Please note: This page is for members of WikiTree who were adopted. If you need information for nonliving relatives who were adopted or historical adoption cases, please see this help page: Historical Adoption.
Contents |
What Name Should I Use?
There are several choices you could go with when adding your name to your personal profile. It partly depends on whether you know your name at birth or not. It also depends what you want others to see when they come to your profile. All of the following options are acceptable options:
- LNAB=Last Name at Birth
- CLN=Current Last Name
- OLN=Other Last Names
- Use your adopted last name as your LNAB
- Use your known birth last name as your LNAB
- Use your known birth last name as your LNAB and put your adopted last name in the CLN
- Use the word Unknown as your LNAB until you find your birth parents. Then change the LNAB to your known birth name. Use your Adopted last name or married last name as CLN.
- For married people you can add your married last name in the CLN or OLN name field if you wish.
What Privacy Level Should I Use?
This depends on how much you want others to see about you. Do you want to add items to your biography such as the Adoptee Template that others can see? Do you have DNA information to share? Please see the Help Page for Privacy for more information on privacy levels and what they do/do not show.
You can also click the "profile (public view)" tab on your personal profile to see what others are able to view on your profile.
To change your privacy level, click the privacy tab on your profile. Be sure to click save after making a change.
Lower Privacy Level
Yellow is the lowest privacy level for WikiTree members (Private with Public Biography and Family Tree). Many WikiTree members have this level. See Emma MacBeath for an example of what yellow privacy shows.
- Biography is viewable
- Family tree is viewable
- DNA test information is viewable
- Preferred given name and surname is viewable
If you want these things to be viewable, but want a little more privacy, you can leave the exact birth date (use just the year) and birth place off of your personal information. You can also use a first initial instead of your full first name.
Even at this lower privacy level, any profiles attached to yours that are at a higher privacy level will show only as some form of: "Private Son 1990s-unknown"
Mid Privacy Level
Peach and Orange are mid privacy levels. These are very similar to each other, but different items are publicly viewable for each level as follows:
Peach ("Private with Public Family Tree")
- DNA test information is viewable
- Biography is not viewable
- Family Tree is viewable
- Preferred given name and surname is viewable
Orange ("Private with Public Biography")
- DNA test information is not viewable
- Biography is viewable
- Family Tree is not viewable
- Preferred given name and surname is viewable
High Privacy Level
Red is the highest privacy level ("Private"). The only thing that will show on this privacy level is an abbreviated version of your name and birth year (such as 1990s). Public comment posts will also be viewable.
- Choose the privacy level that you are most comfortable with. However, keep in mind, if you would like help from others, they will need to be able to see certain portions of your profile such as your name, DNA test information and possibly your biography. You can change your privacy level at any time.
How to Add DNA Test Information
- Go to the Add+ tab at the top of your screen and choose DNA Test Information. Then use the drop down menu to choose the test you took. Enter the test information asked for in the boxes. You will need to repeat this for each separate test. (Note: No Raw DNA is uploaded or stored at WikiTree. DNA test information is used as a comparison tool only).
- Be sure to enter your Gedmatch number for at least one test. If you have not uploaded your Raw DNA to Gedmatch it is highly, highly recommended you do so. Please see DNA Basics for Adoptees for information on how and why you should use Gedmatch. It is a free website.
What Should I Add to My Biography?
This is completely up to you. Do you want to add public information that could help in your search? Do you want to remain private and search without others knowing?
If you wish to add viewable information, it is recommended you use the Adopted Child template mentioned above as a starting point.
Feel free to add basic information about your birth and/or adoption story that may aid in your search as well as information about your adopted family. However, keep in mind that giving exact information such as your birth date and location can put you at risk for identity theft.
What if I Want to Have a Biological Family Tree AND an Adopted Family Tree?
You can do this! And here is how it can be done:
- First, you must have family members to add to both trees.
- Before proceeding, decide whether you want your main profile page to represent your biological family or your adopted family. This is your choice. However, if you choose your adopted family, be aware that when others compare relationships with you using the Relationship Finder, they will receive false information. You also need to be clear in your biography which family is represented on your main profile.
- It is useful to add the Adopted Child Template to your biography to name both your biological family and your adopted family and to use as a link to the separate tree.
- Create a second profile for yourself. This is usually not allowed, but an exception is made for adoptees creating two separate trees. There are three ways to create a duplicate profile.
- Go to the Add+ tab at the top of your screen and click on New Person. Create a profile of yourself using the name not currently on your main profile (if your main profile uses your biological birth name as the Last Name at Birth, create the new profile using your adopted name). This type of profile is NOT an active user profile. Make sure to mark the death date as "about/uncertain but non-living" or your profile will not be visible to anyone but you.
- Use the same instructions for the above, but when creating the profile, add an email address in that field. This will need to be a second email address since you cannot have two profiles using the same email address. You will be sending yourself an invitation to manage the profile. Once you have accepted, you will need to sign the honor code in order to begin adding family. This profile will be an active user.
- A Final method is to create a second profile from scratch. Again, you must register using a different email address and a different name. With this method, you will need to go through the volunteer process again (add tags and upgrade your membership) before you can begin adding family. This profile will be an active user, however you must choose which of your two accounts will be the one you always work from. You can't work from two different accounts on WikiTree. This is against the terms of service.
Regardless of which method you choose you need to do a couple of things so others know you are an adoptee with a second profile.
- Add links on your main profile and your second profile linking them to each other. This is done by using the Wiki ID link brackets: [[WikiTree ID|Name]]. You can also add the same type of links using the Adopted Child template, but this links to the parents rather than your personal profile.
- Be transparent and state your purpose for having a second profile. A sentence or two is all you need. You can add your link to the other profile in this explanation.
- Created a rejected match between your main profile and your second profile to prevent future merge proposals. This can be done by going to the bottom right of one profile and clicking on the Reject a Match link.
My Profile is Ready. What's Next?
- Read the The Basic Search Help Page written for adoptees to make sure you have completed all the steps needed to increase success in your search.
- Complete an Adoption Angel Request form if you are looking for help with your search.
- Read about DNA Basics for Adoptees
