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“Let me start by saying that my whole experience with this program has been nothing but positive. From the time I first contacted the IDPH in about 2022 about obtaining an original birth certificate for my deceased mother who was an adopted, to registering with the IARMIE and realizing there was a path to possibly finding my mom’s [birth relatives], to my first contact with LaKisha, to being assigned a CI, Denise, it has been such an easy process. Thank you to everyone I dealt with. You’ve all been professional and yet very compassionate. And the fact that this whole process was basically free was unbelievable! So thank you to the State of Illinois and the people who made this possible.

As for my story… my mother did not divulge that she was adopted until very late in her life. Even then, we wondered if it was true. I eventually signed up on Ancestry.com and started to search. I spent several years off and on trying to find a clue. I did contact the State of Illinois where mom was from, but was unable to come up with even a birth certificate. At that time, adoption records in Illinois were sealed. Going through some of mom’s ‘stuff’ after her death, I was able to find where she went to school and church. I did talk to some very helpful people who were able to provide copies of some of her records, but still nothing on her birth or adoption. By the way…is everyone in Illinois so helpful and kind? Anyway, I kept my search up off and on until finally finding out that with some restrictions, Illinois had opened up some records. Needless to say I was thrilled.

In doing this search, I was not looking to emotionally connect with any lost [birth] relatives. I just wanted to know more about my mom, where her people came from, and maybe why she was adopted. The people I knew as my grandparents were not what I would call lovers of children. They were older and not really fun and caring. Looking back it seemed that they controlled my mom. So who was mom?

So fast forward… my CI, Denise, was able to provide me with my mom’s [birth mother’s] name and confirm her date of birth and that she was born in Illinois. That’s not a lot, but lucky for me, the name was not very common and I was able to continue my research and track down other [birth relatives]. No one I spoke with knew my mother or anything about her. Her [birth mother] was married at least twice and may have had other relationships… one producing my mother.

A few weeks after my CI gave me the little information she had, she checked back in with me to see if I wanted her to continue trying to find [birth relatives] for me. I’m glad I said yes to that. Not sure how she did it, but she located a [birth] first cousin of mine. My [birth] cousin agreed to talk with me. Through her, I found out that her father, my mom’s [half birth brother], was given up by their mother at age 14 years. He was given to an uncle on a farm and was treated very badly. So it seems when my [birth grandmother] got overwhelmed, she pawned her kids off to others. Sounds cruel, but hopefully there were good reasons.

So that’s about where I am now. Still researching and hoping to find out more. My new [birth] cousin is trying to locate some family history her late father had. Another more distant [birth] cousin remembers going to my [birth grandparents] house with his mother, having tea, and seeing a collection of salt and pepper shakers. My mom also collected salt and pepper shakers! Coincidence? Maybe…

It was nice that the CI sends information out for those who may be in need of counseling after what could be an emotional journey for some. But as I said, I was not expecting nor wanting any family attachments… only information. The fact that I’ve connected with some very nice people along the way has been a benefit and a joy.”