Adoption Angels: Family Finders Space

Profile managers: Emma MacBeath [send private message] and Adoption Angels WikiTree [send private message]

Adoption Angels Project

Adoption Angel Family Finders are volunteers who are experienced in the use of both DNA and traditional genealogy research to find birth parents. They do the work alongside the adoptee/searcher to actively search for the biological family.

Before you begin, please keep in mind this is first and foremost an emotional journey for our applicants. We might get frustrated with how they deal with their search, but this is their journey and each person's will be different. Put on your compassion hat before you begin.

Expectations

Family Finders are expected to:

• Be knowledgeable about both the use of DNA and traditional genealogy research to find birth family.
• Use the highest level of respect and understanding in your communications with applicants.
• Be actively working on at least one case at a time. (Breaks in between cases is perfectly understandable. It is preferred you work toward completing one case in a 6-month period)
• Update your cases monthly on the tracking spreadsheet. If you have no new notes to add, simply change the month on the check-in column to the next month. Example: 3/1/22 becomes 4/1/22.
• Ask for help when you need it.
• Report any problems to a Project Leader immediately.
• Respond to all communications from the Project Leaders or Project Coordinators in a timely manner.

Step by Step instructions for Family Finding

(this will vary slightly based on each specific case)

1. Choose the first case (oldest) on the Family Finder tab on the AA Tracker. If the first one is international and you are only comfortable with USA, go to the first USA case.
2. Put your name in the Angel field.
3. Put the date of contact in the field next to your name.
4. Applications are linked to the applicant's name.
5. Send an introduction letter directly to their email address on the application. Use the words "WikiTree Adoption Angels" in the subject line. Don't ask for information in this letter. This note is a chance to tell them who you are and ask if they are ready to get started. You can tell them how the process of family finding will work. Ask an introduction question such as "Can you confirm your goals are to...?" or "What do you need from me (versus what can you do yourself)?"
6. If they do not reply within 2 weeks, send a second message by email or through WikiTree.
7. Send a reply to their message and ask them for DNA viewing privileges or log in information as needed. Please keep any log in information in a secure location. Delete this information when the case is finished.
8. At Ancestry DNA, ask to be set to Contributor status so you can sort matches and add notes.
9. Access the DNA information and sort the DNA matches into shared match groups (Leeds Method is one preferred way).
10. Begin tree building (mirror trees) and identifying MRCAs for each DNA group.
11. Work the process. Ignore your highest matches (above 400cM) at first. Once you have done the basic tree building (mirror tree) process, then check to see how the highest matches fit into the picture.
12. Do not ever search around a tree for someone who might fit the age and non-identifying information. This is a set up for disaster. If you don't know how to use the DNA process to lead you to the birth parent, learn how before you proceed.
13. Always obtain permission from the applicant before sending messages to DNA matches.
14. Once you have identified a potential birth parent, create a DNA map/DNA chart (or WATO tree) to check your work. Make sure the amount of cM works for the relationships.
15. Send a summary of how you came to the conclusion of who the birth parent is along with your check-your-work DNA tree to the applicant.
16. Recommend additional targeted testing for validation of findings (example: asking a potential half sibling or birth parent to test).
17. Answer any questions about their next steps now that they have the birth parent(s) name.
18. Once everything is wrapped up, send a completion report to your project leader (see Close Out Procedure below).

• What if you can't complete the case?
  • If you have narrowed it down to the grandparent level, this is considered a solve.
  • If targeted testing will give you the answers you need, recommend targeted testing to the applicant. However, that step is up to them.
  • If there aren't enough DNA matches, there is too much endogamy, you are unable to build trees for the location, etc, tell the applicant what is needed for future progress to be made. Recommend they return when the needed information is available if they would like additional help. Complete a Close Out Report. You might not need to include a DNA map in this case.

Important Considerations

1. At Ancestry there is no reason an Angel should have Manager status. There is a lot of responsibility in this status because you could potentially download their raw DNA or give others viewing access. Don't ask to be added as Manager unless it's a very very rare situation.
2. Do not pressure the applicant into giving you log in information. Some people like to change their password temporarily and give you that. They can then change it back after the research is complete. You may want to offer this option.
3. Always, always respect the level of privacy an applicant wishes to work with even if it's not ideal for the work.
4. If you will be using a relative's DNA for the search, you MUST get written permission (email is fine) from the person the DNA belongs to before you can access it.
5. Do not pressure an applicant to contact their birth family.
6. Do not pressure applicants to upload to Gedmatch or other DNA companies. Although we ask them to for an easier result, we must respect their decision not to upload.

Leeds Method

Regardless of which DNA company you are working with, you need to cluster your matches into groups. The Leeds Method is the most efficient way to do this. You can either do it on paper, or in the case of AncestryDNA (and now My Heritage), you can use the colored dot system. If you don't know what the Leeds Method is, you should learn it. If you are not grouping your DNA matches before you begin working with the DNA, you will be running around with no direct route to the answer. You can read more about the Leeds Method on Dana Leed's blog.

What If I'm Stuck?

You are likely stuck for one of two reasons: You either don't have enough information to complete the case or you need someone with a more experienced eye to see what you may be overlooking. Please don't sit on the case hoping something will work itself out eventually. We want to complete these cases in a timely manner.

• If you are unable to complete the basics of the search within a week (best case scenario searches), you should be able to know what needs to be done to complete the case. Make a plan to get the needed additional information you need or see above: "What if you can't complete the case."
• If you can't figure out what needs to be done to complete the case, please either post in the Adoption Angel private Google group about the case, come to one of the weekly video meetings, or contact your project leader for help. Often a more experienced second eye can help you move forward.

Close Out Procedure

Please see the Close Out Procedure Space Page for the steps to follow when you have finished a search.

DNA Tools

• DNA Shared cM auto chart https://dnapainter.com/tools/sharedcm (free)
• WATO https://dnapainter.com (free unless you want multiple trees)