Adoption Registration Day (RegDay) is an annual one day event to increase public awareness
of the International Soundex Reunion Registry; a free humanitarian service better known
as ISRR.
ISRR is a non-profit mutual consent registry established in 1975 dedicated to reuniting adult family members separated by adoption, divorce, foster care, or other dislocation.
But RegDay is so much more than that. RegDay is a day where members of the adoption triad
(adoptees, adoptive parents and birthparents) set up tables in public locations and meet face
to face other members of the triad and the public in general, sharing their stories and information.
It’s a day to encourage those touched by adoption, and let them know they are not alone.
RegDay is a day to meet others in the triad and form a search and/or support group in your
local area, or to welcome them into a group that already exists.
Remember when you first started being involved in adoption issues, wasn’t it important,
or just nice, to meet in person others who had been there or were going through the same thing. The internet is a great search and support resource, but so much of that personal contact is missing.
RegDay gives us an opportunity to get that back.
RegDay is also a day to tell someone about that special adoption related book that helped
you so much. It’s a day to provide resources from internet links to national organizations.
It’s also a day to provide information about adoption reform that is still needed in so
many states, and a way to connect with others who also see that need.
RegDay can be a social event, hanging out with members of your support group at the same time providing a valuable service, or becoming friends with other volunteers that you just met. The friendships you build on RegDay can last a lifetime…. Volunteer Now!!
To learn more about RegDay go to www.regday.org.
Sites are currently being secured in several states, but more are still needed. If you can coordinate a site in your area, or would like to volunteer to help at an existing site,
join the Yahoo Mailing Group for RegDay Site Coordinators and volunteers at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/regday/.
It is easy to do RegDay.
Thank you,
Petra B. Wynbrandt
National RegDay Coordinator 2005-2007
Back To The Adoption Experience Homepage.
It didn't matter who you were, if you had the money you could buy a baby. No background checks were made and records were often falisfied.
Some maternity homes operated above board while other were no more than baby brokers.
Over-crowding in orphanages in the east lead to the transport of hundreds of children to the midwest. Most never saw their parents again.
Read about the trains and the agencies who provided the young travelers who rode them, carrying few belongings, not knowing where they would end up.
Registration Day (Reg Day) is an annual event. It's purpose is to encourage and support. Any birth family member or adoptee can register at ISRR.net for free.
There are many search angels. Some work entirely for free, some work on a no find-no fee basis and others charge very reasonable rates. Coming soon.
Search and support groups exist all over the internet. Many such groups work certain state and others work nationwide. Some groups are more active than others. In this section, I'll provide links so you can join the groups which are best suited to your individual search; there is no fee.
The Guild wishes to thank Genealogical Publishing Company for hosting this site. Please visit them in appreciation.
We strive to make your search successful. If you don't find what you need on
this site, please consider a subscription to Ancestry.com. The free trials at Ancestry are different from what they once were. No credit card information is required, all you need to do is register for the free trial. Ancestry.com has an adoption forum where you can post and receive replies. Ancestry.com Free Trial
Census records, and in particular the 1930 census, are one of the most easily used
tools for beginners. Ancestry.comis the only place where all census years are easily searchable. Search US Federal Census Records
Ancestry's collection of Birth, Marriage & Death Certificates
,
Social Security Death Index
, Obituaries
and Historical Newspapers
can be valuable to your search.
Get started building your family tree, a treasure that will last forever, with Family Tree Maker 2008
If your search involves Canada, you will find a subscription to Ancestry.ca
helpful and inexpensive as well.
You will find the following databases very helpful: Canadian Census Records
,
Canadian Birth, Marriage, & Death Records 
, Canadian Immigration & Naturalization Records 
,
Canadian Top Databases
,
Canadian Military Records
.
Important News from the Captain
The Adoption Experience is a new addition to ISTG and these pages will be under continual construction as more research is completed. We all seek to know our heritage and those touched by adoption are no different. If anything, they are more pressed for time because it is their hope to reunite before death claims the people they seek.
The search is difficult at best. They begin with little information and to be honest, they are not even sure that information is correct. Birth parents, especially birth mothers, were told not to search. They were most often hurried "away" and left guilt-ridden for the rest of their lives. The Girls Who Went Away, by Ann Fessler, will help all of us understand the truth.
Adoptees often know even less that the birth parents and while the brick walls ahead may be tall and thick, successful reunions happen every day. You are not alone and help is available. Don't become discouraged if you find your parent isn't looking for you - remember, they were told not to search. While you are here, reading this webpage, your birthmom may not even have a computer and if she does, she may not know how to begin. Keep an open and a positive mind; most birth parents, moms in particular, are scared to even hope you would want to meet them.
I just want to add that I will update this page as often as I can. The comments made here are not testimonials from someone else but my own personal thoughts and experiences. I was helping my sister-in-law search for her adopted daughter after 41 years and in the process mentioned it to one of my sisters. My sister then mentioned that her son's wife was adopted and wanted to find her birth parents. I said I'd be happy to help if I could and I got all the information the adoptee (my niece by marriage) knew. As I was helping another search angel by scrolling through the thousands of posts in the adoption forum on Reunion.com, I spotted a post with my neice's birthdate in it. It also had the same city of birth and it jumped right off the page at me.
That was the beginning of a successful reunion between Julie and her birthmom.
As time goes on, I will add new helpful links to this site. I hope to add pictures just as we have on our immigrants page and I also would like to add stories that may be submitted.
If you are searching for someone in another country, I want to tell everyone about a new
and FREE genealogy social network that is available to all of you. You can send messages to
genealogists in more than 20 countries, find genealogists who read and speak other languages
and ask a genealogist in over 1600 cities to do a look-up for you. While these folks usually deal with older genealogy, they might have access to current information, directories and phone books. It's a free service and worth a try.
This is a redirect
link, so you will pause a few seconds and then go on to sign up for free.
Connect
with genealogists that live in the cities of your ancestors for FREE!
Design your own tee shirts, tote bags and ball caps for your family reunion are available from Cafepress at a good price.
World Vital Records - An Affordable Option
Website search technology courtesy of FreeFind.com
The new ISTG logo was designed by Patty McCormack. The old Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild logo, which is used in part on this site, was designed and contributed by Pat Walker and Sheila Tate.
The logo and other genealogical graphics are available on tee shirts, mousepads and tote bags from: AncesTees.
ISTG does not profit in any way from the sale of these items.
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