Our GuestBlogger today is David Archuletta, the father of a wrongfully adopted son. His son was placed for adoption by his girlfriend; he was told that the baby was stillborn and not his. The child was his and now David is devoted to adoption reform in the U.S. He has published a book: "Odyssey of an Unknown Father: The Complete Book on Wrongful Adoption." To date he has yet to see his child.

David has a newly published novel: " Dying Swans Club / An Expose: A Rosie O'Donnell Funded Adoption Agency."  This novel explores the hidden reasons behind the closure of a Rosie O'Donnell funded Adoption Agency. "It is a story that reflects on the life of the author and a four year-old girl named Destiny. This child he considers the first victim of a wrongful adoption case."  This book is available for purchase here.

My name is Destiny Candelaria. I was born on September 24, 1997 in the Town of Pueblo, Colorado. This is where I lived until a few months after my fourth birthday. I have been with loving relatives ever since. Part of this story will explain why, but for now here is a just little of my past history:

I stand proud that part of my father's heritage includes American Navaho ancestry. I can feel it in this land and in my soul. This is the same dirt, “the people” [Navaho] once shared with the Ute and Comanche. Now we all stand united, forthright to cause, regardless if scattered by ruling winds.

Early on in my childhood I felt these same winds.It was a day in August of 2001 and my age just inside of four when I felt an upcoming storm of change. Its direction headed straight toward my upstart family. Sadly, being so young a “light tower” switched on by me would not aid us. In time, it had faded as a possible source of protection for a little brother – shortly thereafter the winds hit...

Patricia Dischler is the author of "Because I Loved You: A Birthmother's View of Open Adoption", a speaker, child care professional and birthmother. Read more from Patricia here.

Continued from here…

Both my girls love the fact that they have a brother. And Joe very much enjoys the role of big brother to them both. They know he's there for them, even though we only see each other once a year or so. But they talk often on the phone and by email, and it's always as if they just saw him the day before.

I am very thankful to Joe's parents for teaching me how honesty was the best path with the issue of siblings. My girls are very proud of their brother, and he treasures them as well. I know that as they become adults this is something they will share and have when they need family and I am gone. My girls share with their friends the fact that they have a brother, and they do it with such pride and simple honesty that it is not questioned or judged. Joe, I know, has done the same during his life.

Patricia Dischler is the author of "Because I Loved You: A Birthmother's View of Open Adoption", a speaker, child care professional and birthmother. Read more from Patricia here.

"You're picture is in his room," his Mother wrote. As usual, the questions I was too afraid to ask were the ones she sensed and answered before they were even asked. My son's adoptive mother wrote to me in her very first letter about how she had placed my photo in his room, and had placed the gifts I sent him home with from the hospital on a special shelf.

Each year, as the letters came, she told me of how they talked with Joe about me. In the beginning, it was simply telling him my name. As he grew, the questions became more detailed, and her answers followed. By the time he was five, I had married and had just had a baby girl, his sister. I sent them the photo, but without instructions. And the reply was as I knew it would be: "We put her picture next to yours in his room, Joe is very excited to have a baby sister!"

In my previous blog about birthmother* searches, I suggested asking yourself some hard questions before you begin a search for your adopted child's birthmother. Once you have decided to execute a search, you need someone to do it for you unless you are doing it yourself.

My experience is limited to searching for a birthmother in Guatemala, but some of this advice is relevant for completing a birthmother search anywhere – in the US or outside US borders.

1. Do not choose the first birthmother searcher you hear about. Get the names of several searchers and research their credentials.

 2. Ask for references from people who completed searches with the birthmother searcher and call them.

3. Find out how many searches the birthmother searchers have completed and how successful they have been.

4. Compare prices. Some birthmother searchers are more expensive than others; sometimes there are hidden costs. For example, searchers may have you pay a small price up front, but “al a carte” pricing for every additional service they provide. Some searchers quote a much higher price initially that is all inclusive: transportation, telephone calls, transcripts of information, photos, etc.