Genealogy Chat

For those of you seeking adopted siblings I’d like to share my story with you as it might, just might I hasten to add, help some of you find the person you are seeking. I was myself adopted in 1951 and up until mid 2006, when I discovered a birth entry on a local BMD, had had no idea that I had an adopted birth sister born in 1953. Having obtained her birth certificate and confirmed that this was definitely a sister of mine, I had no way of knowing of course who she became once she had been adopted. Due to some information about electoral roll which I picked up on this site from Derek’s postings, I noticed that in the year in which a person can first vote their date of birth appears before their name on the electoral roll listing eg. 23/7 for 23rd July. Armed with this information I realised that if my adopted sister had been adopted in the area I was (which was within 25 miles of birthplace) and had remained living in the same area, she would have reached voting age of 18 in 1971 and therefore be listed in the area’s electoral roll for that year preceded by d.o.b. I decided to take a chance (that she had remained living in the same area up until age 18) and trawled the entire electoral roll for 1971, seeking female entries with the same birth date as my sister. I found several names and researched them to see if I could find corresponding birth entries on Ancestry etc. For just one of the names there was no birth entry anywhere as far as I could tell, and I thought that this person, could like myself either have been adopted or be possibly born abroad or even have married before reaching 18 in which case her birth name would be different. Having satisfied myself that she was not likely to come from overseas as parents names (also listed in electoral roll) appeared to be locals who married a few years previously (BMD used again), nor could I find a marriage entry, I figured that the person whose name I had found could well be adopted and be my sister. I recently visited the FRC in London to see if I could discover an entry for the same name in the Adopted Childrens Index which was in alphabetical order so very simple to do. Previous advice from Gerry S also on this site, told me that an adopted person cannot be entered in the Index until 19 weeks after birth so using this as a starting point I looked up to 1955 where lo and behold I found the name I was looking for and which I had found in the electorall roll. Having now obtained the Adoption Certificate I have confirmed/matched the birth date to my sister and the location and Court name were also as expected. So the moral of this rather longwinded tale is, to all of you seeking adopted siblings, if you have a good idea or know what area/locality/town they may have been adopted in, it may be worth a look at the electoral roll for that area for the year the person became eligible to vote, 18 after 1969 but 21 up until then to see if you can find anyone with the same birth date you are looking for. You might just get a lucky strike as I have done. Good luck to all searchers for 2007.

Hi Christine That's a great inspirational adoption search post and I'm sure it will help others :-) I'd be interested to know how many weeks from your sister's birth until her adoption order was granted in the court. In my brothers case it was exactly 19 weeks but I know that in many cases it's longer. Have you given any thoughts to how your going to approach your sister? This is a hard one I know. I was advised to use a intermediary and did but my brother didn't and still doesn't wish contact with his siblings... our mother died 17 years ago. Happy New Year Cheers Gerry

Hi Gerry Strangely enough the adoption was exactly two years to the day of my sisters birthday in 1953, adoption order in 1955. It's a shame about your brother, but I wonder if one day, his children if he has any, will be interested in their family history ?. I think it's likely. Cheers, Chris.

Christine, That really is a fantastic tip!! Good luck in contacting your sister. One part interested me - you said you noticed an birth entry. My dad was adopted aged 14 after his father was killed in the war- so he knew who his 'dad' was. I can find his entry under his adopted name. Should his original birth be in the BMD as well? I have looked under the original surname he was known by, but methinks he wasn't my dads dad at all!! maggie

Hi Maggie, The only entry you will find in BMD is the original birth name. For example my birth name before I was adopted is in 1951 Births on Ancestry. The name I became after adoption is not listed in BMD. The only entry for my new name is in the 1952 Adopted Children's Index at FRC. Adopted names do not appear in BMD at all. If you have found an entry for your father in BMD then that is his original name not his adoptive name. He could have kept the same surname from birth of course if for example he was adopted by his father's brother. I hope that makes sense. Does he have adoption papers ?. If not the only way to prove he was adopted is to consult Adopted Childrens Index at FRC, see if his name is listed and if so apply for the Adoption Certificate. It does rather sound as if your hunch could be correct. Feel free to ask questions. Cheers, Christine.

Hi Christine, I looked at the adoption files at what was Somerset House - the page that referred to my dad was missing!! He is in the BMD - his adopted name is handwritten at the bottom of the page, which led me to think the original should be there!! I have tried under Grans maiden name, even under the name of the uncle and aunt who brought her up - no luck. It is soooo frustrating, as dad knew he was adopted, he even changed his forenames then, and has told me everything he knew. I have found out his original 'dad' was married, and had been a long-term friend of the family - he was over 20 years older than my gran and had known her since she was a girl.. His wife was also unable to have children, so there's every chance he just visited a lot as he couldn't have any of his own. One suspicious thing my dad told me, was that his mum kept on about Juarez - whether this was a surname, or the place I don't know, but they did live in Cornwall, and marauding sailors........well!! maggie

