Introduction

Many people feel they are researching their family history, not just their genealogy, and foster/adoptive parents are just as important as blood line parents.

This article was prompted by the Forum thread Adoption problem​.

Nomenclature

Those outside an adoption situation often use “Natural” and “Adoptive” parents to describe the two sets of parents. This can cause offence for a number of reasons.

Within the UK “natural” often has suggestions of “illegitimate”. “The natural daughter of …” in a parish registerA register of Baptisms, Marriages, or Burials carried out in a church or its cemetery., means illegitimate daughter of … . Adopted children are not necessarily illegitimate.

Adoptive parents are often very apprehensive about their child tracing their birth parents worried that the child might get hurt and that they might be sidelined. This is particularly the case when genealogies are being researched and shared. Referring to birth parents as “natural” can imply that the adoptive parents are in some way “unnatural” which can be hurtful. “Real mother” is even more hurtful to a mother who has raised a child.

In general (within the UK) it is safer to refer to such parents as either “birth parents”, “biological parents” or “genetic parents”. Some but by no means all are tending to use “birth parents” to describe the names on the original birth certificateBirth Certificates are a formal record of the birth of a child, and typically include the date and place of birth together with information about the parents. and “genetic parents” to refer to those traced or confirmed via DNA analysis – they are not always the same and with the wider use of DNA analysis the difference can become important. Within the UK “birth parents” tends to be the officially used term to describe the pre-adoption parents.

In some countries however there is a feeling that “birth mother” is demeaning of the first mother indicating her only role was to give birth and the role ended at that point – when many first mothers feel that despite the child being adopted (possibly against their will) they remain “the mother”. In these cases there is a tendency to distinguish between the “parents” and the “adoptive parents”.

Details

Family Historian (ƒh) and GEDCOMGEDCOM, an acronym for GEnealogical Data COMmunication, is a specification for exchanging genealogical data between different genealogy software. It is a file format that most genealogical programs and online trees recognise. allow more than one set of Parents for a Child. The following scenario may not exactly match your family, but provides the necessary tips to record the details.

Natural Parents

The natural Mother is usually known, but the Father may not be known, so in the Property BoxThe Property Box is the primary window for data entry and for viewing details of stored records.  It is used with records of all types.   of the Mother add a Spouse even if their name is <unknown> and set the Status to Never married (or Unmarried couple) so that Reports do not say they were ‘married’ but just had a ‘relationship’. Otherwise, enter the usual Father’s Name and Marriage details, etc. In the same Property Box use Add Child to add their natural Child.

Foster/Adoptive Parents

The foster/adoptive parent Family couple are entered just like any other married couple, and may have their own natural Children. In either parent’s Property Box use Add Child to add their fostered or adopted Child. Click on the Rel. column and set the f=foster or a=adopted relationship.

Foster/Adoptive Child

Now navigate to the Property Box of the Child and on the All tab there will be two Parents family entries. Ensure the one linked to the natural parents is above the one linked to the foster/adoptive parents. If necessary select one and use the up/down buttons top right.

On the FactsFacts are one of the key concepts at the heart of Family Historian; they are how you record the things that happened to, or described, each ancestor (Individual). tab add the Adoption EventEvents are things that happened to an Individual and Attributes are things that described them. (there is no standard Foster Event) and enter the usual details, including SourceSource: "where information was found". This could be anything from an archive in a county records office, a book, or even a relative's recorded recollection. Citing your Sources helps to show how you reached a particular conclusion about an Individual. CitationsA link between a source and a fact, documenting Where within the source you find information being "cited" to support the fact/conclusion. if known. Alternatively, use a Residence fact to record the DatesWhen an Event happened, or an Attrribute was true. and Address"The address structure should be formed as it would appear on a mailing label…", according to GEDCOM; however, this is capable of a number of interpretations, and Address and Place are best considered together. where the child stayed with their foster parents.

(There is a little known, rarely used, and poorly supported feature of the Adoption Event that allows the foster/adoptive family to be linked. On the All tab, for the Adoption fact, there is a Parents family entry for this feature, but is best avoided.)

Reports & Diagrams

Now in Reports both sets of parents should be listed, and in Diagrams you will be asked to choose which set of parents to show as Ancestors.