is the adoption agency based in the country in which you were born or in the US? That makes a difference.

It’s a worldwide database. If you let me know what country your parents would have been from I can tell you if you’d be likely to get anything or not. A few areas where you might have a chance are Eastern Europe, English-speaking countries around the world, Vietnam, and Mexico. That’s not meant to be an exhaustive list.

Ask your adoptive parents what they would suggest.