Adoptee Searching Just Discovered Italian Ancestry

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nolnacsj
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Adoptee Searching Just Discovered Italian Ancestry

Post by nolnacsj »

Since it is almost my birthday, I felt compelled to post here. I am not sure how this site can help me as I am an adoptee, but I wanted to try. I was born October 1, 1956 in Binghamton, NY. My birth name was CECELIA. I do know my birth father's ethnic background is Italian and my DNA test results show that I am as much as 50% Italian, so I want to learn more about the Italian culture.

I will turn 54 this Friday, and until 2 years ago, I didn't even know that I was part Italian. I am pleased to discover this, and hungry for more information about this part of my heritage. I am also hoping that somewhere on this site, a birth family member may see my information and recognize me. A long shot I know, but I am trying everything I can to learn more about my birth family.

Thank you for reading my post!

Judy
(born 10-01-1956 Binghamton, NY)
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Re: Adoptee Searching Just Discovered Italian Ancestry

Post by Squigy »

nolnacsj wrote:Since it is almost my birthday, I felt compelled to post here. I am not sure how this site can help me as I am an adoptee, but I wanted to try. I was born October 1, 1956 in Binghamton, NY. My birth name was CECELIA. I do know my birth father's ethnic background is Italian and my DNA test results show that I am as much as 50% Italian, so I want to learn more about the Italian culture.

I will turn 54 this Friday, and until 2 years ago, I didn't even know that I was part Italian. I am pleased to discover this, and hungry for more information about this part of my heritage. I am also hoping that somewhere on this site, a birth family member may see my information and recognize me. A long shot I know, but I am trying everything I can to learn more about my birth family.

Thank you for reading my post!

Judy
(born 10-01-1956 Binghamton, NY)
Hi, Judy (Happy Birthday!).

Might I ask, do you know your birth father's given name? Without it, I doubt we can be of any help to your genealogy.

Also, if I may add (and this is only my opinion, which means nothing) it's difficult to connect to a new ethnic background at 54. What ethnicity were you raised with? If you do some research on Italian history and culture, you'll probably find you're not as comfortable with it as you are with the culture of the family that raised you.
My Italian surnames:

Caserta: Maietta, Rossano, Tessitore, Negro, Peluso, Musone

Campobasso: D'Andrea, Barile

Catanzaro: Fiorelli/Fiorillo, Romito
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Re: Adoptee Searching Just Discovered Italian Ancestry

Post by Italysearcher »

Since you were born in New York and not in Italy it MAY be possible to find your birth family. If you had been abandoned in Italy it would not even be a possibility.
Good luck with your search and Happy Birthday.
Ann Tatangelo
http://angelresearch.net
Dual citizenship assistance, and document acquisition, on-site genealogical research in Lazio, Molise, Latina and Cosenza. Land record searches and succession.
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Re: Adoptee Searching Just Discovered Italian Ancestry

Post by Eleven »

I dont think it would be difficult for her to connect. I will bet you shes been eating "our" food all of her life. Now, its "her" food, too. Also, you would be surprised as to how many people already know about our traditions, etc. After all..there are only two kinds of people in this world. Those who are Italian and those who wannabe...lol
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Re: Adoptee Searching Just Discovered Italian Ancestry

Post by tinagrenier »

Italysearcher wrote: If you had been abandoned in Italy it would not even be a possibility.
I am curious why you say it would not be a possibility to know your birth family if you were abandoned in Italy? Do you mean for babies that are abandoned in Italy today?

My grandmother's birth certificate listed her as "unknown" parents, but she was raised by her mother and father (who married each other later in life and officially recognized their three children).

Officially, my grandmother was of daughter of "no one" for most of her life. But of course she knew both of her parents, because she lived with them!

I have heard of many other situations with these illegitimate children who were "abandoned" on the record, but then raised by their own birth mothers. Of course, these were the days of our grandparents, the end of the 19th century. So I was surprised when I read what you wrote about it not being a possibility to know the parents of an abandoned child. Maybe things are different now?
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Re: Adoptee Searching Just Discovered Italian Ancestry

Post by Eleven »

I have heard similar stories, however, without the names on a document, its impossible to know who the parents are.

I have two great grandfathers who are parents unknown..I cant go beyond them, their line stops there.
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Re: Adoptee Searching Just Discovered Italian Ancestry

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[quote="Eleven"]I have heard similar stories, however, without the names on a document, its impossible to know who the parents are.

I have two great grandfathers who are parents unknown..I cant go beyond them, their line stops there.[/quote]

Yes, when the parents aren't listed and the child grows up with no knowledge of their identity I understand it may be impossible to know who the parents were.

