DNA & Adoptees October 6th

Tammy Moore

Spivey Hall, Clayton State University

Tammy has worked in marketing at Clayton State for many years. Beyond that, she has an amazing genealogy story to tell about adoption and the search for birth family members. She has taken her personal experiences and is making a difference for adoptees and both their adoptee and birth families. She has made about 40-50 matches over the last ten years using DNA and public records. “I mostly help adoptees because I believe every person has a right to know their genetic history,” she said. She has made her own match and has received requests from folks through DNA connections to help expand their family history. She has helped numerous non-related adoptees find their birth families. Out of the 50 searches she has worked on, she has never failed using DNA – although she is still working on one that is proving problematic due to the family history connecting them to Canada where there are less records than here in the US.

Tammy notes the following: a search angel is a person who volunteers his or her time and energy to help you find your family. They can be used by an adoptee and a birth family. Most search angels have been through a search and reunion themselves. They understand what you are going through and want to pass along what they have learned. Many do it as a way to pay it forward for the people who offered them help along the way. They use many different tools to aid you in your search. Online adoption registries are combed through. Public records such as birth and death certificates are searched. Sometimes property searches are helpful to lock down a person’s location. Some angels have paid subscriptions to information databases an average person would not have access to. DNA testing has been an invaluable tool in recent years for search and reunion. An adoptee can find their birth family using DNA even if the parents have not been tested, but biological parents searching for a child are encouraged to test as well.

Please join us for what promises to be an exciting presentation by Tammy Moore on Sunday, October 6, 2019, 3-5 pm, at Clayton State University, James M. Baker University Center, 2nd Floor, classroom #245.