General Chat

Hey Steve - if you are still out there after all this time.

I am using NORCAP - just type the name into Google and you will find it - they can act on behalf of an adopted relative in accessing the court records etc.

But they are fairly expensive - the whole process taking about a year and costing about 500 pounds.

Best wishes

Bryn

I went thru the whole adoption search procedure and found my son in Australia, but after one letter and some photos the contact was broken. It can be heartbreaking so go slowly. A third person should really be used in the first faltering steps of contact Goo d luck brenda

Hi Hello Sheila, all I had to go on originally was his given birth name, which I located at the records office. I then found out which childrens home he was placed into, my nan was sectioned under the mental health act in 1949, as she was placed into a mental institution, so her son was placed into the home. I registered an interest in contact with the contact register in Southport, but sadly he had not at that time. Then I discovered that he became known to social services at the age of 4 and was fostered, I then found out the name of the foster parents and given his age at adoption and the fact that he only ever had one set of foster parents took a gamble and requested a copy of his adoption cert from s/port, using his given birth christian name and the surname of the foster parents, on this occasion i was unlucky and got a letter back informing me that i did not have the correct name for him, not one to give up i then went to the FRC in London and trawled the adoption registers until I found what I was looking for, he had indeed been adopted by them, they had given him a new christian name and kept his original name as a middle name. I then ordered a copy of the adoption cert and a full one was what was delivered to me, at no time did I get asked for any extra info, they knew from the outset that I was a niece to the adopted person, and that his birth mother had been my grandmother, when I registered an interest on the contact register I had to prove a link, this was easy as I could give them a copy of my g/mothers birth and marriage cert, a copy of my mothers birth/marriage cert, and a copy of my own birth/marriage cert, all bear the married name of my g/mother, also I gave them a copy of my uncles birth cert, maybe, I was lucky. kes

Hi All, Like Jess has said, its not so easy to find the adoptees name in the register unless you have some small leads, at the height of adoptions in the 1960's there were over 20,000 cases a year compared with 200-300 these days, like you I was looking for adoptees that were 8 years old when adopted, and these tended to stick out a lot more than most cases, where the adoptess where between 6-12 months, and even the slightest bit of info helps with this search. Jess what Kess must have obtained is the full adoption cert, I do know of a couple of cases where this has happened but it should not really ....in order to obtain these (eg from Southport) you normally have to give extra info, for instance the names of the adoptive parents etc, this is a safeguard for the adoptee, presuming that no one else apart from the new adoptive family would know these details, and would be able to order it. I think there is also a declaration that you are the adoptee on it to be signed, in my case I had a lot of information by this point but could not proceed because of this, however, occasionally a few will slip through the net. ( but the reason it is moredifficult to obtain is that it give the new name of the adoptee and also a possible a adress, we all know how much easier it is to trace that person then). That said there is still a chance to trace ther person nowadays more that ever, Steve, do you know which organisation handled the adoption? Sheila

Kes, sorry if you thought anything i said implied negativity - it wasn't meant that way. Something you have re-inforced is the one thing i have stressed- IT ISN'T EASY!! My adoption certificate certainly doesn't give all the info that the one you obtained has - an i am the adoptee! Jess x

Hi All Just come back onto this to check out if Steve got any useful info, and wanted to clear something up I did NOT have mum's brothers adopted name for a long time and then it was not given to me on a plate i really had to struggle to get it and did so by painstakingly trawling and retrawling through endless pieces of scribbled on bits of paper, then one afternoon I was once again retrawling and I found such a small bit of info that at first I had ignored it, it took me to another bit of insignificant info that led me to another and so it was until one day months later I had pieced it all together. Then I had to go and search out his adoptive name, I was lucky he was nearly 8 when he was adopted, so that made my search a little easier. There are ways and there is always hope, dont give up on the first hurdle, if I had I would never have found him. Yes be aware the adopted person may not know he/she was adopted, and if they do they may not want to know, but at least you will have tried. kes

Steve - basically you are really 'up against it' There is really no way that you can cross ref an birth registration in one name with an adoption registration in the 'new name'. Kes above knew both the names so had a distinct advantage- if you dont , well it is almost impossible. there are websites where you can register your interest in the birth name and some sdoption agences ( and i say some, because not all) will lodge a letter on the adopted person file in case they ask for their file in the future.To do that, you do need to know the name of the ageny involved. Dont forget , some adoptees do not know that they are even adopted ( the right and wrongs of that are another subject all together!) but must be borne in mind. please send me a private message with a few more details if you so wish - i have a friend that runs one of the adoption websites who may be able to help , but only if you know the birth name - she is quite good at matching people up! Jess x

theres a website called missing-you.co.uk it does have different things on there and one part is adoptions, you can add your search

Hi Steve I have traced both my mum's sister and her brother who were adopted, its not easy, but there are ways. The first place to go is the FAMILY RECORDS CENTRE in London, they have an adoption section, here you can trawl through the entries by year order, they are in huge ledgers, you have to know roughly what you are looking for, for example you may have a rough idea of the adopted surname,the birth name of the adopted person does not appear on adoption entries,- this is how it worked for me. I knew my uncle's birth name and roughly how old he was when he was adopted, i also knew the date of the adoption, if you know the date of the adoption add two weeks as it takes that long for the adoption to be placed onto the records, once you find the names you think might be the one you are looking for, you can fill out an application form in the FRC, and pay a fee, it was £7.00 per entry when I went, luckily for me I knew at once which was the one I wanted, then you sit and wait and in about 5 days a copy of the adoption cert arrives on your doorstep. A copy of an adoption cert gives you useful info, it will give you the names of the adoptive parents, it will give you the address that they were living at when the adoption took place, it tells you the date of the adoption, and also the occupation of the adopters. If you need any further help I will gladly give it Good luck Kes

Hi Steve, you would be better off on tips or records with this. Good luck Gill

Hi everyone, could anyone advise me on where to start looking for Female adoptions in London in the 1960s. Ealing area i think. Preferably the non paying method to start with. Thanks :-)