Adoption records

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1. Accessing your birth records

You can access your birth records if you don’t have them because you were adopted.

You need to be 18 or over to do this.

Everyone adopted before 12 November 1975 will need to attend a counselling session with an approved adoption advisor first.

You know your birth details

You can order a copy of your original birth certificate from the General Register Office.

For adoptions outside England or Wales you need to contact the General Register Office where you were adopted.

You don’t know your birth details

You need to fill in an application for Birth certificate Information Before Adoption (BIBA) service if you don’t know your birth details. Which application form you fill in depends on if you live:

Post or email the form to:

adoptions@gro.gov.uk

Adoptions Section
Room C202
General Register Office
Trafalgar Rd
Southport
PR8 2HH

2. The Adoption Contact Register

You can add yourself to the Adoption Contact Register at the General Register Office to:

  • find a birth relative or an adopted person
  • say you don’t want to be contacted

This is not a tracing service - for a connection to be made between people, you must both be on the Adoption Contact Register.

Find birth relatives if you were adopted

You can add yourself to the Adoption Contact Register if you’re 18 or over and your birth or adoption was registered with the General Register Office.

You need to fill in form CR part 1 to add yourself to the register. Read guidance notes on how to complete the form.

You need:

  • your original birth name
  • your date of birth
  • the full name(s) of your birth mother (and birth father if known)

The fee is £15 - instructions on how to pay are on form CR part 1.

Find someone who was adopted if you’re a birth relative

You can add yourself to the register to try to find an adopted person by filling in form CR part 2. Read guidance notes on how to complete the form. You’ll only be able to find people who have also added themselves to it.

You need to be 18 or over.

The fee is £30 - instructions on how to pay are on form CR part 2.

You can also use this form if you are an adopted person looking for other adopted siblings.

You can also apply to make contact with an adopted person through an approved intermediary agency.

More information

Contact the Adoptions Section of the HM Passport Office.

Adoptions Section
adoptions@gro.gov.uk
Telephone: 0300 123 1837
Text relay: 18001 0300 123 1837
Find out about call charges

3. Intermediary agencies

You can use an intermediary agency to help you trace a birth relative if you were adopted or you’re related to someone who has been adopted. The fee for the service depends on the agency.

You can use an intermediary agency if:

  • you were adopted before 30 December 2005
  • a relative of yours (including a relative by adoption) was adopted before 30 December 2005

When an intermediary agency finds a person, you can only contact them if they agree to it. If they don’t agree, the agency won’t tell you their name or whereabouts but might be able to share some information, like:

  • their domestic or family circumstances
  • their general health and well-being

If you don’t want to be contacted

Adopted people and birth relatives can use the Adoption Contact Register to say that they don’t want to be contacted.

Tell your agency and register a veto if you don’t want to be approached by an intermediary agency. There are 2 types of veto called an ‘absolute veto’ and a ‘qualified veto’.

An ‘absolute veto’

This means an intermediary agency can’t approach you under any circumstances (your adoption agency can still pass on information to you, for example about a hereditary medical condition or details of an inheritance).

A ‘qualified veto’

This means you can say when you would be prepared to be contacted, for example you could say that an approach on behalf of your birth parent wouldn’t be acceptable, but an approach by a sibling would.

More help and information

For further information on intermediary services you can contact: