Pondering: The International site is definitely something new to me. I contacted the California Amended Name site and received the following reply:
"WATERS ANNA C 1967 09 25 BENEDICT FEMALE SAN FRANCISCO Has anyone ever sent for her birth certificate recently to see if it is sealed or open? If they send you a copy then it was never formally sealed, or had a replacement for the birth certificate." I'm not sure I understand this, but I am sending for the birth certificate anyway. I think it means that if I can get a copy of the birth certificate, a LEGAL name change or adoption has never been made. Of course, that doesn't rule out falsified documents, which I understand are not difficult to obtain through underground sources (sorry, my only reference is television, but my husband's passport was stolen a couple of years ago, so I think things like this go on in the real world.