The AncestryDNA test kit has been utilized. The donor of the DNA sample was adopted in New Jersey in 1936. Although the original birth certificate is not available, the court records are public. [A 1940 statute sealed future adoption records.] The documents are housed in the Essex County Hall of Records and are not indexed, but I had a date and adoptive parents' names to work with, so I found the correct papers easily.
I have the name of her mother, but no other identifying information, such as her age. I do not know if this is the mother's birth name or a married name. No father is mentioned. Even though I know the name of the person I am seeking, I cannot be sure that I found her.
The traditional paperwork research reveals that there were a few families using this last name or a variant in Essex County, New Jersey, and many more families of this name if the search is expanded to neighboring counties. The first name of the birth mother was popular in every branch, with most family units naming a baby girl this way, and many men marrying a woman of this name. The result was many eligible candidates with nobody alive today to confirm which one was the mother.
We shall see what the test tells us.
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