Adoption Search Acronyms & Definitions FAQ

ABC - amended birth certificate. This is the birth certificate issued by the state after the adoption is finalized.

Adad - adoptive dad

Amom - adoptive mom

Aname - the name given to the adoptee by the adoptive parents when they are adopted.

Aparents - adoptive parents

Asib - adoptive sibling

Bdad - birth father

Bdau - birth daughter

BF - birth father

Bfam - birthfamily

BM - birthmother

BMA - black market adoption

Bmom - birthmom

BN - Bastard Nation. Large Adoptees Rights advocate group

Bname - the name given to a child at birth by their birthparents. Many times birthparents were discouraged from naming their child, and in those cases the name on the birth certificate would be Baby Girl or Baby Boy.

Bparents - birth parents

Bsib - birth sibling

Bson - birthson

Brel - birth relative

CC - Catholic Charities--an agency that handled many adoption

CHS - Childrens Home Society

CI - Confidential Intermediary (there is no Confidential Intermediary service available in Florida.  If you should successfully petion the court, and your adoption file is opened, the information will be given to Jossette Marquess, who will then use all resources available to her to find the parents and ask permission to pass on contact information to all)

COB - City of birth

CW - Case Worker

DC - Death Certificate

DOB - Date of Birth

DMV - Department of Motor Vehicles

DSS - Department of Social Services

DVS - Department Of Vital Statistics

F2F - Face to face, meaning your first face to face meeting with the person you've been searching for.

FCH - Florence Crittendon Home--unwed mothers home where many birthmoms stayed while pregnant

Finalization date - the date of the adoption proceedings, which usually changes the child's name.

ID Info - Identifying Information. This is information obtained from an agency that could enable adopted people to contact their family of origin. This usually consists of the names and addresses of the biological parents and siblings, if any, of the child before placement, at the time that the parental rights were terminated.

ISRR - International Soundex Reunion Registry

KC - Kept Child

KD - Kept Daughter

KS - Kept Son

LDS - Latter Day Saints church, which has many genealogy resources available at their Family History Centers, some of which can be helpful in searches.

LBC - Long Form Birth Certificate

LDA - Late Discovery Adoptee - an adoptee who has discovered their adopted status after they were grown, often upon the death of one or more of the adoptive parents.

Non-id - non-identification or non-identifying info. This is data that would  not allow the adopted person to locate the biological parents. This type of information may include the state, time, and plce of birth; the medical history of the adopted person; the biological parents' ethnicity, occupation, religious background, medical record, educational level, the method that the parental rights were terminated, voluntary or court-ordered. You will find
that different locations, states or even counties each have their own definition of non-identifying information.

OBC - Original birth certificate

Obit - Obituary announcement in newspaper

OLV - Our Lady of Victory-well known adoption agency/home in Lackawanna, NY

OVS - Office of Vital Statistics

PA - Private Adoption

PI - Private Investigator

POB - Place of Birth

Relinquishment date - the date on which the birth parents signed a legal paper giving up their rights to the child.

SSDI - Social Security Death Index

SOB - State of birth

Triad - An adoptee, birthparent or adoptive parent

VS - Vital Statistics