Genealogy Chat

Hi Catherine I was adopted in the early 1970's and have my original birth certificate, giving my given name at birth, my birth mothers name and the address she was living at when it was registered. Across the bottom in black it says ADOPTED. I registered my details with the adoption contact register with the GRO several months ago but there's been no family match as yet. Allie

Thanks to eveyone that has responded. I have already sent an e-mail to Elizabeth and thanks Mandy for your advice too. As I said to Elizabeth I don't certainly have the right to look for my half sister as Beth said it should be up to her to find any relatives, that's even if she knows she was adopted. I wouldn't want to charge in there and cause any problems. As I don't even have an exact year of her birth I feel it would be difficult to pursue this anyway. I have already found another half sister through my fathers side who I met a few months ago and that was a somewhat surreal situation. But I keep in touch with her. My heart goes out to anyone who was adopted be it for what ever reasons and I just hope everyone that was, has a happy and fulfilling life. Thanks Again to everyone. Catherine

As an adoptee, I would agree with everything Elizabeth has said - it could be a terrible shock for someone to see a posting containing their name or whatever. My birth mother had told her husband about me, but not her other children, for example. As well as the ONS register, Norcap also have one. It's not expensive to join Norcap, but even if you don't do that, please take a look at their website as it contains very useful information. And as Gerry said, they are a proper organisation, and also a registered charity. Good luck with your search - please just proceed with caution and with support, for your own sake. Love Mandy :)

Deborah's birth should have been registered by her mother and the entry should be in the index, the adoption wouldn't interfere with that. Finding the birth won't get you far, but it would pin down the date, which might be useful later. Lots of Browns, not many Deborahs, can only see one Deborah Brown with mother's maiden name Brown (that's assuming father not named), Dec qtr 1951, but that's in Cheltenham district. your grandmother's birth cert should have 3 dates -- date of birth, date of registration, date of issue. The first two are in boxes copied from the entry in the register, the last is just the date the copy was issued.

Hi Catherine, I don't know whether this will help you or not. I sent for a birth certificate of someone who married one of my rellies. When it arrived, it had "adopted" written in the margin. The birth cert actually showed the name and maiden name of the natural mother. You may be lucky and find the original birth cert of your half - sister. I know this won't tell you the adoptive surname but it would give you more information to give to the relevant authorities which would prove your relationship. Your Gran's birth cert would be a re-issue - maybe she'd lost her original one and wanted to apply for a passport or something. The date at the bottom is always the date of issue. Jill

Catherine I saw, on another thread yesterday, mention of http://www.norcap.org.uk/ a charity that helps in adoption . Don't know if any good as I have not used. Best of luck gerry

Not been on this site for a while, even though been a member for years. Could someone offer any advice on adoption. My mother had a child pre 1955(poss 1952-3) she was unmarried and the child was given up for adoption, before my mum died I recall her telling me certain info, the child was a girl called Deborah. I assume the surname would have been Brown as that was my mothers name. She was born on Christams Eve in Manchester. That's about all I know. I have been looking on the GRO site at the adoption info and it mentions an adoptive register you can look at, but you have to know certain criteria, like the adoptive name of the person. This is where I get stuck because if the person was adopted surely the name would have been changed so how can you know the adopted name? Or does the child keep the birth name? I am the only surviving relative and this person would be my half sister, but don't know if I can prove it. Also looking at my grandmothers birth cert says she was born in 1902, yet the date the registrar signed/stamped it is 1953, is this a re-issue or did she never register the birth till then. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Catherine