But there were many other situations where the parents aren't listed on the document and the child was raised by their own mother. If you read my previous post you will see that my grandmother was listed as a daughter of unknown parents on her birth act but she was raised by both of them together. Her parents finally married later in life and officially recognized their three children. It is included on their marriage record. By that time my grandmother was married with children of her own.

So its not always true that its impossible to know the parents if they aren't written on the birth document. And my mother always said everyone knew who the mothers of all the little orphan babies were in her little hometown anyway :wink:
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Re: Adoptee Searching Just Discovered Italian Ancestry

Post by Squigy »

Eleven wrote:I dont think it would be difficult for her to connect. I will bet you shes been eating "our" food all of her life. Now, its "her" food, too. Also, you would be surprised as to how many people already know about our traditions, etc. After all..there are only two kinds of people in this world. Those who are Italian and those who wannabe...lol
A lot of people are interested in Italian culture, but see it as "foreign" as I'm guessing she did all her life. Finding out you're genetically Italian after not even having one of the most important parts of Italian culture, an Italian family, doesn't really make it you're ethnicity, and neither does the occasional trip to an Italian restaurant.
My Italian surnames:

Caserta: Maietta, Rossano, Tessitore, Negro, Peluso, Musone

Campobasso: D'Andrea, Barile

Catanzaro: Fiorelli/Fiorillo, Romito
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Re: Adoptee Searching Just Discovered Italian Ancestry

Post by Eleven »

Yes, I understood you, Tina. But, in your case, it is on some record, someplace. And at least the story was passed down. I would be happy with a passed down story. But, in most cases, you hit a brick wall, when you know nothing but parents unknown.

One of these great grandfathers of mine (actually he is my great, great grandfather,) used a variation of three surnames, one of them being esposito. His 6 children, all have different variations of these three names, hypenated. Some records have all 3.

While I have uncovered many things..there is no way, that I can think of, to figure out where these other two surnames came from.

Ancestry just got more recent records of the town. I had done this branch of the family 17 years ago, with a relative..filling in the blanks to get me back far enough to use the FHL records. Ancestry now had the records, that I was given the information for. I am hoping that maybe, using those records, I can uncover something.

Squigy, if I wasnt italian and woke up one day and found out that I was..I would be thrilled to death. Sure she missed out on what we all grew up with, but you can see she wants to embrace her newly found italian heritage and theres nothing wrong with that.
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Re: Adoptee Searching Just Discovered Italian Ancestry

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Eleven wrote:Squigy, if I wasnt italian and woke up one day and found out that I was..I would be thrilled to death. Sure she missed out on what we all grew up with, but you can see she wants to embrace her newly found italian heritage and theres nothing wrong with that.
Agreed. Sure is a lot more interesting than being a WASP! Also, I came from a town that's 28% Italian and the saying "There are two kinds of people, Italians and those who want to be Italians" was used a lot there. A tad arrogant, but true :lol: .

But anyway, my point was, yes she can embrace it, but I doubt she will have the connection to it that she does the ethnicity she was raised with.

By the way, I too have a foundling ancestor, and am trying to find her birth parents.

As for your case, is it possible that, one surname was that the town official gave to him, another was that of his "adopted" family, and the third was that of his birth family?
My Italian surnames:

Caserta: Maietta, Rossano, Tessitore, Negro, Peluso, Musone

Campobasso: D'Andrea, Barile

Catanzaro: Fiorelli/Fiorillo, Romito
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Post by Eleven »

One is esposito. Thats the name this particular town used for all foundlings. I noticed a few others there. They then had another name hyphenated. His was Cordaro. I dont know who cordaro is. But, there arent all that many of them..so when I finish getting the dates for my other ppl there, I am going to look for them all, to see if I can figure this out.

The third name is the italian word for ink. There is nobody else in this town with that name as a single surname. I wondered if it could been added on some time later and it pertained to his job?

In my computer program, I have him only with the esposito name which is probably what appears on his birth record (which I would have to go check, I have the hard copy of that from FHL films).

Once I finish with these records, I can sit down and try to figure out when these other names turned up.

Another thing is, most people in this town seemed to use the italian naming tradition. I am not sure he did because there is no child named for his wifes father (unless I missed him when looking for his children). However, the name Francesco seems to be important. Its the name of his first child, who died 2 years later, so they named the second child francesco. There is one other girl born before the child with his mother in laws name..and that was maria. I guess I can look for 2 people with those names.

I am amazed that the entire country did this...gave them a name and allowed the parents or mother to remain anonymous. I dont think that was done in the USA and I dont know about anywhere else.
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Re: Adoptee Searching Just Discovered Italian Ancestry

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Eleven wrote:Yes, I understood you, Tina. But, in your case, it is on some record, someplace. And at least the story was passed down. I would be happy with a passed down story. But, in most cases, you hit a brick wall, when you know nothing but parents unknown.

