geneology finding a lost child

LuAnnH

I was talking with a family member today and long story short found out one of their children may have fathered a child at age 16 (about 4 years ago).  I guess the father was not named on the birth certificate and all I have is the ladies first name, the childs first name, the state mom and baby live and the presummed fathers name.  Where do I start to try and find out if this child exists?

Paulette531

WOW! Doesn't her son know the woman's last name? But other than that, is she in the same state where she was 4 years ago? If so, do you or can you find out the address she was at? Was she in school with the boy? School records? The presumed father's last name? Sometimes if you put a name ih google all kinds of stuff comes up. Also, was the child born in the state she is in now...if so you can access all births in that state on or around that time and if her first name and the presumed father's name come up together it would probably be a match. I'll think some more...I do a lot of geneology.

LuAnnH

I am working on finding out if the child was born in the state the two kids met or the state the mom lives right now.  I wish I knew more but at this point in time only bits are coming out so I have to work with what I have.

badboob67

Luann,

I am "into" genealogy and also adopted. I've learned quite a few tricks to dig up information but most of it is only effective on much older cases. There are so many things in place these days to protect privacy that it could be very difficult to find someone.

In genealogy, we take bits and pieces of information from personal accounts, family lore, and documents, then follow up any leads we might find. For instance, newspaper archives are a good resource. If you know about when and where the child was born, you can look at newspaper archives (many are online) in the area(s) where the baby was born. You might get lucky and find some possibilities that way. High school yearbooks are good if you know where they went to school and many libraries have these too. Once you have a last name for the mother, things should be pretty easy from there--you can use an online "detective" service (like peoplefinders, ussearch, etc) and can get current phone number for a minimal fee.

To start with, try to write out everything you know right now:

father's name

mother's name

father's residence

father's school

approximate birthdate

possible birth locations

 the mother's parent(s) first names

the mother's job or special skills

any other possible children of the mother's

In genealogy, I have spent years looking for certain people, only to find the clues I needed sitting right in front of me all along. Try writing it all out in list form; you might find that you already know lots more than you think! 

If the mother is receiving any public assistance, it won't be long before the state catches up with the father. I understand that they try to get child support from the birth fathers in that case. 

Good luck,

Diane

PS:  I do know that some states (like ILLINOIS) have changed their adoption laws to make birth parent/child communication easier. Even though this is not an adoption situation, you might be able to find a loophole in the baby's or father's state that allows for information. Of course, this could be difficult because he is not listed on the birth certificate. And, this is completely weird but I thought I'd add: I saw a commercial the other day that you can by a DNA Paternity Test over the counter at CVS!! How weird is that?!?!?!