Useful information for UK and Irish adoptees

To find out your original birth name if you were adopted in England or Wales contact:

The Registrar General
The Office of Population Censuses and Surveys
The General Register Office
Adoptions Section
Smedley Hydro
Trafalgar Road, Birkdale
Southport PR8 2HH
44 (0) 151 471 4200

and ask for access to your original birth records (you will be sent a form to complete and return. The service is free but you may be required to be counselled by a social worker.

They publish the following leaflets

ACR1 GRO - Tracing records of births, marriages and deaths

ACR99 GRO - Information for adopted people and their relatives

ACR100 Access to birth records - Information for adopted people living in the UK

ACR101 Access to birth records - Information for adopted people living outside the UK

ACR110 The adopted contact register - information for adopted people and their relatives

ACR114 Access to birth records - counselling organisations outside the UK

For access to your original birth records in Scotland contact

The Registrar General
New Register House
Edinburgh EH1 3YT
44 (0) 131 334 0380

In Northern Ireland contact

The Registrar General
Oxford House
49/55 Chichester Street
Belfast BT1 4HL
44 (0) 1232 250000

All the above addresses can supply birth marriage and death certificates by post. They also publish their own versions of the leaflets AC1 etc. listed under England and Wales. 

In the Republic of Ireland contact

The Registrar General
Joyce House
8/11 Lombard Street East
Dublin 2
35 31 6711863

In London you can apply in person for birth, death, marriage and adoption certificates at

The Public Search Room
The Family Records Centre
1 Myddleton Street
London EC1R 1UW
Phone 0181-392-5300
Web page http://www.open.gov.uk/pro/prohome.htm

Useful addresses and phone numbers

General Register Office for Scotland
Adoption Unit
New Register House
Edinburgh
EH1 3YT
0131-314-4443

Scottish Records Office
General Register House
Edinburgh
EH1 3VV
0131-556-6585
Ext. 1395

Public Record Office
Kew
Richmond
Surrey
TW9 4DU
Phone 0181-878-8289
Contact: Miss A. Crawford

The Society of Genealogists
14 Charterhouse Buildings
London
EC1M 7BA

Specialist Adoption Counselling Agencies

BirthLink
Family Care
21 Castle Street
Edinburgh
EH23DN
0131-225-6441

Barnardos
Scottish Adoption
Advice Service
16 Sandyford Place
Glasgow
G3 7NB
0141-339-0772

Other Voluntary Agencies who may provide Adoption
Counselling in respect of placements made by their Agency

St Margaret of Scotland Adoption
Society
274 Bath Street
Glasgow
G2 4JR
0141-332-8371

St Andrew's Children's
Society Ltd
Gillis Centre
113 Whitehouse Loan
Edinburgh
EH9 1BB
0131-452-8248

Scottish Adoption Association Ltd
2 Commercial Street
Edinburgh
EH6 63A
0131-553-5060

Internet discussion groups

ADOPTEES-UKIE

Subscription Address:
LISTSERV@LISTSERVER.PIPEMEDIA.NET

Description:
The adoptees-ukie mailing list is a forum for discussion among adult adoptees either living in or searching in the UK or Eire of any topic related to adoption. It is not intended to be a general discussion forum
for adoption among non-adoptees.

To subscribe, mail to listserv@listserver.pipemedia.net with

"subscribe adoptees-ukie first name second name" in the body of the text.
 

ADOPTEES
Subscription Address: ADOPTEES-REQUEST@UCSD.EDU
Description:
The adoptees mailing list is a forum for discussion among adult adoptees of any topic related to adoption. It is not intended to be a general discussion forum for adoption among non-adoptees.

To subscribe, mail to adoptees-request@ucsd.edu with

"subscribe [address] adoptees" in the body of the text.
 

GENUKI-L GENUKI-L@APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM
UK and Ireland Genealogy Discussion List