My great grandmother was adopted back in 1909 in Nebraska. It was a closed adoption and she spent her whole life trying to find out who her birth parents were, but the people she talked to told her that there was enough money to keep the records sealed forever.

It's been 100 years now and my great grandmother has passed away. Is it possible to get the records unsealed now? I have her SS#, which I've heard is helpful. Do I need to hire an attorney?

Thanks for any help.

Unless there is a medical issue involved, it is doubtful you can have the records unsealed.

An attorney would probably be of help to you to make a decision on how long and hard you want to fight for this.

There might not BE accurate records. Depending on when and where your great-grandmother was born, they may have listed the adoptive parents as the parents on the birth certificate, and called it done. This especially became the case when a lot of money was involved. It was extraordinarily shameful to be an unwed mother at the time, and if your great-grandparents are as old as mine, it could ruin any prospects of a good marriage for a girl that got "caught". Basically what I'm saying is that if there was a lot of money involved---there probably are not adoption records. The child was probably given to hand-picked adoptive parents who then signed the birth certificate. The birthmother would never have even seen her child.

So--is it POSSIBLE to have those records opened? I don't know.

Is it probable you'll get an answer? Not really.

Let me also respond that 100 years ago many people were born at home and birth certificates were not issued under certain circumstances, therefore it may be impossible to find out the ancestry.

First I would be surprised if 100 year old records could even be found But if they were, I doubt also if you could get them released.