The proper court for adoption proceeding records in Missouri for 1917 and later years would be the Circuit Court, Juvenile Division. The petitioner has the choice of starting proceedings at the residence of the petitioner or the residence of the child. Legal adoptions before 1917 were handled through the Office of the Recorder of Deeds in the county of residence of the child.

Prior to 1853 some adoptions were made by legislative act. A reference specialist at the Society will check the personal act list in An Index to the Statute Laws of Missouri, by Garland, if given the information that the adoption occurred before 1853.

In Missouri, adoptees may examine their own records only when they are of legal age and the records are opened by court order. The courts are extremely reluctant to open records, even under very compelling circumstances, and have ruled repeatedly in favor of confidentiality for birth parents. The North American Adoption Congress, with chapters in all 50 states, is an organization working for the passage of more liberal adoption laws. For information concerning legislation on adoption in Missouri, write to the State Department of Health and Public Welfare, Division of Welfare, Broadway State Office Building, Jefferson City, MO 65101, or visit Tina's Missouri Adoption Page.

Living adoptees searching for their true identity can use the Adoption Information Registry, a service of the Missouri Department of Social Services, and/or join one or more of the following organizations in Missouri which offer information, support and advice, but do not do research. These organizations are not interested in assisting persons with genealogical problems dating back to adoptions in earlier generations; their purpose is to help the living adoptee.

Kansas City Adult Adoptees Organization
P. O. Box 15225
Kansas City, MO 64106

Connecting Adoptees Through Research & Education
P. O. Box 30252
Kansas City, MO 64112

NATIONAL GROUPS WITH REGISTRIES FOR BOTH ADOPTEES AND BIRTH PARENTS:

Adoptee Searchers, Inc., Info packet $4.00 from:
Virginia Long
P. O. Box 803
Chesterfield, Missouri, 63006-0803
Phone (800) 434-0020 or  (314) 426-0020

National Adoption Registry
6800 Elmwood Avenue
Kansas City, Missouri, 64132
Toll free: (800) 875-4347, or (816) 361-1627

Adoptees Liberty Movement Association
P.O.Box 727, Radio City Station
New York, NY 10101-0727
Phone (212) 581-1568

Adoption Circle
401 East 74th Street
New York, New York 10021
Phone (212) 998-0110

Adoption Connection
11 Peabody Square
Peabody, Massachusetts, 01960
Phone (617) 532-1261

American Adoption Congress
P.O. Box 42730
Washington, DC 20015
Phone (202) 483-3399

Post Adoption Center for Education and Research (P.A.C.E.R)
2255 Ygnucio Valley Road
Walnut Creek, California, 94598
Phone (415) 930-6680

Professional Adoption Search Team
P. O. Box 24095
San Jose, California, 95154-4095
Phone (408) 978-5430

Truth Seeker in Adoption
P. O. Box 366
Prospect Heights, Illinois, 60070-0366
Phone (312) 625-4476

Yesterday’s Children
P. O. Box 1554
Evanston, Illinois, 60204
Phone (312) 545-6900

Willows Graduates Adopted
P. O. Box 52621
Tulsa, Oklahoma, 74152

Concerned United Birth Parents, Inc.
P. O. Box 573
Milford, Massachusetts, 01757.

International Soundex Reunion Registry
Box 2312
Carson City, Nevada, 89702
Phone (702) 882-7755

Orphan Voyage
2141 Road 2300
Cedaredge, Colorado, 81413

J. E. Carlson & Associates
P. O. Box 22611
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 33335
Hotline, (305) 370-7100

Nationwide Locator
P. O. Box 39903
San Antonio, Texas, 78218

The Salvation Army has a missing person location service. Write to the headquarters nearest you at P. O. Box C635, West Nyack, New York, 10994; 1424 NE Expressway, Atlanta, Georgia, 30329; 30840 Hawthorne Blvd., Palos Verdes, California, 90274; or 10 W. Algonquin, Des Plains, Illinois, 60016.

For helpful books on conducting adoption research, contact your local bookstore for a search of Books in Print--Subject Guide, R. R. Bowker Company, NY, NY. This source will list books currently available for purchase under the heading "Adoptee--Indentification."

Since 1865, any resident of Missouri desiring to change his or her name legally, petitions the Circuit Court. If permission is granted, the change must be published according to a specified form, in the legal advertising section of three issues of a local newspaper.

ORPHAN TRAIN ADOPTIONS

During the years 1854-1929, the Children's Aid Society of New York sent approximately 100,000 children from the streets of New York to find new homes with families in the Midwest. Many of these children were adopted by their new families. Adults, who came as children on the "Orphan Trains," or who had parents or grandparents who did, and who are now seeking to locate lost families, might wish to contact one or more of the following:

• Southwest Missouri Adult Adoptee Association

  Route 2, Oak Crest Estates
  Rogersville, MO 65742
  (This association is compiling information on the 6,000 children who came on Orphan Trains and were left with families in Missouri.)

• Missouri Folklore Society

  P. O. Box 1757
  Columbia, MO 65205-1757
  (This Society is collecting information on the Orphan Train in order to preserve the folklore and history relating to them.)

• Orphan Train Heritage Society of America, Inc. and National Orphan Train Complex

  P.O. Box 322
  Concordia, Kansas 66901
  Telephone/Fax: (785) 243-4471
  http://www.orphantrainriders.com/index.html
  (This Society publishes a newsletter, Crossroads, and book, Orphan Train Riders: Their Own Stories.)