Search is not easy. I'm glad I did it, but it makes relationships more difficult. For many international adoptees, traveling back to their birth country is the first time to experience being with others who are the same race and ethnicity as themselves. It is a curious and unusual feeling to be with people who look like you, but do not speak the same language, eat the same food, share the same religious beliefs or cultural history. For international adoptees, search requires not only navigating through the adoption aspect of the process, but the cultural component as well.
International search has additional layers to be discovered and considered.
Often a birth mother who chooses adoption for her child has done so in secrecy and with anonymity. The secrecy is not necessarily an indication of her commitment to her child, but assures she can melt back into her life after the baby is born. Intercountry adoption literally means inter country, between two different nations. It requires working through the laws and procedures locally, nationally and internationally. While the laws and practices of another country may be unfamiliar and seem confusing, it is important for anyone pursuing search to acknowledge the right of the birth, or sending country, to establish their own guidelines and perimeters.