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I am Katherine Knott and I was
adopted. I was adopted by a family who then adopted 5
other children (all of us from different families)....the 1st
4 of us were adopted through The Children's Home Society in
Miami and the last of us were adopted through "private
adoptions" Helen Tanos Hope handled 1 of those
adoptions.....All her life my adopted sister Juli was curious
about herself and her birth family..Juli was never a complete
person and she had always wanted to know who she was.
Juli was lucky she had a copy of her final adoption decree and
in it her "birth" last name was on it. Her
last name was so rare that she was able to put together the
non-identifying info she got from Tallahasse with the name and
was able to find her birth family. The reunion was and
has been a great success and my sister is now able to better
understand herself and her heritage.
I however will never be that lucky
unless my real birth certificate is released. I was
adopted through The Children's Home Society. Yes they
will release my non identifying info but not for free like the
state of florida will but for $135. This supposedly
justifies the time it will take for someone to track down my
file and zerox the info to be sent to me. I have seen my
final adoption decree on microfiche at the Miami-Dade Court
House but of course all the names except the names of my
adoptive parents are blacked out. The only access I
wouuld have to the real names would be to go before a judge
and request the file be opened and the information released to
me.
I find it unfair that in a state
that had sooooooooo many illegal adoption throughout the years
before 1963 (i.e. The Cole Babies) that grown adoptees still
find it so hard to get information on their "blood or
birth" families. I too have been curious about
myself. I too want to know who I am and how I came to
be. I wish not to condemn my birth mother but to
commend her for a choice which I'm sure was hard but was the
right thing to do. She chose not to abort me, she chose
to give me a chance that she might not have been able to give
me. She made a life altering decision that was good.
I in no way disrespect my adoptive father. I love him
and am glad he and my now passed adoptive mother
"chose" me. I just want to know who I am.
Where did I get my freckles from? Where did I get my
musical abilities from? Unfortunately I may never know
if I am unable to get any access to my records.
I was born 7/25/1964 probably at
Mt Sinai Hospital, as i was born in Miami Beach, and given up
for adoption and placed with a good family in Miami through
The Children's Home Society. I even know my real
mother's name might be Carol. This is all I know
about "the real me"
I beg you please, help those of us
who are adult adoptees, those of us who are old enough to
understand the circumstances of our births, find answers and
peace in our search for ourselves.
Thank you,
Katherine B Knott
Female adoptee , 39 years old and
ISO birth family.
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