Reunionservice Wiedersehen macht Freude -- Price inquiries

If you enter the information that you have about the person that you’re looking for, we will calculate the price for your search.

How much your search will cost primarily depends on how old the latest known address is and in which country the search is being made. The amount and accuracy of the information you have is also relevant for the price.

It could prove useful to remember that shoe box of old letters. If you have any “reliable” clues, that could affect the price in a positive way. The return address and postmark on a letter, documents or written information from official businesses or government agencies all count as reliable. Hearsay or remembering reliable information does not count as reliable information. If you can provide reliable, dated information in writing, please make a checkmark in the box “reliable”.

If you have accurate information, but not in writing (no way to back it up), please do not mark the field “reliable”; jump to the next field instead. If you are unable to fill in a field due to a lack of information, please continue to the next field and leave the question mark untouched.

You are looking for:

Are you adopted? yes no

Did your father recognize the paternity? yes no I don’t know

Perhaps your biological father was registered later in your birth certificate by the registration office. This can happen when, for example, the presumptive father initially challenges the paternity in court.

In cases where the father is registered as “unknown”, a guardianship document is automatically issued by the youth welfare office in Germany. In some cases eligible genitors will be named.

If your mother was divorced in Germany, the presumptive father might be mentioned in the divorce documents if questionable paternity was one of the reasons for the divorce. If you were adopted, there is a further possibility that the father is mentioned in the legal adoption documents.

If you want to, we can examine these possibilities for you. This will cost an extra 120 € regardless of the result.

Yes, I would like you to examine whether my father is registered or not.
No, I would not like you to examine whether my father is registered or not.

Do you want us to start the search for your father anyway? yes no

had `the person` been adopted? yes no I don’t know

Searching for adopted children is not legal.

That is regulated in Germany by the so-called prohibition of invasion of privacy. The § 1758 BGB reads: "facts, which could uncover the adoption and its circumstances may not be revealed or searched for without the agreement of the adoptive parent and the child, unless special reasons of public interest require this."

The state adoption services is the only authority that may act to initiate a contact according to this law. It is possible that the adoption center can help you directly. You can also ask us to handle the communication with the adoption center for you.

I would first like to ask the adoption center myself.
I would like you to handle the communication with the adoption center for me.

We have prepared a sample letter for the written inquiry to the adoption center (usually the local office at the place of birth of the sought for person is responsible).

Retrieval query for adoption center

We recommend you allow the office between two and three weeks to answer your letter. If you still have not heard from them by then, call and ask them how your case is developing.

If they agree to help you, we recommend you ask about the status of the search after 3 months in each case (if the last known address is more than 10 years old, it can actually take longer.)

It is possible that the adoption document of the person you are looking for no longer exists or that other obstacles appear that the adoption center is unable to handle. In that case, we can step in and help out with the search, and work together with the adoption center personnel in the preparatory work.

If you get a negative answer, please contact us again; even if you have the impression that the search is not handled effectively by the adoption center or if the center simply cannot find the person you are looking for.

We have prepared a "processing slip" for your search.

Processing slip

New search

Home

What was the name of the biological mother at the time of the adoption?

First Name reliable

Family Name reliable

Name at birth reliable

In Germany the federal labour association of the national youth welfare offices explicitly recommends the adoption centers to support adopted adults who are searching for their origins. Some adoption centers, however, do not follow this recommendation, others are unable to, partly because of shortage of personnel. The adoption centers are not obliged to look for biological families. The possibility still exists, however, that your biological mother can be found by an adoption center, free of charge.

I would first like to let the adoption center search.
I would like you to do the search for me.

You should turn to your local city council and ask for the department of youth welfare. There you will either find an adoption center or you will be told where you can find the nearest one. We have prepared a sample letter for your written inquiry here.

Retrieval query to adoption center

We recommend you allow the office between two and three weeks to answer your letter. If you still have not heard from them by then, please call and ask them how your case is developing.

If they agree to help you, we recommend you ask about the status of the search after 3 months in each case (if the last known address is more than 10 years old, it can actually take longer.)

We have prepared a "processing slip" for your search.

Processing slip

When were you born? (Date of birth)

Geburtstag

. .

Where were you born?

plz

Ort

Bezirk

Land

Do you know where your Adoption Documents are?

It would be helpful to initiate contact if you had a look at your adoption documents. You can request to see the documents, if they still exist, at your local youth welfare office. Usually adoption documents are nullified 30 years after the adopted person has reached legal majority. You can also ask us to search for the documents. This costs 50 € regardless of whether the documents can be found.

I will request the documents myself and inform you about the whereabouts of these documents in order to initiate contact.

I would like you to look for the documents for me, in order to initiate contact, and to, with my consent, set up a meeting in my local youth welfare office that I will be able to attend. I understand that this service will cost me 50 € extra.

Adoption document search is not applicable.

Do you have information of the mother after she gave birth? yes no

If our questionnaire is not applicable to your search or if you have individual questions, please make contact with us

international tracing service

Issue of Request

You are looking for:

Retrieval query for adoption center

Processing slip

New search

Home

Retrieval query to adoption center

Processing slip