Grandfather Uncovers Unknown Family Business in His History | Roots Less Traveled | Ancestry 

Hi, Stepanie. Thanks for commenting. We're so happy to hear that you enjoyed this episode of 'Roots Less Traveled.' We agree, we think it was so great to see them find out about these relatives. It's amazing what they were able to find.

I agree! However, a vast majority of the DNA matches that I have contacted do not respond. So frustrating.

Gotta love this often eye opening show, Johanna! Each episode never fails to fascinate and it can often even inspire us on in our own research. Thanks for taking a look and make sure to call on us if you ever have your own research query and need some pointers. ❤️🌳🔎

Not much unless you can find some information out. I’m a child of an adoptee and we know almost nothing. The people who knew anything are long gone and records are sealed. It sux really.

@@christinawilliams6989 I don’t know why records are sealed. Everyone has the right to know their origins.

Thanks for stopping by, Lisa. We appreciate your interest in Ancestry and regret any concern. We're always happy to assist with suggestions. When it comes to locating an adopted person's birth family a good starting point is to have the closest living relative take a DNA test. Have you tried this already? We also recommend the support article 'Finding Biological Family' for more information: support.ancestry.com.au/s/article/Finding-Biological-Family. An adopted person can of course also search for information across records and public trees, both for his/her biological and adopted family. However, we understand that is can be a bit more tricky to locate biological family this way, as you would need to know some names to search for in order to get started. We hope that this is helpful and wish you much success with your search!

@@analuisavila8247 Each state has different laws. I was adopted out of D.C. My records are sealed too. Luckily, I did ancestry dna and through help, I have phone numbers to someone on dad's side and perhaps my mother's landline. I have yet to call though. Sometimes, knowing that you CAN call is enough. I've been dealing with the failing health of my adoptive parents for a few years now. I don't need any new surprises and stress added on so I have to just wait. It's one of the unfortunate issues with being adopted. Sometimes you aren't in a place to deal with what the story was... and I already know that I was abandoned and my mother had other children she was raising. Grandmother came and saw me at the hospital and didn't take me either.. so I have a lot of answers to questions that people may not even want to answer

@@HadassaMoon144 you’re right, probably not everyone wants to know or deal with why they were put up for adoption but what I mean is they have the right to know should they want to. It seems to me that these laws protect more the parents that abandon their children that the child themselves. I don’t mean to judge everybody but I think the child has the right to know where they come from. Many times the adoption is for the better of the children like I imagine is your case. I just find out my grandfather was not my Moms real Dad and I would like to know of my biological family not because I want a relationship with them but because I need to know where I came from. Anyway, good luck to you.

True!

Hi Ben, thanks for stopping by. We have a few articles on our support site that can help you get started: support.ancestry.com/s/article/Getting-Started-Lesson-1-Starting-Your-Tree?language=en_US, support.ancestry.com/s/article/Getting-Started-Lesson-2-Building-Your-Tree?language=en_US, support.ancestry.com/s/article/Getting-Started-Lesson-3-Finding-Records?language=en_US.