Welcome to my adoption page and registry!

For those who wish to post to the registry click hereI now have forms so it should be easier now!

To look through postings click here

To view reunion storiesclick here.

If you have an interesting search or reunion story please email me.

Here are a list of adoption related links

I was born in Elkhart, Indiana on August 24, 1976 to a 15 or 16 year old mother. Her name was Karol Kress. She was from Southfield, Michigan. Sometime after she became pregnant she went with my father, Allan Smead, to Elkhart where she may have lived with my Aunt Vicki. My father worked for his father who also lived in Elkhart. (His parents were divorced and my grandmother lived in Michigan.) Sometime after my birth I was taken to Michigan, Oakland County to be exact.My father told me that her sister drove down and got my mother and me. My father never saw me after I was about 2 months. He says that my mother's parents were older and didn't want him to have anything to do with me. My father, with the help of my Aunt Roxanne and his wife at the time Lori, went to court many times trying to get custody of me. Unfortunatly, at that time father's weren't given much chance in custody cases. I remained with my birth mother until I was 13 month old.The big mystery is what happened to me during this time between when my father saw me last and when I was put into foster care. Rumer has it that she had put me in foster care so she could "build a better life for herself and me". She may have done this more than once. The last time she tried to take me out of foster care the court told her that I would be put up for adoption.This is what the agency told me. (After meeting my father I discovered that there were some major discrepencies in what the non identifying information told me and what really happened. The agency said that my father didn;t take custody of me because he "wanted to start fresh with his new wife" and I've been told by several people that that was not true.)I was then placed in the care of Pam and Dennis Rogers, my foster parents. The Rogers' tried to adopt me, but at that time in Michigan foster parents were not allowed to adopt their foster children. (Talk about a stupid law!) At the age of 1 1/2 I was adopted by the Hollenback's. They were unable to have children and had waited quite awhile for a child to adopt. Even though they were good parents, I grew up constantly feeling I was missing something and felt I needed to know my biological parents. Sometimes, when things weren't going my way I would cry wishing that my birth mother or birth father would suddenly appear and make everything better. Not that my adoptive parents weren't wonderful parents, but I think any adoptee who hads the perfect life still feels like there is something missing in their life, their birth parents. Which brings us to the present.A wonderful woman named Jenny has volunteered her time to search for my birth parents. Last Tuesday I spoke with my birth father and some other relaives. It's all so exciting! But you can read all about it and other peoples reunion stories by clicking here. I am still looking for my mother. Her name was Karol Kress. She would be about 36 or 37 years old. I will be posting a photo of her so maybe someone will recognize her. princysst@hotmail.com