How can I find my original birth or adoption record?
In most cases, a child's birth will have been registered within six weeks of their date of birth at a Register Office and a birth certificate will have been issued. The record may have been registered by one or both parents or other informant such as a social worker and will show who the mother is, and sometimes who the father is.
Once a legal adoption takes place, a new 'adoption certificate' is created showing the child's new name and new adoptive parent(s). Since 1927, all adoptions granted by the courts in England and Wales, and some overseas adoptions, are recorded in the Adopted Children Register which is held by the General Register Office (GRO) in Southport.
Most adopted children therefore have two birth records; the original birth certificate being superseded by the adoption certificate.
Click here for information from Directgov on how to trace your original birth certificate.
Click here for information from Directgov on how to order your adoption certificate.