One of these great grandfathers of mine (actually he is my great, great grandfather,) used a variation of three surnames, one of them being esposito. His 6 children, all have different variations of these three names, hypenated. Some records have all 3.

While I have uncovered many things..there is no way, that I can think of, to figure out where these other two surnames came from.

Ancestry just got more recent records of the town. I had done this branch of the family 17 years ago, with a relative..filling in the blanks to get me back far enough to use the FHL records. Ancestry now had the records, that I was given the information for. I am hoping that maybe, using those records, I can uncover something.

Squigy, if I wasnt italian and woke up one day and found out that I was..I would be thrilled to death. Sure she missed out on what we all grew up with, but you can see she wants to embrace her newly found italian heritage and theres nothing wrong with that.
Eleven, thank you for understanding my interest in learning about my Italian roots. It is a culture I have always been drawn to. That is probably why I chose to live in the North End when I worked in Boston, but I didn't know why at the time. I only learned that my birth father is Italian a few years ago. Finding him or any birth family on his side will be almost impossible because I do not have a surname. I have had my DNA tested with Family Tree DNA "Family Finder", and I do have a 5th cousin match who is Italian, and she is a member here. She has been very helpful to me.

I was born in 1956 in Binghamton, NY. I know the answers may lie in that area but all I know is that my birth father was 28 when I was born, and my birth mother was 19. Her last name is Jones (if the name is real and not an alias), which is like looking for a needle in a haystack. My birth name was Cecelia and I have often wondered if I was named after someone in my birth father's family. Anyway, I thank you and others here for welcoming me.
Female Adoptee Born 1956, Binghamton, NY
Birth Name : Cecelia
Paternal: ALERIO (USA-PA and NY and Italy)

You can find me and hundreds of other NY adoptees and birth family searching at: http://www.nyadoptees@yahoo.com and DNAadoption.com
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Re: Adoptee Searching Just Discovered Italian Ancestry

Post by italina »

Judy,

Not sure if you are coming back to check this thread or not. I too am an adoptee. I am 100% Italian but was raised in a 100% Irish family. I have always loved Italian culture and feel it is my one and only true culture, I'm Italian, period! Only adopted people know what it's like to be adopted. It's like growing up in the witness protection program. A baby is not a blank slate that can have a new identity drawn upon it. There is a lot to be said for DNA and I think nature is a more powerful influence than nuture.

I'm lucky that I was able to get my birth parents names, I've met my birth mother and her whole big Italian family and I have been tracing my ancestors on both sides. There are ways of finding out. First, if your comfortable with it and they are still alive ask your adoptive parents for all the info they have. Second, get in touch with the agency that handled your adoption and request your "Non-ID" that is a narrative description of your birth family in will be full of clues. Third, register on a website called "I.S.R.R.: The International Soundex Reunion Registry", you may luck out and find someone is looking for you. I see that you belong to a search group out of NY and I'm sure there are some knowledgeable people there helping you.

It looks like you know your birth mother's name I would start with that and search for her. Since you have a name and approximate age start combing through birth certificates at vital records and high school yearbooks at the library. If you aren't near these places, Yahoo has a group called Souring Angles that will help you.

I wish you the best of luck in your search and hope you find your truth.

PM me if you want to. There are a lot of resources out there for search help and support.
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Re: Adoptee Searching Just Discovered Italian Ancestry

Post by nolnacsj »

italina wrote:Judy,

Not sure if you are coming back to check this thread or not. I too am an adoptee. I am 100% Italian but was raised in a 100% Irish family. I have always loved Italian culture and feel it is my one and only true culture, I'm Italian, period! Only adopted people know what it's like to be adopted. It's like growing up in the witness protection program. A baby is not a blank slate that can have a new identity drawn upon it. There is a lot to be said for DNA and I think nature is a more powerful influence than nuture.

I'm lucky that I was able to get my birth parents names, I've met my birth mother and her whole big Italian family and I have been tracing my ancestors on both sides. There are ways of finding out. First, if your comfortable with it and they are still alive ask your adoptive parents for all the info they have. Second, get in touch with the agency that handled your adoption and request your "Non-ID" that is a narrative description of your birth family in will be full of clues. Third, register on a website called "I.S.R.R.: The International Soundex Reunion Registry", you may luck out and find someone is looking for you. I see that you belong to a search group out of NY and I'm sure there are some knowledgeable people there helping you.

It looks like you know your birth mother's name I would start with that and search for her. Since you have a name and approximate age start combing through birth certificates at vital records and high school yearbooks at the library. If you aren't near these places, Yahoo has a group called Souring Angles that will help you.

