Archive Website of the UK government

Finding your original birth details if you are adopted

If you were adopted through a court in England or Wales and are aged 18 years or over, you can apply for a certificate of your original birth entry and try to find information about your origins.

If you were born in England or Wales but adopted in Scotland, Northern Ireland or overseas, you need to contact the General Register Office for that country to access your own birth records.

• General Register Office for Scotland Opens new window

• General Register Office for Northern Ireland Opens new window

How to apply

To obtain the relevant forms:

• you can download the forms below in English or Welsh
• or you can call the General Register Office on 0151 471 4830 to request the forms

Once you've completed your form, post it to: Adoptions section, Room C202, General Register Office, Trafalgar Rd, Southport PR8 2HH. Or you could fax it to: 0151 471 4755.

What happens next depends whether you were adopted before or after 1975.

If you were adopted before 1975, you will need to attend a meeting with an adoption advisor. If you were adopted after 1975, you may request a meeting or receive the information directly. Where applicable, an adoption advisor from your chosen organisation will contact you to arrange an interview.

You also have the option of approaching an approved intermediary agency about access to birth records to help make contact with a birth relative.

• Download 'Access to birth records application form - England and Wales' (PDF, 41K)

• Download 'Access to birth records application form - overseas' (PDF, 33K)

• Help with PDF files

If you are a birth relative of an adopted person

If you are a birth relative of an adopted person, you can apply to make contact with an adopted person through an approved intermediary agency. For further information on intermediary services you can contact your local authority's adoption team, a voluntary adoption team, a voluntary adoption agency or an adoption support agency.

An intermediary agency liaises with the General Register Office to find relevant details including the name of the organisation or court involved in the adoption, and also for details in the Adoption Contact Register that enable an application for an adoption certificate.

All this information can be used by an intermediary agency to decide whether to proceed, but this depends on the views of the adopted person.

• Find your local authority Opens new window

Further information

Whether you were adopted before or after 1975 affects how you access your adoption records. Use the links below to find out more.

• Were you adopted before or after 1975?

• Old adoption files and what they contain