3.11.2 Access to Birth Records |
Adopted people aged 18 or over can apply for access to their birth records.
Those adopted prior to November 1975 are required to receive counselling from a social worker prior to receiving a copy of their birth certificate.
All enquiries for access to birth records should be referred to the Adoption Services. The enquirer will be advised to write to
The General Register Office,
Postal Applications,
Smedley Hydro,
Trafalgar Road,
Southport TR8 2HH
to ask for an application form. The enquirer should also be advised about the Adoption Contact Register.
Once an application form has been submitted to the Registrar General, the Registrar will send the adoption service:
- A copy of the application
- The name of the Court where the adoption order was made
- An authority to obtain from the Court the name of the adoption agency who arranged the adoptive placement
- The original name of the adopted adult
- The original names of the birth parents
- A Form to be signed to confirm that counselling has taken place.
The Registrar General will advise the adopted person to contact the adoption service.
An adoption worker will be allocated to the case and, when contacted by the adopted person, will invite him or her to attend an interview.
At the interview, the adoption worker will request proof of the identity of the adopted person, for example by requesting passport, or driving licence.
If this authority’s adoption service arranged the adoption, and the adopted person wishes to have access to his or her adoption case record, the adoption worker should seek authority from the manager of the adoption service to arrange this.
The majority of cases, however, will be in respect of adopted people who have not previously been in touch with Kensington and Chelsea.
In these cases, the adoption worker will ask the administrative staff to check the Central Index. If the case involves a London adoption which took place before l965, they should contact:
The London Metropolitan Archives,
Head Archivist,
40 Northampton Road,
London EClR OHB
who will search their records and forward the files on microfiche, if available.
Where the adoptee was placed by a different adoption agency, the social worker will make written enquiries of that agency or, if it no longer exists, of the body or local authority who deals with that agency’s records.
In any case, where the papers are available the counsellor will read these carefully, to be able to give the adoptee the information he or she requires.
The adoption worker will share the information provided by the Registrar General with the adopted person, and inform the adopted person that he or she may obtain a copy of his or her original birth certificate.
The adoption worker should give such information to the adopted person and provide names and addresses of other helpful organisations.
The main objectives of counselling are to try to ensure:
- That the adopted person has considered the possible effects of any enquiries both on himself or herself and on others; and
- That the information they seek, to which they now have a legal right, is provided in a helpful and appropriate manner.
Counselling interviews will obviously vary in both content and length according to the needs of the adopted person.
A full written record of the interview must be kept on the file.
The adoption worker does not have the right to withhold basic information that will give the adopted person access to his birth records. This applies even in the exceptional cases where the adoption worker may be worried about possible consequences. Potential problems may be minimised by the use of social work skills and perhaps by contacting individuals or agencies involved, but additional counselling after the first interview will need to be by mutual agreement.
A return must be made to the Registrar General on the form provided by him.
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