This is a spin-off question from the previous adoption thread.

I'm scottish by heritage, but not blood. My mother's parents divorced when she was one year old, and her mother remarried, to a McKillop, when she was three. She was never formally adopted, because her birth father never relinquished parental rights, but he also never saw her again 'til she was in her fifties, so the McKillop was the only father she knew...and the only grandfather of either side of my family that I knew (my paternal grandparents were both deceased).

Years ago, at a local H-Games, I inquired at the clan booth about my situation, and was told that I didn't qualify for membership because she was never "formally" adopted. I dropped the subject at the time, but since I have gotten older, I have renewed the interest in my heritage. I looked a little on line, to get new membership material, but couldn't find any links to a family organization.

Having a distinct family tie, I would rather declare a family association than a generic association, and my thought was to investigate the possibilty of invoking some sort of traditional precedent such as "fostering" (if indeed such a thing actually existed, and isn't just an institution made up for historical novels), or any other possible arguements, in order to get them to "bend" the rules a little.

Can anyone point me toward getting in touch with the right organization, and/or give me any advice? I know the McKillops are a sept of Clan MacDonnell of Keppoch, but that's about it.