In terms of adopted people's broad biographical and adoptive family characteristics, there were few differences between searchers and non-searchers. The only significant difference between those who searched and those who did not was related to their gender.

—Adopted women were twice as likely as men to initiate a search.

—The mean age at which women first began their search was significantly lower than that for men (29.8 years v 32.3 years).

—In contrast, those who were contacted by a birth relative were as likely to be men as women but the relatives searching were predominantly women.