For some, genealogy is taking bits and pieces from parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Trying to create a path that leads you back to an earlier place in your family history. Most adoptees have no idea where or how to begin looking for their birth family. It is very important for an adoptee to learn where they came from and their medical history. Learn about methods to uncover adoptions in your family from a real-life case study. I am an adoptee who started searching for my birth family and will share how I went about it from the few small clues I had. Follow the puzzle pieces along the mysterious trail where I ran into roadblocks, how I circumvented them, and where I am now in my search to find other family members. Starting with my other adopted cousins, the Louise Wise Adoption Agency, SDJGS members, the Family History Library, the New York Public Library, the Bronx Surrogate Court, the Health Department, NARA, and the Marriage Bureau. At 57, she went from an only child; to being part of a wonderful birth family she did not know even existed. All this in less than a year! What an amazing genealogical journey!

Adopted at 4 ½ months in the Bronx, NY, Jean Moss decided in 2009, to search for her birth family to obtain her medical history. Knowing that both families were Jewish, she joined San Diego Jewish Genealogical Society to begin her search. She is currently President of SDJGS, and program and hospitality chair. She is a member of multiple societies in San Diego and the Jewish Genealogical Society in New York. She presented at international, national, regional, and local genealogical conferences. She developed research skills from each society that helped her find her family.