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Why Professional Birth Parent Searchers Charge a Fee
We have received many questions about why birth parent searchers charge a fee to help people find their families. We have decided to answer these questions publicly in order to try and clear this matter up once and for all. There are some people who feel it's morally reprehensible to charge someone to find family members. While this is an understandable feeling it quite simply doesn't make a lot of sense logically. You could say it's reprehensible to charge people for food because its necessary for survival but logically we realize that we have to buy it or starve.
Birth parent searchers who help others find are highly trained. Adoption searches are unique. Not everyone can do this type of search. Many hours are put into finding someone. Sometimes we have a surname to work with, sometimes a full name, sometimes no name at all. Even with a name it's likely the person we are seeking is no longer going by that name. Most times we have very general information on where that person came from. This means that we have to be prepared to look for that person nationwide. Some states have a myriad of public records we can access, some do not. Each state has the option of making its public records available to the public. For ex: NY and CA driver records are closed while several other states allow a DMV search.
Since 9-11-2001, laws have changed drastically. Things that were available to researchers in each state have changed. Hospitals now have HIPPA regulations. These new privacy laws severely hamper investigators. Traditionally marriage records have been easily accessible. Now you have to prove you have a familial or legal connection in order to obtain copies of these records. Adoption searchers regularly network with what we call "contacts." Many searches bought various records when they were made available for sale by the states. These records were costly. In most cases it will take many years to recoup the cost of these records. In many cases we have to pay others for information on a per case basis. We can't dicker with our sources, most times they set a fee to cover their cost in purchasing the information they hold and we pay it or we don't get the information.
When you hire a birth parent searcher who charges a fee, most times they have set a fee that enables them to pay for the info they don't have on hand and to recoup a small cost for the information they have paid hundreds, sometimes thousands for. Information that most do not or ever will have access to.
Relatively few searchers charge for their time spent on a case. If they do most don't even charge an hourly rate that comes close to minimum wage.
When an adoptee goes to an agency for non identifying information, they usually find there is a charge for this information. This information is essential in order to get enough background to find your birth family. Sometimes the agency will perform a search for the adoptee or birth parent to see if contact is wanted by the searched for party. Agencies charge to perform this service because even with the full file in front of them money has to be spent in order to find that person today, not to mention the hours it takes to complete the search. While most hate having to pay the agency most realize this is a necessary evil that will help them meet their search goal.
Most search angels try and help people for free and we applaud those who do it. However, sometimes an angel simply can't complete the search. Lots of search angels will charge expenses only and will go to a searcher and pay them for information that allows them to help their client. Sometimes the search is easy and little is spent. Other times the search becomes costly. In most cases an angel will have to discontinue helping someone when they realize that they will rack up hefty expenses and they have a client that feels strongly about not having to pay for information. Many birth searchers nor angels will even take a case in which the birth name is common because of the sheer time and expense that will be required to complete the search. Not everyone, but a large number of people find that the expense they spent on their search was higher than what a professional quoted them on a search.
There have been many times wer have quoted a search fee and a potential client decided to try an angel or attempt the search on their own only to come back to us down the road (after spending a lot of time and expense) and then asked us to help them with their search.
Its up to you, by all means try every angle in your search to complete it in the cheapest way possible. You should always research the state you are searching in to see what options are available to you, see what searchers charge for a search, what angels are available for that state and what they can do for you. Some will provide information you have to develop on your own and you have to be prepared to do that. Find what is palatable to you but please try and refrain from developing derogatory opinions about professional searchers because of your ideals.
Most birth parent searchers are part of the triad themselves, had to pay for or complete their own search, have developed contacts in the US to help others, and most times those contacts want to remain anonymous to all but a select few. Most of us agree that you shouldn't have to pay for your identity or the identity of your family but that argument must be taken up with those that set the rules, not with the guy that works the rules to your advantage and helps you solve your mystery. In a perfect world you would simply get your original birth certificate and have enough information to complete your search with little expense. Unfortunately, this isn't a perfect world. Please don't shoot the messenger, he or she may be your only hope to find your family.
Best of luck to all of you.
Birth Parent Finder
BirthParentFinder.com
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