Birth Certificate: Adopted

[ambers]

Hi all,



How do other people of my generation feel about being adopted

Ann

Hi Ann,

I wasn't ignoring you, I hoped someone with more knowledge than myself would reply to your questions.

On the certificate I was asking about the parents were pretending to be married, the father actually  Registered the birth himself, as he did with all the other children.
To make things more complicated, we believe that the Lodger was actually the father of this child. The mother married this Lodger two years later and it was this man that adopted him.
 
I believe if the parents weren't married that the fathers name could be entered on the certificate as long as they were both present at the time and he agreed to it.

I have seen a few certificates where the fathers name has been left blank and they were given their mothers maiden name....as was the case of a friend of mine who was adopted at a few months old in 1966.

Maybe you should start a Thread about how Adopted people feel of your generation.

Ambers

[Colin Cruddace]

Hello All,

I appreciate that this is a very sensitive subject so I hope I don't inadvertantly upset anyone.

I have been thinking about how the registration of births would occur. Obviously a birth can only happen once and the original details registered at the local Register Office, who then submit their quarterly returns to the GRO.

The original entries of that certificate cannot be altered but a separate column is available for comments. If some later details are added to the original, then the GRO details have to be be updated and a new certificate is returned by the local office, which should be recorded in the quarter it was sent, but the reference would be different to the usual ones, something like "Maidstone, see J44 23".

For example, the registration of Joe Bloggs in the 3rd quarter of 1949 with the above reference would mean that it is an amendment to a certificate on the Maidstone returns on page 23 of the June quarter 1944.

They may have a different system where adoption is involved, but perhaps it might be worth looking into.

Regards,
Colin

[Just Kia]

I have copies of the original birth certs (1935/1936) and the adoption certs of both my grandfather and his sister.
My grandfather's name was changed completely, while his sister kept her forenames and only her surname changed.
The GRO index entries for both are under their birth names, there isn't any amendment refs next to them and they are not indexed at all under their adopted names.

Goodness knows how either one would have sent for their birth cert if they applied in their adopted names.

[Gillg]

JustKia

As you say, the birth names only are given in the GRO index, so if a child doesn't know he was adopted, or even if he does, but does not know his birth name, he won't be able to find it without applying to Kew and receiving counselling.  This is what happened to my adopted brother, born 1936. 

My own children, adopted in the 70s, are more fortunate.  We were given full details of their natural parents by the adoption society, right down to physical appearance, school achievements, etc.  It's intriguing to look at what they have inherited - good at sport, for example as well as curly hair and eye colouring.

[dawnsh]

There is a link to the GRO and adoptions here

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Registeringlifeevents/Birthandadoptionrecords/Adoptionrecords/index.htm

There are no links on either the GRO birth index or Adopted Childrens Index to each event, to prevent people trying to match up one with the other.

However, there are clues on the short birth cert which is issued at the time of adoption.

If adopted, the place of birth will just say England not a county or reg district, and if there is a 5digit/3digit reference number in one corner of the cert, this is the adoption entry number, (entry number and volume.)

I know that some people have received long birth certs only to find the adoption annotation in the far right column purely by chance. Even today people who were adopted in the 40's and 50's have to receive councelling before they get to see their files if they still exist, many do not. There are application forms on the link above.

And for info, there are no facilities now at Kew for looking at the adopted childrens index or any GRO index, they've all be removed.

Dawn

[Jean McGurn]

, was there some 'waiting period' before children were adopted?

Thanks for any advice

Could be wrong but I think in the 1940's a child would live with the adopting family for 12 months before the official adoption went through.

I was told that my birth mother had told the court she had changed her mind and wanted to keep me but the court decided otherwise and the adoption went through.

Jean

[Just Kia]

I can't speak for any others but my grandfather and his sister were only a few weeks old when they were adopted (to different families).
My grandfather's sister was born Jan 9 and adopted Mar 5.
My grandfather was born Jun 17 and adopted Sep 16.
The third child was kept by his parents.
My grandfather knew of his brother (child 3) but never knew he had a sister, both are deceased now.

[carol8353]

My auntie adopted a baby in 1958- she had to wait 12 months to adopt her officially.The very day they went to court to sign the papers,the natural mother changed her mind(her circumstances had changed) and she wanted her back.

My aunt and uncle were devastated.They had to wait a couple of years before they were allowed to try again.My (adopted ) cousin has just celebrated her 50th birthday!

Carol

[natnig]

I have just found out that i was adopted age 4. I have always thought my adoptive dad was my real dad until  a family secret was revealed.
I requested birth and adoption certificates guessing the names. Paid £47 to have them with in 5 days. My real certificate states my mothers maiden name and father unknown! At the bottom it states adoption. Then i have the adoption certificate stating the mans name whom i believed was my father. At 28 its very painful and sad to think your life was based on lies!
Hope this helps.
Natalie