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Birth parent search - THANK YOU OMNITRACE!
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When both of my adopted parents passed away, I decided that I wanted to search for my biological parents. I did my own research, joined message boards and Facebook groups, and relied on the advise and guidance of those that had committed to the same search
that I was on. My adoption took place in Louisiana, and my understanding is that Louisiana is one of the more difficult states to acquire this type of information from. I did everything I could on my own, I made requests to the state for information that other
adoptees said I had the right to access. I used pre-formatted documents and sent repeated requests. Unfortunately, my attempts never produced results. I attempted this search on my own for about 2 years, and was so disheartened by the end of it that I thought
I would just have to give up. In that time, I never even explored the possibility of utilizing an investigator. Aside from being a bit of a do-it-yourself kind of gal, I just presumed that the cost would exceed anything I could feasibly budget for. Thankfully,
a friend started calling around and making inquiries. He called me and said that he had spoken with a representative from Omnitrace, and that he was told that my case sounded solvable. Even though my adoption took place in one of the states that rarely (never)
unseal original birth certificates, they felt that they could help me. He also said that the fees could be split into a few payments, so I decided to give them a call. I wish I could remember who it was I spoke with initially. She was really wonderful, and
didn't make me feel poorly about my need to be frugal. It took me three months to pay the entire fee, which I felt was fair and do-able, especially since I had tried on my own with no results. I appreciated that the fee was all I had to pay, regardless of
the amount of work/time that was required. I signed up and I am so glad I did. Within a couple months of my last payment, I received information from the state (that I had asked for on my own MANY times over the span of a couple years) that had information
regarding my birthparents. This was a limited history, but it contained some general descriptions of my birthparents along with information regarding their reasons for giving me up for adoption. I cannot express how this information effected me. Talk about
fuel on the fire! I must've read that paper over a thousand times during the course of their investigation! Kevin Lynch (the investigator assigned to my case), located my birth mother in a little under a year. Unfortunately, she has refused to respond to me
yet, but Kevin also located my birth father and mediated contact. I am happy to report that last week, I had a two hour conversation with my birth father! My hope is that my bio-mom will come around eventually, but I feel such a sense of closure after speaking
with my father! I realize that this is a bit long winded, but I really was not sure that this day would ever come. My initial hesitations with hiring an investigative firm were 1) the cost, and 2) the chance of getting manipulated or ripped off. I felt like
the cost was very fair, and the investigator was always straightforward with me. I feel like a year was a reasonable amount of time for resolution, and I will be forever grateful. I would recommend Omnitrace wholeheartedly and without reservation. They exceeded
my expectations.
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Business's response - by Chris M.on 3/11/2014
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Donna,
Thank you for the nice review. We are very happy to have been able to assist you in locating your birth family. If you need anything else please let us know.
Sincerely,
OmniTrace Staff
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