How should I handle adoptive name and parent on this batch?
I am reviewing this batch:
South Africa, KwaZulu Natal—Vital Records, 1868–1976 [Part E][M386-41Q]
The indexer put both names in the given name field and parents name field. I am wondering if I should create another Entry for the adoptive name and parents.
Answers
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The way the indexer entered the change in information is definately incorrect. Only the original birth name of the child and the birth parents information should be entered.
The Project Instructions indicate say that: "Mark all other records, including . . . change of name documents, as No, No Extractable Data."
This is a birth record, and if you look at the dates, the child was born in 1946 and she was not adopted until 1948. The information about the adoptive parents and child's name change is available for anyone looking at the record to find. Adding a separate birth record here would not indicate it was an adoption.
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The indexer put both names in the given name field and parents name field. I am wondering if I should create another Entry for the adoptive name and parents?
Because there was a variation of the child given name, now his names should be included together with the word Or to indicate a variation of it.: For example
Jeanette Ivonne or Sharon Ingred
For parents:
Nicholas Albertus, or Jan Hendrik-given names
Genade or Le Maitre-surnames
General Indexing guidelines: if an individual's name was listed with various spellings on the document, include all variants, separating each with the word Or. For example, if a name was written as "Georgios (George), George Broski, George Browzowski, or George Brzozowski," index the name field.
The researcher will see both the biological and the adoptive parents information. Hope this helps to answer your question.
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I disagree with Mirevo's interpretation of the general indexing guidelines in regards to name variants. I believe this applies only to the SAME PERSON! The birth father and adoptive father are two different people, and their names should not be entered in the same field. The child was the only one who had her name changed when she was adopted.
Entry 6:
Child's Given Name: Jeanette Yvonne Or Sharon Ingred
Surname: < BLANK >
Father's given Name: Nicholas Albertus
Surname: Genade
Mother's Given Name: Elizabeth
Surname: Kuhn
It might be better in this case to add an additional birth entry with the adoptive parents. That way once a future researcher finds this record, they could eventually merge the child records into one, but the birth parents would still be separate, and the adoptive parents as well. Then they could follow the various branches of their family tree for all parties involved. 😊
Entry 7:
Child's Given Name: Sharon Ingred Or Jeanette Yvonne
Surname: le Maitre
Father's Given Name: Jan Hendrik
Surname: le Maitre
Mother's Given Name: Katherine Constance
Surname: le Maitre
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So many changes ... This Help Center Article was the always the standard. I can't seem to find it. But, certainly the name variation for an "individual" should not apply. These are two individuals.
How should I index multiple spouses or parents?
Article Id: 1287
December 29, 2020
When the document lists multiple spouses or parents, index only the current spouse or parents. Here are some quick guidelines for these situations:
- For multiple spouses, index only the present or current spouse.
- For multiple parents, such as a set of birth parents and a set of adoptive parents, index only the current set of adoptive parents.
- Do not add records to include the other individuals. The information is not lost. After we publish the records, researchers can view the image and gather any additional information in it.
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So you are saying that the birth name and birth parents should not be indexed? Even considering the date of adoption?
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You should definitely index both names for the child using the "or" since that is an individual with a name variation. But, unless something has changed with the rules, you would index only the current set of adoptive parents. The date of adoption doesn't matter.
I actually copied that help center article from an older post of @Mirevo so maybe s/he can confirm that with the folks in charge of the Help Center. It is definitely the way we have indexed multiple spouses and adoptive parents for the 8 years I have been indexing.
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Some conflicting responses to my question! I am inclined to create another Entry and put in the adoptive name and parents
I will remove the child's surname throughout these images because project instructions say do not assume based on others in the record.
I will think about all of this a little longer and watch for more responses.
Thanks for so much help!
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I see two points here that have been made. As Melissa has stated, I have also read the guidelines for multiple spouses and parents, and it does state that you Should only index the adoptive parents. The parents the child ends up with. I was going to post that yesterday, however, when looking at the project directions it states nothing on this. Which in my opinion it should. So I left it alone.
I would prefer to index each set of parents. One for the birth parents and one for the adoptive parents, and the child's name be indexed on both. That just makes more sense to me. To me, depending on who is searching, they have a better chance of finding this document.
Because we do have general instructions given by FS, I agree with Melissa on this. While I don't necessarily like how they ask us to index, we should still do it their way.
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The researcher may be able to see the document if it is released to the public so can see both sets of parents. This is a sensitive issue which is one reason why the legal parents are the ones who are indexed and it is left to the researcher to do further investigation if they wish.
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Thanks to Melissa for posting those instructions, I couldn't find the article either. And thanks Anne for bringing up the issue you did as well. The parties involved may all still be living.
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I hope the people FNA moderators will be able to find that article. This Help Center is next to impossible to navigate even when you know the keywords. It seems to have gotten worse over the last few weeks. Is there a new algorithm or an error in something?
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Could you tell me what FNA is?
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Hi @Mary Louise Lillian FNA is an abbreviation that you will see from time to time that means Formerly Known As. For those of us who have been around for awhile, there are several people on this post that were moderators, and I expect because of their good work, still are! If a person on an image was FNA, then we would use the word or between their given & surnames when indexing!
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