* Adoption entries

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MarionWoolgar
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Adoption entries

Post by MarionWoolgar »

I have three cases of adoption and in each case the event occurred post-1926. In all these cases, the adoption took place within the close family of the child concerned. I have located the advice in how_to:recording_children_with_foster_adoptive_parents|> Recording Children with Foster/Adoptive Parents=adoption and following this presents no problem with the first case because the child's Christian name and Surname were unchanged during the adoption process.

However, in the other two cases, the Christian names and surnames of both children did change during the adoption. If I follow the advice provided, the birth names of the child are retained and then when they marry, the entries in Family Historian v6 look really odd because the marriage takes place in their new, legal, adoptive names.

For example, if the child was male and his birth name was John Smith and his adoptive name was Andrew Brown, he would be married using his legal name of Andrew Brown. His FHv6 record would be in the surname of Smith, but his children would be entered with a surname of Brown, as per their birth/baptism records.

Can anyone suggest a way around this, please?

Marion Woolgar
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tatewise
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Re: Adoption entries

Post by tatewise »

That type of scenario where the birth name does not match legal documents crops up in many situations.
One of the most common is where a woman marries several times, so on the second and subsequent marriage certificates, her surname is that of her previous husband and not her birth surname.
Rarer cases apply where people change their name by deed poll, or adoption, etc.
See how_to:handle_people_with_multiple_names|> How to Handle People With Multiple Names.
By using the Alternate Name fields, both the Primary Birth Name and any Alternate AKA Names, such as the adoptive name in your cases, can appear in Diagrams and Reports, as well as the Property Box.
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AdrianBruce
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Re: Adoption entries

Post by AdrianBruce »

I think this is one occasion where there is a strong argument for the Primary Name to be the adopted name and the first Alternate Name to be the birth name. I'm assuming that there are only one or two events / attributes before the adoption - if so, then the great majority of events and attributes will align with the Primary Name and it's only the birth event (I presume) that isn't in the Primary Name - you can add notes to explain that.

I think that this is covered in the Knowledge Base article.

Unfortunately I can't see how to add a type (e.g. "Birth name" or "Stage name") nor a Date - the latter is basically down to the original GEDCOM having multiple names but not dates for those names - even now FamilySearch seem blind to the need for a date to be entered against different names.
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Re: Adoption entries

Post by tatewise »

Yes, the _|_ advice mentions the Birth Name technique, and also the Make Primary button to swap any chosen Alternate Name with the Primary Name.

The GEDCOM spec does not offer many Name features, but via the All tab you can add a Note and any Source Citation added to a Name will appear in the yellow Source Citations pane that offers an Entry Date and Notes, etc...
That is why the how_to:handle_people_with_multiple_names#customise_property_box|> Customise Property Box advice is so useful, as it provides a Name (2) box you can select that displays any Source Citation details.

In addition, a fact can be added with details of the Name, Date, Age, Place, Note, etc.
The standard Adoption event could be enhanced to include the Name: as an optional Note labelled meta-field as explained in how_to:narrative_report_fact_sentence_templates#custom_fact_fields|> Custom Fact Fields.
The standard Title attribute could be customised in various ways similar to those explained in how_to:recording_a_marriage_civil_partnership#recording_civil_partnerships|> Recording Civil Partnerships to customise the Marriage event.
The Extended Set has a Known As attribute fact and there is the fhugdownloads:contents:name_change_fact_set|> Fact Set ~ Name Changes.
Finally, you could create your own custom attribute fact to record the name change.

You may need to experiment with the above features and the types of Diagram and Report you prefer until you get the desired effect.
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MarionWoolgar
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Re: Adoption entries

Post by MarionWoolgar »

My thanks to Mike and Adrian for their very helpful comments.

I quite take the point that women change their surname on marriage and that means that their offspring are in the father's surname. that is expected and looks normal on a Chart. Therefore, if the adopted child is female, then their subsequent children will be expected to show their father's surname and the Chart looks quite normal. My problem concerns two male children who were adopted and that is where the problem arises.

