dear seekers - truly, by this post, i do not mean to be flip and hope that in no way is this message taken that way. i was adopted. the woman who gave birth to me, in december of 1947 in st. joseph's hospital in tampa, put me up for adoption immediately. i can tell you with no reservation whatsoever that that woman is not my mother, anymore than the man that got her pregnant - whoever he was - is my father. i was adopted by a couple in jacksonville, fla who really wanted a baby. my adoptive parents' names are the ones on my birth certificate, but it does have on there that i was born in st. joseph's hospital in tampa. this is no "fairy-tale-happy-ever-after-story". every day wasn't music and sweetness. adoption agencies (the one that handled my adoption was the children's home society) may be able, moreso these days, to match possible "birth" parents' eye and hair color, etc. but they can't now, and couldn't then, match basic personalities, etc. my mom and dad really had their work cut out for them...i wasn't the easiest kid to raise - real independent, headstrong, etc. even personal choices...mom loved pink, i hated it. mom loved balerinas, i was a tomboy. mom and dad were "straight a" students all the way through college, i hated school. but there were, in retrospect, more things that were good than not. mom and dad were the ones who changed my diapers, fed and clothed me, took care of me when i was sick, taught me about God and heard my prayers, put up with my temper tantrums, shared my joys and held my children and my children's children. there was a time in my life when i toyed with finding my birth mother. i even made a few half-hearted attempts. and, only about 10 years ago i thought i'd give it one more try, due to some medical questions i had. the children's home society came up with some "biological profile" that was supposed to be about my birth parents. they came up with this, of course, after having interviewed me extensively about various aspects of my life and personality (i didn't make the connection at that time what they were doing, but figured it out later). the biological information they had was ridiculous. i realize that all children don't look exactly like their parents, but they said that both of mine were about 5'6" to 5'7", blond hair, hazel eyes, fair complexion, average to light frame, etc. well, i can tell you that my big boned dark complexion very dark brunette hair very brown eyes and 5'8" self doesn't buy their "parent profile" for a second! and they couldn't find a THING on my good old birth 'mom and dad'....oh, except of course that they were "good people" from "very nice families". i guess one thing i've never really figured out is, supposing you are doing genealogical research on your adoptive surname and you do find out who your "birth" parents are. where do you go from there? do you stop researching your adoptive surname, research them both, or what? why would you want to find, much less research, a family who didn't want you in the first place? this is the part, like i said at the beginning of my message, that i truly hope no one thinks i'm being flip. i really don't understand why so much weight is given to finding the birth parents. i've even heard of children who were put up for adoption trying to force reunions with birth parents! anyway, one of the things the children's home society told me was that i supposedly had a half-brother (i've always loved that term, "half-something". it always makes me wonder which half i'm related to) who, coincidentally, grew up about 30-40 miles from me. i did contact him; didn't look, talk, think, act, etc. a thing like him, and decided we weren't related. he pretty much felt the same way. he was born in tampa, too. don't remember if he said which hospital, but he wasn't adopted right away and lived in an orphanage in tampa/the tampa area until he was about 8 when he was finally adopted. have any of you ever seen the television special about the "orphan trains" during the - i think - early 1900s? that's a story that will really astound you! julie thames howell, jax, fla surnames: THAMES and DUDLEY Herb & Becky Stevenson wrote: > Thanks for the information! My mother went down to Tampa Florida in 1956 > (or possibly late 55, or early 57) and had a baby at Tampa General Hospital > and gave it up for adoption. Her name was Thelma Amy Young, and she was > from Jackson Center, Shelby County, Ohio. She stayed with a brother down in > Tampa until the baby was born, and then came back home to Ohio. I'm > searching for this half-sibling, and have come to a dead end. That's why > I'm on this list--hoping to glean any info I can. Tampa General claims that > all the records during that time have been destroyed, because they were too > old to read anymore. Any ideas? > > Thanks again. > > Becky L. Oglesbee Stevenson > -----Original Message----- > From: E M Whetsel <mwhetsel@worldnet.att.net> > To: FLHILLSB-L@rootsweb.com <FLHILLSB-L@rootsweb.com> > Date: Saturday, February 12, 2000 5:50 PM > Subject: [FLHILLSB-L] Re: Adoptions, Records and Hillsborough County > > >Deborah and Listmembers, > > > >Perhaps I can offer some general information and thoughts on the adoption > >issue