There is no substitute for experience when searching and making contact. To quote Forrest Gump, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get." Searching is a lot like that. When contacting a birthmother or other biological relative for the first time, anything can happen from joy to spewing venom. Anyone can deal with joy, but there are many situations including fear, anger, and betrayal by the system, as well as a myriad of others. Those situations must be handled on the spot and experience is the only means of knowing how to deal with this person. This person must find empathy, understanding, and kindness in the voice of the person making contact. Care must also be given to choosing a person that is emotionally stable and not trying to work out their own issues through your search.

You do not want a searcher that is not busy! There are some that claim to be searchers and have only done a handful of searches over a span of several years.