I have already used the Alternate Name fields to make sure that the Birth names and adoptive names are entered. However, I haven't yet found a way in either the Alternate Name box nor in the Tools, Preferences, Diagrams box to show both the birth names and adoptive names on a Chart. Could you explain where this facility is to be found, please?

I have already used the Adoption Event to record the date of the adoption and I have also linked the child to both his birth and adoptive parents, but I haven't yet had time to follow Mike's advice on customising the Property Box.
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Re: Adoption entries

Post by tatewise »

In the Diagram > Options > Text tab most standard Text Schemes show Alternate Names as a.k.a. names.
e.g. Any of the Birth, Marr, Death ... schemes or Name, Dates ... schemes.
If you use Edit Text Scheme the standard Item is Name (a.k.a) Data.
There is also an Adoption Event you can add.
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MarionWoolgar
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Re: Adoption entries

Post by MarionWoolgar »

Thanks Mike, I have been able to find the facility now. I'm sorry that I haven't acknowledged your post before, but this is the first time I've been able to log into FHUG all week.
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Re: Adoption entries

Post by lesleyl »

Adding to the existing post, as it's a potentially relevant question ....

In a descendant chart, with "Spouse in own box", a spouse who is adopted will have a.k.a. [adopted name] if that's how you've indicated the adopted name and using the relevant text scheme. That's all fine...

BUT, if I use "One box per marriage" for the sake of a compact diagram, I don't get the a.k.a. [adopted name], which means the diagram is only telling half the story.

Is there any way that I can adjust the text for the single box so that the a.k.a. is included?
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Re: Adoption entries

Post by tatewise »

Yes, you need to adjust the Text Scheme.
In the Diagram > Options > Text tab use Clone... to create a custom copy of the current Text Scheme and select it.
Now Edit Text Scheme... then select Spouse Name if 'One Box per Marriage' on the right and Clone Line.
Edit the cloned copy, change its Description, add (a.k.a.) to the Template and also adjust the data reference by adding the looping index [2+] to the NAME field to loop on Alternate Names. ( That change is derived from the Name (a.k.a.) item. )
i.e.
Spouse (a.k.a.): %CUR~SPOU>NAME[2+]:FULL%

Finally, click OK several times
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lesleyl
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Re: Adoption entries

Post by lesleyl »

Thanks for this Mike

The result is in the top part of the image, which shows the Spouse repeated twice, which is obviously what that string gives:
Spouse: Alice Georgina Christian
Spouse: a.k.a. Alice Georgina Huggins

It would be nice if it was possible to suppress the second occurrence, but I understand that it may not be possible; when Alice is the focus there is obviously nothing before the a.k.a.
AKA_issues.jpg
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tatewise
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Re: Adoption entries

Post by tatewise »

Sorry, but I'm not entirely sure what circumstances you are describing and which a.k.a. you want to be suppressed.
However, try adjusting the Spouse a.k.a. item and tick Only output if previous item blank.
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lesleyl
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Re: Adoption entries

Post by lesleyl »

Sorry, I wasn't very clear ...
I don't want the a.k.a. to be suppressed, just the additional occurrence of the word Spouse. so Alice's box would say:
Horatio Thomas Barrett Lambourne
Born:
Marr:
Spouse: Alice Georgina Christian
a.k.a. Alice Georgina Huggins
Died:

I suspect that it isn't possible, in which case the solution you gave me previously is good.

Thanks again
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tatewise
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Re: Adoption entries

Post by tatewise »

Remove the word Spouse: from the Spouse a.k.a. item Template.
The text at the start of every Template is what gets displayed as the label in the box, so edit as desired.
Does that do what you want?
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Re: Adoption entries

Post by lesleyl »

That's brilliant Mike. Thanks, you're a star :)
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