and Hillsborough County. > > > >Regarding adoption in General, I think the most important thing I can say > to > >anyone interested is not to immediately give up and believe that ALL > >RECORDS ARE SEALED. This is not true. > > > >While it is pretty much standard today, some legal jurisdictions, at > various > >times in history, did not seal adoption records. Some court systems only > >sealed them when the presiding judge ordered them sealed. If the presiding > >judge failed to pronounce that order during the adoption hearing and the > >clerk did not remind him, the record was not sealed. > > > >Every person searching for adoption information should learn from an > >experienced courthouse researcher what information might be available from > >the different departments in each jurisdiction. It is not enough to ask to > >see a sealed file, be refused, then give up. In the state of Pennsylvania, > >the office of the Prothonotary records every civil action. While doing some > >random searches of 1950-1990 civil documents in a PA courthouse this past > >summer, I stumbled onto information regarding three separate adoptions in > my > >paternal line. I honestly couldn't believe my eyes. Out of curiosity I > >checked for the actual adoption records and they were sealed! However, all > >information was available in other documents. Having a lot of curiosity and > >a little time, I continued to search records prior to 1950 and found two > >more adoption cases that were not sealed, both from about 1940. Both files > >contained information as to why the children were placed for adoption and > >there were signed statements in the files from birth parents! > > > >Regarding Hillsborough County, there were, indeed, many homes for orphans > or > >adoptable children, most run by the state, church or sometimes private. > Some > >were good, some weren't so good. Remember that Pre-Disney, Tampa was the > >only "major" city in FL other than Miami. An unwed or widowed mother can > >find anonymity in a city that can't be found in rural areas such as > Hernando > >or Pasco Counties. No one "back home" would have to know. As a former state > >employee who was frequently involved in adoptions, I can say that there is > >still a tendency to do this. The surrounding rural communities frequently > >send their children to Tampa and Tampa sends their children to other > cities. > >Pinellas County (St. Petersburg, Clearwater) has always had a small tax to > >fund child welfare programs, including adoption. Their services are > >unequaled, in my opinion. > > > >There is also a tendency for northern mothers to come to Florida to have > >their baby, place him or her for adoption, then return to the north. A > young > >mother would not stop in the rural communities looking for services and > >assistance. She would go on to Tampa, Orlando, Miami or Jacksonville. I > have > >an adopted friend whose birth mother came from a town outside of Boston, > had > >her baby in Clearwater, placed him in a home/orphanage in Tampa and went > >back to Boston...perhaps to create as much distance as possible. Another > >friend's mother was from Chicago, left her baby in a hospital and went back > >north. For those curious, one of the two has been reunited with his birth > >parents. > > > >For those who are searching for their parents...or their child, I wish you > >the very best. There is information out there somewhere that will help you > >in your search. Don't take no for an answer. > > > >Marc > > > > > > > >----- Original Message ----- > >From: Deborah Byrd <dbyrd@lightcom.net> > >To: <FLHILLSB-L@rootsweb.com> > >Sent: Saturday, February 12, 2000 2:08 PM > >Subject: [FLHILLSB-L] Help finding sites and information > > > > > >> As webmistress for the Hillsborough Genweb site, I get a fair amount > >> of questions about adoptions in Hills. county. Not living anywhere > >> near the east coast or Florida, I am at a loss for information to help > >> those seekers. > >> > >> If anyone has general information to share about adoptions in Florida > >> and Hills county in particular and if you feel comfortable sharing > >> that information please contact me. I would like to add that to the > >> Hills. county genweb page. Also if you know of any web sites that > >> help adoptees and birth parents find each other please forward them > >> to me. > >> > >> I had no idea that so many people were adopted out of Hills county. > >> My two Georgia counties and Hernando county don't have anywhere near > >> this amount of traffic on adoptions. Did Hills. county have a number > >> of foundling homes and orphanages in the early to mid 1900's? > >> > >> Deborah Byrd > >> > >> > >> ============================== > >> The RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: > >> 12.8 million individuals and counting. > >> http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/ > >> > > > > > > > >============================== > >The RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: > >12.8 million individuals and counting. > >http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/ > > > > ============================== > Free Web space. ANY amount. 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