Adoption Index Records

[stanmapstone]

If you do find an entry in the Adopted Childrens Index, you can't just order the certificate with the reference numbers as you would with a birth, marriage or death.

You have to give the adopted name, and the date of birth which isn't shown in the index. All adopted children are given a short form birth cert, if you have a copy of this you will know the date of birth.

I think you may also have to give the names of the adoptive parents too as you do with a recent birth.

Dawn

See http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Registeringlifeevents/Familyhistoryandresearch/Birthmarriageanddeathcertificates/DG_175654

Stan

[Gillg]

My adopted brother was born in 1936.  His birth name is recorded on the GRO index and is shown on FreeBMD.  Although I believe there is sometimes a note made on this index that the person has been adopted, in his case there is none.  The names which he was given by my parents, so his adoptive and legal names, do not appear elsewhere on this index.  In order to discover his birth name he had to apply to Kew and receive counselling, after which he was given a copy of his original birth certificate.  This was about 5 years ago, so the procedure may have changed since then, of course.  The intention was to protect both the birth parents and the adopted child, should either not wish to be traced.  At that time if the birth mother wished to contact her child this would be recorded, and if her child discovered his original birth details and expressed a wish to contact his birth mother the two would be put in touch with each other though that office.

I believe that if the adopted person is dead, then only very close relatives will be permitted to receive this information. 

Gillg

[stanmapstone]

See Find your original birth or adoption record
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Registeringlifeevents/Birthandadoptionrecords/Adoptionrecords/DG_175567

Stan

[tesscawley]

There is only ever one entry in the Birth Index and that is the birth record. This shows the name given to the child at birth. If the child is then adopted it will subsequently be marked "adopted".

There is no easy link between the Birth Index at the GRO and The Adoption Index. The Adoption Index contains the name of the adopted child, his / her new name.

What the Index does give you is the year of birth and date of registration of adoption through the court. Therefore if a child is born in October 1956 and adopted from birth you can expect it to go through the courts roughly six months later. So by deduction you would look at the first six months of the Index for 1957. Therefor in the Index of 1957 this entry would show a birth of 1956 but the date of entry couldn't be before December 1956 / January 1957.

[Gillg]

But as I remarked earlier, in the case of my adopted brother, although his original birth name is shown in the GRO Index, there is no note against it to say that he was adopted.  (I've looked at the scan of the original on Free BMD.)  So that clue isn't always there to help the search and you would need to go through all the boys or girls born around the birth date you have.  Even the place of birth wouldn't help - my brother was born in Cornwall and adopted in Lancashire.

Gillg

[Just Kia]

The index isn't marked as adopted  the birth certificate is maked as adopted.

[tesscawley]

Correct. You need to look at the actual Birth Certificate, it is that that has the notation of "Adopted" on it, not the Index Records

[KarMa77]

Just a thought - "adopted" on a Birth Certificate does not always mean Adopted out of a family, it can mean Step parent Adoption - the Mother may marry and the husband wishes to adopt the child, the Biological mother has to adopt the child too this is due to a technicality and parental responsibility, it is legally similar to a full adoption - and there will be an adoption file, social service reports, court papers, an entry in the adopted children register and an adoption certificate, there will be no public online index of any adoption be it handled through local authority or agency or step parent.
The adopted parents will be entered on the adoption certificate - the Mother will appear in her married name with no reference to her maiden or former names.