Hello Neil, The person can approach the Department in Pretoria and ask for her/h original birth certificate and papers relative to her/his adoption. This can only be done if it is an open adoption and it must be done by either the mother/adopted parents/or the adoptee her/himself. However if it is a closed adopted the records are sealed and then it becomes difficult and you might have to apply to a court to unseal them and usually this only happens for reasons like medical. Another root that is not always followed because of costs is doing a DNA test - FTDNA has charges varying depending on how deep you want to explore. Good luck! I think there are lots of adoptees and biological parents who would love to know what happened to their family. Kind regards Eleanor -----Original Message----- From: Neil Holmes Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2015 12:32 PM To: SA Roots Web ; SA Eastern Cape Roots Web ; SA L Roots Web Subject: [ZA-EC] TRACING BIOLOGICAL PARENT/S OF A PERSON Good afternoon. What is the best way of going about tracing the biological parent/s of a person born in 1973. The person was born in Benoni. The mother was 16 and not married. Any ideas please. Neil.