For many children adopted internationally, there is very little information known about their birth family and their birth history. Often times there is also very little information on the child's relinquishment or abandonment. It is very common for dates of birth and accurate ages to be known. For many adoptees, their past is a puzzle, with many pieces missing.

While the importance of knowing about one's birth family and early life is becoming more and more acknowledged and recognized in the adoption community, only a percentage of adoptive parents and adoption agencies are putting in the extra effort to get every piece of information available for the children that are being adopted.

The New York Times blog has a wonderful article today, November 6, in the Opinion section titled, "Finding Zhao Gu". The article was written by an adoptive father, who, along with his wife, have a daughter from China.

In the article, the father tells the story of following a tiny piece of information, and how with a little bit of persistence they were able to learn some priceless information about their daughter's history, and make a connection with someone in China, her homeland, who cared about her a great deal.

The article is beautifully written, and I think it shows how very much this adoptive father loves his daughter, and how while he claims her as his own and loves her as his daughter, he also respects and acknowledges the importance of the culture, country and people of her birth.

I think another lesson that can be learned from this article is how important every tiny piece of information is. A name, a date or a location can all be starting points to finding out more information. While many adoptive parents hold on to information they may have to give to their children when they are older, waiting that many years could prevent any more information from being found. People die, papers are lost, buildings are torn down and other things happen over time that can make following a "trail" a lot more difficult.

I have two children who may never know anything at all about their birth family or family history, so this article really touched me. I think it's a wonderful article for National Adoption Month and hope that there are more of this caliber to follow. Give it a read (and get a tissue).

Also, make sure you stop over at this post and participate in the giveaway for National Adoption Month. :)