I was adopted at close to 2 years of age, from an orphanage in Poland, by U.S. citizens (my new parents). I was born in Warsaw, but have been living in the United States for close to 30 years now. I am trying to find my biological parents / family members.
I do have my birth certificate and the names of my biological parents. I am trying to locate anyone in Poland, with the name Wielgolewski......hoping that they might be able to aid me in my search.
I also would very much appreciate, any advice or commentary, anybody might be able to offer, regarding my search. -Thank You oprysk@hotmail
w, A couple of thoughts: I would've thought that the best place to look would be your place of birth. It must be on the certificate along with other vital details.
Be careful. Your folks may not want to be found. What do you know about your parents? Can your adoptive parents tell you anything ? Do you know where to find copies of the legal papers and documents your birth mother signed. Was your birth mother married to your father ? It might make a difference. Do you have any brothers or sisters that you know about ?
You can contact the orphanage in Warsaw, they keep all that information on file. Most likely your parents still live in Warsaw or surrounding area. But you never know.
The orphanage I was living at, burned to the ground. I was reading some old letters my adoptive parents received, some years later, from OLD FRIENDS, back in Poland. These OLD FRIENDS are also deceased.
My adoptive parents are also deceased. All I really have to go on, is my serial number on my birth certificate, my birth name, my parents names. I do not have my biological mother's maiden name. I do have a few pieces of legal paperwork, from the courts....includes case number and dates. Also the name of the orphange.
One document that I have, clearly indicates that my biological parents were married. A couple different people that speak Polish, have looked over the same document and indicated that it suggests that they were married. However, I was told that my biological father was already married.....to someone else. My aunt heard this, 30 years ago, from my adoptive mom.....when she arrived back from Poland. The people at the orphanage, told my mom this......but paperwork suggests something different.
Something I think is odd about my case: I was born in December of 1973 in Warsaw, Poland. Several weeks later, I am placed in the care of an orphange in Ciechanow, Poland. When I was adopted a year and a half later, in 1975.....according to court related documents, my biological mom had to show up in front of a judge and grant permission, for my adoptive mom to receive custody of me.
I don't know why she would still be IN THE PICTURE, a year and a half later. Does this make sense ? I also have a sister (not biologically related), that was adopted at the same time. Her mother gave her up for adoption within days of birth. There is no mention of her showing up when we were adopted, to sign legal paperwork.
I am considering hiring an agency or firm that assists people doing genealogical work, related to family in Poland. I have identified a few (online). I located 2 here in the states, with a family members in Poland.....that do the legwork. I also have found a couple posts from people living in Poland, that assist with this type of service.
Mr Grzegorz, that was not nice, and also not true.
The attitude toward adoption varies from culture to culture, but still, that was uncalled for.
Here in the states, many Americans do want to adopt and many agencies are happy they do--there are always far too many children waiting --of all races, cultures and nationalities, many Polish and eastern European, by the way--to be adopted, than there are loving, adoptive parents.
I don't know specifically the situation in Poland. But in this particular case, it sounds as if the Polish mother cared enough to show up to sever her legal ties to the child, so that the child could then be legally be adopted by someone else, rather than letting them languish forever in the orphanage. She didn't just disappear.
I am not adopted nor do I know anyone who was, but I read what you said and it just absolutely infuriated me.
Since you don't know why the children were put up for adoption in the first place, it would best if you refrained from slandering the parents for choosing to care enough to see to it that they had a decent chance at a good life, by ensuring they were taken to an orphanage, rather than just put out on the streets. There were other alternatives, that were not even that good, I am sure.
In this case, I think it's best that "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all".
On Polish genealogical website there is a lot of information concerning your search. Unfortunately everything is in Polish. However they advise to write to this orphanage in Ciechanów. Here below you've got the address.
Ciechanów 06-400, ul. Rzeczkowska 11, tel. 022-72 30 37
And another very useful address. In Poland there is something like Central Address Office where there are addresses of all people living in Poland. However before they give you someone's address this person will be asked if she/he agrees to give you her/his address. You have to give this person's full name and her estimated year of birth.
Centralne Biuro Adresowe, ul. Kazimierzowska 60, 02-543 Warszawa
I will look to see if this orphange in Ciechanow, matches the one I was at. Even if this isn't the same orphange, they might know something about the place I was staying.
I had heard something about a Central Address Office. Thanks for passing along this info also.
