ISRR in Dear Abby - Adoption Search and Reunion

Books on Search

I.S.R.R. featured in "Dear Abby"

Tuesday, August 26, 1997

DEAR ABBY:

Several years ago you published the address for the International
Soundex Reunion Registry (ISRR) in Carson City, Nev. Please print it again
and again.

When I was 17, I gave birth to a baby girl and put her up for
adoption. I had no choice about it. I wanted her to have a good life. I
always wanted to know my daughter and wanted her to know how much I loved
her, so when she reached 18, I registered with ISRR. I faced a lot of
criticism when I decided to let her find me.

Yesterday, she found me! It is the most wonderful, amazing thing
that has ever happened to me. I've waited 33 years to know her, and it was
well worth the wait. She's beautiful inside and out, articulate and a
college graduate. Never a nay went by that her parents didn't let her know
how loved she was.

When she walked in, she handed me a gift and said, "Happy Mother's
Day." I have no other children and have waited all my life to hear those
words. She had been searching for me since 1996 and had sent her
registration to ISRR last week. At 4:30 Tuesday afternoon they called her
and told her they had found her mother.

I'd like to offer a huge thank you to the Websters for taking such
good care of Laura Marie, and for guiding her and raising her. Her mother
died last July of lung cancer, and I am heartbroken that I could not know her.

Another huge thank-you to International Soundex Reunion Registry.
They made it all possible. To birth parents and adoptees: Register with
Soundex. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Abby, please feel free to publish any or all of my letter, and our
names. I want the world to know how happy we are.--------KATHLEEN KOEHLER,
SANTA ANA, CALIF.

DEAR KATHLEEN AND LAURA MARIE:

I'm pleased that your search ended so happily. It's gratifying to know I was able to help you find each other. Congratulations to you both.

The International Soundex Reunion Registry is a group I have
recommended for many years. They are efficient and honest and operate with
the philosophy that the identity of neither the birth parents nor the
adopted child shall be disclosed unless all parties are agreeable to a
reunion. Birth parents and children can register, and when the children
reach legal age--- if both parties are registered and want to find each
other---- a match is made.

The address is: International Soundex Reunion Registry (ISRR), PO
Box 2312, Carson City, NEV. 89702. Send a long (business size), stamped,
self-addresses envelope to the registry and request Soundex forms.

Write to Dear Abby, Universal Press Syndicate, P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, Calif. 90069