That being said,  there are other legal ramifications of searching for minors that must be noted.   Adoptive parents have both a legal and moral obligation to protect their children from the involvement of "strangers" in their lives.  This is something that any responsible parent would do.   There are definitive laws on the books that can be used by them to protect their children,  including stalking laws,  restraining orders and the like.

While Birth Parents did sign away rights to legal involvement in the children's lives, I have yet to hear of a birth parent that signed any type of paper saying that they would not attempt contact,  or a search for their children.    Many agencies told them that they must not search,  however this was more of an admonition for what they viewed as the child's emotional health, than it was something backed by the court orders surrounding adoption.

Normally adolecence is a time filled with a great amount of emotional turmoil.   Children at varying stages of development question who they are,  and what their place in the world might be.    This is all the more true of adoptees, who have no biological facts in which to ground themselves.

Because we as birth family are not intimitely involved in the adoptee's life,  we have no way of gauging the emotional development,  or stability of the child at any given time.   In some cases these children do need to know who their biological family is,  in others they do not have the emotional maturity to handle the information in a positive way.   For this reason it is both wreckless and selfish to show up in their lives without some type of preparation.   In the final analysis it is the adoptive parents who deal with these children on a day to day basis, and it is they who have the ability to determine where the children are emotionally.   Legally they alone are the only ones that have the right at this stage in the game,  to determine whether or not their children would profit from such an encounter with their biological family.

In addition, premature attempts at reunion can be harmful not only to the adoptee's mental health,  but also to the biological family,  who may search and find that the adoptee is not ready for such a meeting.   Not only may rejection of this type blow the hopes of reunion in the present,  but also may taint attempts in the future,  should the adoptee come to the age when they desire such contact.

Taking these facts in to consideration,  Torn Asunder Adoption Reunion Registry and its operatives,  take the stance that such family reunions involving minor children MUST also involve the adoptive parents, and that the final determination for reunion must rest in the hands of the LEGAL parents until such time as the child reaches the age of majority.   It is for this reason that Torn Asunder will no longer publish online the email addresses or contact information for under-age adoptees or the families that are searching for them.

The following searchers are for under age children.   If any of these posts appear to be a match please contact me directly .  I will do everything within my power to try to help you to make contact without divulging information that may put the adoptee or hopes of reunion at risk.   Please be advised that in some cases both adoptees and birth family will have no choice but to wait until the adoptee is of age,  before contact can be initiated.