What an inspirational story, a bit similar to mine. I had no idea that there were actually 7 of us altogether (siblings, some full some half) 2 of these were Adopted. It took me 10 months to figure out what, where and who to go to, to get information from!!! I have found one of my Adopted Brothers myself by searching BMD Indexes and marriage indexes, because he was Adopted to family - he was traceable, so I got his Adopted name by tracing the family members marriage, which then gave me his Adopted Surname. For some reason I typed his name in Bt online and up came his phone number and address. I haven't contacted him yet because I think it's more responsible and respectful to go through the proper channels. I have been told not to contact him directly by Family Placement and to do it through my local Social Services - Adoption Team 'intermediary services'. Good Luck to all who are searching, I have two more Brothers to find now. Hope 2007 will be a good year to all who are searching. Best wishes - Stella X

Maggie, that's bad luck about the missing page. I would have thought that the Registrar would still have an entry in the Adopted Children's register though (that's the register not open to the general public) It should still be possible to get a copy of the Adoption Cert even if the page is actually missing in the Index. Might be worth a letter to the Registrar at GRO. It's very odd that there is an entry in manuscript in BMD for an adopted person. Just a thought, could it be that when your father's 'father' was killed in the war, the mother reregistered him under his true father's name hence the manuscript entry ?. It's confusing isn't it.

I hadn't thought of his adopted father being his real father!! He was also 20 years older than my gran, and was married with children, He was the best friend of the man my dad thought was his father. Dad's adopted father was a widower when they married - less than 3 months after the man my father called 'dad' was killed in the war. I suspect a certain subterfuge here LOL Oooh crikey - that could stir up a hornets nest!!!!! maggie

hi Christine , I have just read your article, on looking for adopted persons. My son was adopted, and looking at the Bmd record the vol and number is crossed and another number along side it , is this the adoption index number .If it is am Iable to use this to search regards Jackie

Hi Jackie I'm afraid I don't think that the altered record number for your son's birth entry is likely to be connected with the Adopted Children's Index record. I can't be certain of course because who is to say that the entry clerk didn't make a 'clanger'. I know other people on this site have asked the same question and I don't think anyone has been able identify an adopted person through an altered reference on BMD. There is usually a logical reason for it. My personal ref number on Adopted Children's Index is a five digit number followed by a three digit number but these may have changed over the years of course. You can of course, visit FRC and look through the pages of names, lots, for the year in question to see if you can match the number to a name. Regards, Christine

Christine, i wish you all the luck in the world in contacting your sister. my husband and i are also trying to find his half brother like Stella we are in contact with social services adoption-team as of yet wev'e had no luck in finding him, social services have 1 last thing to do and then we will know one way or the other . you see we dont even know whether he was adopted or not, or given away , i have his birth cert which has his birth name and where he was born . time is not on our side as he would be 69yrs old now but were keeping our fingers crossed hazelx

Hi everybody... great thread. Hi Maggie Adoptions cannot be registered in the births because they are not a birth. To solve your mystery I suggest that you get your father's birth certificate, it will most likely state in the outer column 'Adopted' if he is as birth certificates have to be amended by law after an adoption order has been granted in a court. Also, you have enough information to fill out an application form for his adoption certificate... you can do it on the GRO website. Does your father remember going to court? I've read of older children attending their adoption procedures. Sometimes single mothers changed their names in order to appear married and to protect the child from the stigma of illegitimacy. The name on my birth certificate is not my mother's true surname. Names changes didn't have to be official, anyone can change their name to anything they like provided it's not for illegal purposes. Good luck with your search. Let us know how you go. Cheers Gerry

Hi Gerry, Unfortunately, my dad died 12 years ago, just as he was 'coming out' about being adopted - we, his children, knew about it - but didn't let on to him!! He had been cagy because of being illegitimate. His mother gave some story about being married to my dad's 'father', and, when he was killed, she went to get her widow's pension, only to find out he was already married!! Dad only ever had a short birth certificate, which I only glimpsed once. I will try to get a copy - never thought about that having any details on it. Thanks for your help Gerry and Christine. maggie

Thanks Hazel and to all. Will get back to you when I try to make contact with my new found sister. It will be interesting as I'm not looking for an emotional get together as such, just would be nice to know that we know of each other, if you know what I mean. Thought I'd get into the New Year before I did it, as don't want to give someone a shock over Xmas period.

Wow Christine Wonderful story, it just shows what you can do with patience, time + dogged determination! LOL. Just one thing, I was under the impression that only the adopted child could apply for an adoption cert. am I wrong? Regards Ann

Hi Ann Anyone can apply for an adoption cert. If you go along to FRC and spot the name you are looking for in Adopted Childrens Index you can apply for it there and then by filling in a form and they send it on. There is also a form on the GRO website to apply for an adoption cert but you need adoptive name of course. There are no clues as to birth name on it. I applied for my cousins Adoption cert through GRO website some months ago as I originally thought she might have been my sister as she was born in the same year. The form does ask for adoptive parents names if you have them but I don't think it's essential. Cheers, Chris

Ann Only the adopted person can apply for their own adoption records and even then if there is something in it that the Social Worker deems inappropiate, the information may be withheld in other words... Censored. I've read about people buying up whole blocks of adoption certificates costing a lot of money. My brother and I bought 2 batches of 14 & 9 before we found him in the 2nd batch. Cheers Gerry

nudge for keith

Excellent tip, Thank you.