A 67-year-old woman had a male child (in England) in 1979 that she
placed into adoption.

She knows the date and place of birth, and his names on the birth
certificate (which have probably changed).

Is there any administrative machinery by which she can now trace her
child?

(Ignore the rights of the child to trace his parents and the
possibility that the child may not wish to be traced.)

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Request for Question Clarification by jem-ga on 03 Sep 2002 05:41 PDT

hi probono :)

i know of someone in this exact position (i.e. a person who was born
in England and placed for adoption) - the mother and the person in
question have recently established contact with each other and I could
ask them how this initial contact was acheived.

would this purely personal explanation suffice as an answer or would
you prefer an answer that was based solely on web research?  i can't
guarantee that this person's answer will provide any evidence that
there is effective "administrative machinery" which can allow the
tracing of a child who's original birth name has changed (see
leli-ga's excellent commentary and links supplied below). it may be,
for example, that the birth mother did, in fact, know the adopted
child's changed name, etc.

in the meantime, i've left your question unlocked in case another
researcher wishes to provide you with further comments and/or a more
immediate answer (it may take me a few days to contact the person in
question).

kind regards
jem - ga

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Clarification of Question by probonopublico-ga on 03 Sep 2002 07:22 PDT

Hi, Jem-ga & Leli

My thanks to you both!

An answer based on someone's personal experience will do fine -
provided that the Mum initiated the trace. Please take as long as it
takes!

I will certainly explore the links that you have both provided.

Maybe a change of name has to be registered anyway??? 

Kindest regards

Bryan

Hi probono :)

Many thanks for your kind words :) As per your request of 5th
September, I am re-posting my final comment as an answer to your
original question - thank you for allowing me the opportunity of doing
so - that is most gracious and very much appreciated :)

Thank also to Leli-ga for her additional comments at the beginning of
the postings :)

Re-posted excerpt follows:

<Hi probono :) 
 
Just to confirm (as per clarification requests of 3rd Sept), I did ask
the person in question how they and their birth mother got in contact
and in their case, the Mum did NOT initiate the trace - in this case,
the child initiated the search for the Mum by hiring a private
investigator.

Kind regards
jem-ga :)>

Thanks Googlers!

Marvellous tries ... Leads me to believe that it is not possible.

Thanks again

Bryan

Hello probonopublico

I'm afraid there's no helpful answer to this.  Even paid searchers
won't take on cases where the mother doesn't know the post-adoption
name.

The only official suggestion is the adoption contact register:

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/nsbase/registration/Adoptions/AdoptionContactRegister.asp

Regards - Leli

Meant to post this link too:

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/nsbase/registration/Adoptions/AdoptionContactUs.asp

Hello again

No helpful news, I'm afraid.  Jem's idea of getting advice from
someone who has succeeded in making contact despite lack of official
help may be the best route for the lady in question.  Or, in some
cases, I believe the original adoption agency may be able to help.

"Under current legislation birth relatives have no legal right to
information about adopted adults. The only formal way they can express
their wish to be contacted is to pay to put their details on the
Adoption Contact Register. If the adopted person also registers then
the birth relatives' details are passed on to the adopted person, who
may or may not desire to make contact. Yet the Register has received
little publicity and few people know of its existence. For most birth
parents it is an agonising wait with little hope of a successful link
being made."

http://www.warwick.ac.uk/news/pr/law/41

The British Association for Adoption and Fostering wants to change the
current situation:

"All adults separated by adoption should have access to a legally
regulated service to assist them in seeking information."

http://www.baaf.org.uk/pages/news/release29_06_00.htm

Hi, Googlers!

Many thanks for your good work!

I have now posted a supplementary question ...

Over to you.

Kindest regards

Bryan

Hi probono :)

Just to confirm (as per clarification requests of 3rd Sept), I did ask
the person in question how they and their birth mother got in contact
and in their case, the Mum did NOT initiate the trace - in this case,
the child initiated the search for the Mum by hiring a private
investigator.

I know this isn't the answer you were looking for, hence I've posted
it as a comment.

Kind regards
jem-ga :)

Hi, Jem

Thanks for trying anyway.

You are a real gem!

Please post an 'answer' and claim your reward.

Regards

Bryan