How can you help me trace my birth relatives?

Step two - tracing your birth relatives

Having obtained as much information as possible about your birth and adoption, if you are interested in tracing your birth family then please contact us. Although we are not a tracing service, we will put you in touch with agencies who can help including the adoption contact register and NORCAP. We will also tell you if any of your birth relatives have already made contact with us to say they would like to get in touch with you.

Tracing your birth relatives can be a traumatic experience in which you undergo a mixture of emotions. It is impossible to predict how easy or successful the search will be because so much depends on your birth relatives' circumstances since your adoption. It could take anything from a few days to a few years and you may never find the person you are looking for. If a reunion does take place, it could be a success or a disappointment as your birth relatives may differ from your expectations.

All enquiries will be treated as confidential and we promise not to share any information about you with your birth relatives without your consent. Although we recommend that you involve your adoptive parents in the tracing process, we will not tell them against your wishes.

Adoption contact register

The adoption contact register was established in 1993 to reunite adoptees and birth parents when they both want to get in touch. It works by enabling anyone involved in adoption to register their interest in finding their birth relatives. If you and a birth relative both register, then the adoption contact register will inform each of you that the other has registered. Although your relatives will not be given any information about you, you will be given their name and address, making it entirely your decision whether to get in touch.

You will not be obliged to contact any birth relatives who have registered, and could just use the adoption contact register to satisfy your curiosity about whether your birth family would welcome contact from you. If you do decide to contact them, then this service will have removed one more worry for you by showing that they will welcome contact.

You can either register and pay online at the adoption contact register or print an application form to send through the post.

NORCAP

NORCAP is a charity offering support to anyone effected by adoption and runs the UK's largest adoption contact register. It also offers to act as an intermediary between you and your birth relatives to help remove the initial pressure. Registration costs just £10 and you can download a form from NORCAP. Using the intermediary service once a birth relative has been found costs an additional £15.

Can you provide me with emotional support?