Genealogy Chat

Hello, Could anyone tell me whether there is any way to find out if someone was adopted at birth, and also is it just coincidence for 2 children to be born with the same Surname with mother having the same maiden name and being born in the same district in the same quarter of a particular year. The reason for my asking is that i have just found one of my relatives on a birth index and there is also another child with all of the above next to each other. Please help could this possibly have been a twin birth?????? Thanks Laura

Laura If the child was adopted at birth, only the original birth name will be in the indexes, not the name given after adoption. However, on the original birth cert it will state Adopted somewhere on it, usually across the bottom. If its a really common name then I guess its possible that its a freaky coincidence. The only way to know for sure is to order the cert for the one you are sure is yours and see whether there's a time on it which would indicate a twin birth. Could the twin have died shortly after birth which is why you're not aware of its existance? Lou

My uncle and his twin were on the birth indexes next to each other. If you order the birth cert for the one you know is related, it will probably have a time of birth if it was a twin birth. Sarah

I thought about the child dying at birth and have checked for a death index but could not see anything, do still births still get registered i'm not sure how these things go about. Thanks for your advice i think the only way would be to get the cert. Just a quick question though if there is no time on cert is there still a possiibility of being twins. Thanks

As far as I know, twin births will always have a time. If you suspect it might be a twin, how common were the names of the baby/mother's maiden name and which registration district - some cover quite a wide area. How many other babies were registered in that area in that quarter? Stillbirths have been registered since 1927. But if the baby in question is one you have found in the birth register it is NOT a stillbirth. The stillbirth register is closed and access is granted only to the parents, or the children of the parents once the parents are dead. nell

Not sure Laura about twin births without times on certs. If you're made of money (lol) you could order both certs and compare parents names.

Laura Or if you know the father and the mothers names you could order both certs but say you only want one or both if the names match up Lou