Cathy, I don't think there is a wrong or right way to do this. It all depends on what you want to do and what your objective is. I have several adoptions in my tree. I made a decision to list both sets of parents, however I always use the biological parents as the primary/preferred parents. The reason for this, I am not interested in researching the adopted lines beyond the adopted parents. I want to see the individuals biological line and not the adoptive line in pedigree charts. Because the database requires a "preferred name" I made a decision to use the birth name as the preferred. I then use another "name" fact, (FTM 2012 allows this) to add the name change. In FTM there are two "name" fact's one shows up just under the "preferred" name at the top the other shows up in the list of facts where you can add a date for your timeline. Ann In a message dated 30-Nov-12 06:26:00 US Mountain Standard Time, cacshantih@sbcglobal.net writes: I'm hoping for your input regarding an adopted child, my grandfather. His birth parents were not married when he was born. FamilySearch has him listed as _____Baxter, father is listed as N. Baxter and mother is Emma Crull. Along come a couple who want to adopt the child, Martha and Otto Penner. A year to the date of his birth the couple adopts the child, who is now named Otto J Crull on the adoption document with the mother listed as Emma Crull, a single woman and mother. The father, N Baxter, is not mentioned at all. The adoption took place in the probate court of Wyandotte, Kansas; Emma was a resident there. My question is how best should I list Otto? I use FTM2012 which allows you to enter all the parents, adopted and birth, and to make one set "preferred". However, when you do this you don't see the other set of parents. Same thing on Ancestry.com. I have listed all the events of his birth and adoption plus have all the documents attached with the correct dates. Currently I have him listed with his adoptive name and adoptive parents. Or would it be more correct to list his with his actual birth name and birth parents? I did have him listed as Otto Johanne (Crull) Penner but was told by someone that that was WRONG. What is the best course to take? Thanks. Cathy Champion in Fenton, MO 63026 (near St. Louis)