Family History Question

[susieSA]

Let me give a little bit of a background before asking my quesion...

My hubby at a very young age was fostered. He was never adopted by his foster parents (even though they really wanted to - long story). He was eventually sealed to his foster parents (in fact he was given special permission on his mission to be able to do that).

So my question is this:

How does him being sealed to his foster parents affect Family History on his side?

Do I follow his biological route or his foster family?

Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated

[Shade]

or both?

[LT04]

Susie,

I work at the FHC at my ward/stake and I have come across this many times before. I called my local temple president to make sure the first time this question came up. So the official policy of the church is to seek after your biological family; however, they won’t restrict you from seeking after your sealed family. I know that could probably sounds confusing so let me explain. The LDS church has a standing agreement with several other churches that they (the church) will restrict submission of names to the temples only to those who have a documented biological connection. The initial need for this came about when a ward in New York City took it upon them selves to submit all the names of the holocaust victims. This needless to say stirred up some strong emotions with our Jewish brothers and sisters hence the current standing agreement. Within the past few years the agreement changed to allow people in your situation the opportunity to do temple work for your “adopted” family.

I hope that answered your question. I know it’s very vague and open ended and it doesn’t seem like the profound answer you would normally get from church but that’s it. I was told that answer from both my local temple and the office in Salt Lake that handles temple related issues.

So in conclusion it’s up to you. The church won’t pick for you just encourage you to do both.

-LT04

[susieSA]

Thank you Shade and LT04

Part of me hoped it would be either one or the other

My hubby spent most of his life with his foster parents. This is how he got baptised into the church (as they were both members) I know that his foster sister has been doing allot of temple work for that line.

He has never had any real contact with his biological parents. He went looking for his biological mother a few years ago & has not really had any contact with her since. He made contact with his biological father a few days ago for the first time since I have known him.

Not I have another question... Where do I go if all I have from this line is his biological parent's names & nothing else? Would we need to get permission from their families (who we have not clue on how to contact them.. let alone even know who they are) to do their temple work?

I guess I had better get cracking

[LT04]

Susie,

I don't think you can do any work for them yet b/c they are still living, correct? Not only that if all you have is their names you can't submit thier names to the temple anyway b/c you always need a birthdate. The reason for the birth date is b/c in some cases the person needs to be deceased for 100 years. That doesn't apply here but a birthdate is still needed.

If your husband has a ball park idea where they are/were from he should try ancestroy.com. It's free at the church FHC. I don't have a standing relationship with my father and needed information about him and his parents, so I ran his name there and found all kinds of info. Also if you can kind out what county & state they are from you should try genweb I don't remember if it's a .com or a .gov, It's a government run web site sponsered by each county. That one is great if you are looking for some one out side of the church.

If I can think of any others I'll let you know. Good luck and G-d bless,

-LT04

[Alaskagain]

Susie,

Full Ancestry.com access is no longer available at the Family History Center libraries. There are a limited number of databases available that are still free, but the information has been greatly curtailed. I am not sure how much information they had on South African records, anyway.

Since the foster parents work is being seen to by a relative (although you both could help in that area, too), and you have been advised above that the church's stand is to follow the biological trail, then I think what I would do in your situation is go ahead and fill out the Family Group Sheets with all of the information you know on the biological parents. Then go to work on the biological grandparents. Your husband probably does not know that information, but you may be able to get some information from his recently contacted biological father. You do not need a relative's permission to do temple ordinances for a person who has been deceased over 80 years. So you will probably need to go back to even the previous generation. But write down everything you can find out on a Family Group Sheet, because the 80 years will go by and someone can do the work!

If you Google "South African Genealogy" there are a couple of sites that come up, specifically one that starts home.global.co.za looks like it has a good list of points for you in how to start and what types of records you can research. Also, you can go to familysearch.org and look at the Library Catalogue for Place - South Africa. It looks like a lot of the civil registration records and parish records have been microfilmed, and you can order a microfilm at your local FHC. If you have at least one name and a place and a time frame, you stand a good chance of being able to determine the names you need to get a good portion of the family together.

Best of luck to you!

[susieSA]

Thanks LT04 & Alaskagain for your replies.. .I appreciate it :)

LT04, I am aware that I can't do any actual Temple work for them as, yes, they are still alive. I figured that I could at least have a bit of a go at it to make it easier for my children. My hubby knows very little about his biological parents as he was very young when he was fostered.

My main problem at the moment is that he has only just (as in a few days ago) made contact with his biological father... I feel rather uncomfortable asking too many questions (as it would be me doing the asking) until I know him a bit better. I also don't want him to get the wrong impression of me. I will be meeting him for the first time next month when we go to SA for holiday. I must admit that I am feeling very anxious about this meeting.

I will defeintly have a look at Genweb as soon as I have more info. I am almost positively sure that none of his biological family are memebers - at least not the ones that I have met.

Alaskagain, thanks for the suggesion to Google search "South African Genealogy".. It hadn't even occured to me to do that

I now have another question...

My hubby has 2 biological sisters (both of whom were adopted).. He also has a half brother from his biological father. Would these three be included on the family group sheets with notes of their adoptions etc or are they left out?

Thank you so very much to those who have replied to my previous questions :)

[LT04]

Susie,

The sisters yes, the half-brother no. His half brother belongs on the group sheet with his own biological mother and father.

-LT04

[susieSA]

Thanks LT04

Forgive me for sounding silly by asking this

Do I put the sister's adopted surnames on the group sheet?

And

Do I just not do the half-brother at all?

Thanks again

[LT04]

Susie,

Yes and Yes.

I have two half sisters. One from my mother and the other from my father we aren't all that close and it did bring us closer together. It's optional if you do your half-brother's work but you by all means have no reason to stop you.

If you are ever unsure you shouls ask the question vs. doing genealogy work incorrect that could require a lot of back tracking.

-LT04