Adoption and birth mother search in UK

Current UK law allows an adopted person access to their original birth certificate when they reach 18 years of age. They may also apply to see any adoption files or records which may still exist. Tracking down such files can be difficult as many of the adoption agencies which operated in the past no longer exist. Advice should initially be sought from the local Social Services Department in the area where the adoption was finalised. Depending on the date of adoption they may also be required to undergo counselling.

Whilst adoption files are not essential in tracing a birth mother they often give valuable background information which can help in understanding the original reasons for the adoption.

The original birth certificate is normally the most important document to obtain as this is usually accurate and complete and will show the birth mothers' full name, and her marital status i.e. single, married, divorced etc. It will also contain an address, but in our experience this is rarely useful as in normal circumstances the birth mother will have been "sent away" to a relative. The current occupiers are unlikely to have any knowledge of events at the time of your birth. However, we would normally check how long the current occupiers have resided at the address just to be sure!

In the vast majority of adoption related searches that we have undertaken the birth mother has subsequently married, usually within about 5 years of the birth. It is essential to identify her current surname, and this can only be done by trawling through the centralised marriage indexes from the time of birth until a marriage can be identified. If the original maiden name we are starting with is a common one it may be very difficult to identify the first marriage.

Once we have located the first marriage we can then try and locate the married couple, or details of other family members. If it appears that the couple are no longer together we would then search for a re-marriage. In the case of an elderly birth mother we may advise trying to trace siblings of the adoptee, rather than the birth mother herself.

It is most useful if you let us know on first contact what you have already discovered, if anything. If you would prefer to telephone first to discuss any aspect of this type of search our number is shown on the Contacts page.

All information received is treated in the strictest confidence and we do not make contact with the birth mother or other relatives, without your prior permission. However, we may be able to act as intermediary if you wish.

Our full contact details are on the "Contacts" page, or you can submit a search request directly by selecting this Search request link

If you are a birth mother or natural family searching for an adopted person we are unlikely to be able to assist at present as these records are sealed and can only be accessed by the adopted person. This situation may change in 2003.

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Material Copyright © 1994 - 2003 John E Wynn