Searchin'

I am adopted. What does that mean to anyone? To me, it means that I was fortunate enough to be taken in by someone who cared enough to call me by their name and to raise me as if I were her own, because in her eyes I was her own. My adoptive mother died several years ago, and her ex-husband, my adoptive father, died a number of years before that.

I never knew my birth mother. I never really found out her name or a lot of information about her. Why? California is one of those states where the only information you can obtain is "non-identifying information". So, there are a few things that I know about my birth parents. They weren't married. My father was supposedly adopted as well, so even if I were to find out about him, it would likely lead to a dead end. My mother was 23 when she gave me up for adoption. I know a little about her, but not much. However, my adoptive sister gave me a clue about my origins. Supposedly, she saw my file when she was at the adoption agency with my adoptive parents. (She was in her late teens at the time, so I trust what she says she saw.) She saw the name "Pringle" on the file jacket. I did some research using Ancestry.com and a couple of other sources, and I did find a Baby Boy Pringle born on my birth date in the city of my birth. So, that seems like a positive start.

Now I'm stuck. Even on Ancestry.com, I can't find out anything. What do I do? I'm tempted to hire a private investigation agency to track down the info, and that looks like my best shot.

A question I am often asked, though, is if I want to meet my mother if she is still alive. My answer? Not really. She gave me up, and from what the adoption agency says, she had good reason to do so. I'm not searching to try to recover lost family. I would just like to know where I come from. Where is my family originally from? The name Pringle is Scottish. Do I have that ancestry? Can I trace my roots back to the lowland clan of Pringle? How cool would that be? I would just like to know.

California needs to give more information. I know that birth parents want to remain anonymous, and I can respect that. But they need to understand that eventually the adopted person is going to have that longing to know where he or she comes from. It hurts a bit to hear how some people can trace their ancestry back hundreds or even thousands of years, and I can't trace mine beyond me.

So, I search. I dig. And I come up largely empty.

Ms. Pringle. If you ever read this and you know that you gave birth in January of 1964 in Los Angeles County, give me a hand, will you? At least help me to know where I come from.