Support for adopted adults

You can begin the search for your birth information and access to your adoption records from the time you turn 18 years of age. Before contacting us, it would be useful for you to apply to the General Register Office (GRO) to request your birth information, if you do not already have it. The GRO will send all relevant information to your local adoption agency, who you will then be advised to contact.

Should Adoption Counts be identified as the appropriate agency you can contact us via completing this online form. Depending on when you were adopted, you may be required to attend a counseling meeting, or a meeting with one of our adoption support team. We can advise you on this when you get in touch.

Currently meetings to share birth information are being held virtually usually via Microsoft Teams. If you don’t have access to Microsoft Teams we’ll do our best to accommodate you another way. At the end of this meeting, we will give you the documents you need to enable you to request a copy of your original birth certificate. We’ll also advise you how to place your details on the Adoption Contact Register if you want to.

If you decide to progress your search to a full ‘access to adoption records request’, a post adoption support social worker will be allocated to your case and they will use the details provided by the GRO to contact the appropriate agency to gain access to your records. Due to the volume of requests for this service, this process may take 6-12 months.

Adoption records vary in size and volume. Generally, files contain information about the circumstances of your adoption, including medical and health matters. They may possibly also contain letters or photographs, or other items.

Some records may not always be written sensitively and can be upsetting. Archived adoption records may have been compiled when standards of recording and retention of information were different to those which apply today. You might find that the language used, and prevailing values expressed reflect the period in which the file was created and might not be acceptable today. Your post adoption support social worker will support you through this and will be able to explain how adoption law and practice has changed and the significance of these changes.

We usually give you a copy of your file notes to take away with you. We will give you any original photographs, letters from birth relatives or certificates, but we will always keep a copy on the file. We may need to redact some of the information that is held in your records. You will not be able to see information about other people, which may be held on your file. This could include reports on your adopters or medical reports that are not about you.

Unfortunately, some adoption records may have been lost, damaged or destroyed over time. Your post adoption support social worker will update you on the progress of your request and will advise you should this be the case. An application can be made directly to the Court involved in your adoption should all other searches return no results.