I wish you the best of luck in your search and hope you find your truth.

PM me if you want to. There are a lot of resources out there for search help and support.
Italina, thank you for your reply. I could not figure out how to contact you privately so I am posting my reply here. Briefly, I am already registered at ISRR.net and with NYS and I have received my non-ID. I think I have covered most of the search bases. I work with search angels now, some are on Soaring Angels. My adoptive father passed away in 1990, but my adoptive mom is 94 and supports my searching, and she gave me all the adoption papers which is how I learned my birth name and the name of my birth mother. Unlike you, I am not 100% Italian. Only my birth father is of Italian ancestry. My birth mother is listed on my non-ID as Irish and Dutch. I have had my DNA tested and it confirms my Southern European (most likely Tuscan) ancestry to be at least 50%. Sadly I do not have the name of my birth father or I would probably not be typing this email! What is worse, my birth mother's name is supposedly Marie Jones. Try finding that in the USA! So all I know about my birth father is that he was 28 years old in 1956, he was a high school graduate, and his "ethnic background" is Italian. From what I have learned through my research, there were a lot of Italians in the Binghamton and neighboring Johnson City, NY area back then. My birth father was not named in my records (according to NYS) so he may not even know I exist. I fear that unless I can find my birth mother, and if I do, she is willing to give me his name, I may never learn about my birth father and my partial Italian heritage.

My adoption was "private", no agency involved. The law firm is no longer in business. My adoptive mother and I tried to request the files from the firm who took over the practice and they said those old records were destroyed. The lawyer is deceased, so is the judge and anyone else associated with my adoption except my adoptive mom (who I adore). I have been through high school yearbooks and city directories galore.... so posting on this wonderful genealogy site was just one more stone for me to try and turn over. My birth mother was 19 in 1956 so I have to wait a few more years for the 1940 US Federal Census to become publicly available.

I have had my DNA tested with Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) "Family Finder" who has customers from all over the world, and right now I have 31, 4th and 5th cousin matches. One is Italian and she and I have been communicating, I also found her surname (she is registered) here. The problem is that not many Italians have their DNA tested with FTDNA Family Finder, so more of my genetic matches are probably from my birth mother's side (Family Finder gives you matches from both your birth mother and birth fathers line). It is an amazing genealogical tool. Anyway, one Italian told me that one reason why fewer Italians get their DNA tested as part of their genealogical research, is because they think they already know most of the names in their entire family tree! So, let me tell anyone who has ever thought about doing the FTDNA FF test, you will be AMAZED at the number of previously unknown relative matches you will see, and they will be related to you! My adoptive mother also did the FTDNA FF test and she had over 60, 3rd, 4th and 5th cousin matches. Most names are new to her. FTDNA is running a holiday sale right now so you can Google FTDNA Family Finder and read about it if you wish. You will get the names and email addresses of you relative matches so you can communicate directly and compare genealogical information. Adoptees are now also using it to learn more about their family "roots", so it would sure help someone like me if there were more Italians in the database! Someday I hope a close FF match (e.g., full or 1/2 sibling, 1st cousin...) pops up.

Finally, I just watched a wonderful documentary on PBS WORLD last night called "Adopted: For The Life of Me". It is highly recommend for anyone.

Sorry to ramble on so.... You or anyone else are welcome to contact me privately at: nolnacsj@aol.com

Thank you for your reply, and congratulations on your discovery of your wonderful Italian birth family!

Judy
Female Adoptee Born 1956, Binghamton, NY
Birth Name : Cecelia
Paternal: ALERIO (USA-PA and NY and Italy)

You can find me and hundreds of other NY adoptees and birth family searching at: http://www.nyadoptees@yahoo.com and DNAadoption.com
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Re: Adoptee Searching Just Discovered Italian Ancestry

Post by nolnacsj »

It has been over a year since I last posted. Thought I would update just in case. I now have a predicted 5th cousin DNA match with a person with the Italian surname COSTIGLIOLA, after having my DNA tested with Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) "Family Finder". I am curious what region of Italy this surname is most commonly found.

In addition, I am helping another adoptee who was born in Italy in 1958 and adopted in the USA. His birth name is Massolino, and he was born in Benvento, Italy. Is this a common surname in Italy? Supposedly he was dropped off at a convent there when he was a baby, at least that is what he was told.

Any advice is appreciated.

Happy New Year!

Judy
Female Adoptee Born 1956, Binghamton, NY
Birth Name : Cecelia
Paternal: ALERIO (USA-PA and NY and Italy)

You can find me and hundreds of other NY adoptees and birth family searching at: http://www.nyadoptees@yahoo.com and DNAadoption.com
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