As you may be aware, Minister Roderic O’Gorman, TD, published the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022 on January 12, 2022. The Bill is now before the Dáil for debate before being passed into law. Please be advised, the Bill is not yet enacted and all Information and Tracing procedures are still bound by current legislation. This page will be updated should any changes in legislation be brought into law.
Contact the Information and Tracing Unit:
Telephone: 01 2309300 (option 3)
Email: tracing@aai.gov.ie
Please follow the links below for further information, including how you may join the National Adoption Contact Preference Register
INFORMATION FOR BIRTH PARENTS
Information for Birth Parents
You may be thinking about taking the first step towards contact with your son or daughter. We welcome any contact from birth parents seeking information on their adopted sons or daughters. Even if you are not ready for contact, you will have important medical information that we could share with your son or daughter. Many adopted people have no knowledge of their medical histories and this information can be of great benefit to an adopted person and their children.
There are two steps that you can take to begin the process
Join the National Adoption Contact Preference Register.
The contact register is a way of letting us know your wishes about contact with your son or daughter. Joining the Contact Register is voluntary and contact will only happen where both the adopted person and their birth relative wish to have contact. The Contact Register is not a tracing service, nothing happens unless the other person joins.
If you join the Contact Register we will check to see if we can connect you with your son or daughter. You do not have to have contact if you are not ready. At the moment there are lots more adopted people than birth parents on the Contact Register so we urge you to join if you are a birth parent. If you are unsure of the details of your son or daughter's birth, please contact us so that we can talk to you. We also understand you may have placed more than one child for adoption. Please get in touch so we can help you search or put information on the file.
More information about the National Adoption Contact Preference Register and application forms below.
Contact the agency who placed your son or daughter for adoption. To begin a search, you will need to contact the adoption agency which dealt with your child's adoption and ask them to assist you in tracing your child. If you know the name of the agency you can contact them directly. If you are unsure or don’t know you can ask us for this information. If you do not wish to get in touch with the agency, please talk to us so we can help you and talk about an alternative service. Many of the adoption agencies are closed and the records for the majority of them have been transferred to other bodies such as Tusla - The Child and Family Agency. You can check their website to see if they are holding the records for the agency you are looking for at https://www.tusla.ie/services/alternative-care/adoption-services/tracing-service/
If you are unsure or do not know the name of the agency please contact the Information and Tracing Unit, Adoption Authority, by email or letter and attach a copy of your identification, and we will write back to you with the name of the agency and their contact details.
Information for other family members
If you are not a birth parent but you believe a family member was adopted and you would like to provide information for them or would like to make contact with them, when you contact us you will need to provide your own identification and evidence of your connection with the person you are seeking.
INFORMATION FOR OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS
If you are not a birth parent but you believe a family member was adopted and you would like to provide information for them or would like to make contact with them, when you contact us you will need to provide your own identification and evidence of your connection with the person you are seeking.
You are welcome to join the National Adoption Contact Preference Register Here
INFORMATION FOR OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS
You may be thinking about taking the first step towards contacting your birth relatives, for example your birth mother, birth father or siblings. All agencies welcome any contact from adopted people searching for information. You will be able to get generic or 'non-identifying' details about your birth parents. Information that could identify your birth parents is not shared without their permission. Your information, such as your name and address, is not shared with your birth parents without your permission.
There are two steps you can take to being the process
- Join the National Adoption Contact Preference Register. Even if you are not ready for contact, we encourage you to think about joining the National Adoption Contact Preference Register. The Contact Register is a way of letting us know your wishes about contact with your birth relatives. Joining the Contact Register is voluntary and contact will only happen where both the adopted person and their birth relative wish to have contact. The Contact Register is not a tracing service, nothing happens unless the other person joins.
- Contact the agency who placed you with your adoptive parents. To begin a search, you will need to contact the adoption agency which dealt with your adoption and ask them to assist you in tracing your birth mother or other family member. If you know the name of the agency you can contact them directly. If you are unsure or don’t know you can ask us for this information. Many of the adoption agencies are closed and the records for the majority of them have been transferred to other bodies such as Tusla/the Child and Family Agency. You can check their website to see if they are holding the records for the agency you are looking for at https://www.tusla.ie/services/alternative-care/adoption-services/tracing-service/
If you do not know the name of the agency please contact the Information and Tracing Unit, Adoption Authority, by email or letter and attach some identification, and we will write back to you with the name of the agency and their contact details.
Although we do not have accurate figures, many women placed more than one child for adoption. There is always the possibility that other brothers or sisters were also adopted. We are only able to link adopted siblings if they both join the Contact Register, or if the birth mother gets in touch with us and lets us know.
You may be thinking about taking the first step towards contacting your birth relatives, for example your birth mother, birth father or siblings. All agencies welcome any contact from adopted people searching for information. You will be able to get generic or 'non-identifying'...
Information for Adopted People
You may be thinking about taking the first step towards contacting your birth relatives, for example your birth mother, birth father or siblings. All agencies welcome any contact from adopted people searching for information. You will be able to get generic or 'non-identifying' details about your birth parents. Information that could identify your birth parents is not shared without their permission. Your information, such as your name and address, is not shared with your birth parents without your permission.
There are two steps you can take to being the process
- Join the National Adoption Contact Preference Register. Even if you are not ready for contact, we encourage you to think about joining the National Adoption Contact Preference Register. The Contact Register is a way of letting us know your wishes about contact with your birth relatives. Joining the Contact Register is voluntary and contact will only happen where both the adopted person and their birth relative wish to have contact. The Contact Register is not a tracing service, nothing happens unless the other person joins.
- Contact the agency who placed you with your adoptive parents. To begin a search, you will need to contact the adoption agency which dealt with your adoption and ask them to assist you in tracing your birth mother or other family member. If you know the name of the agency you can contact them directly. If you are unsure or don’t know you can ask us for this information. Many of the adoption agencies are closed and the records for the majority of them have been transferred to other bodies such as Tusla/the Child and Family Agency. You can check their website to see if they are holding the records for the agency you are looking for at https://www.tusla.ie/services/alternative-care/adoption-services/tracing-service/
If you do not know the name of the agency please contact the Information and Tracing Unit, Adoption Authority, by email or letter and attach some identification, and we will write back to you with the name of the agency and their contact details.
Although we do not have accurate figures, many women placed more than one child for adoption. There is always the possibility that other brothers or sisters were also adopted. We are only able to link adopted siblings if they both join the Contact Register, or if the birth mother gets in touch with us and lets us know.
Information for Adopted People
You may be thinking about taking the first step towards contacting your birth relatives, for example your birth mother, birth father or siblings. All agencies welcome any contact from adopted people searching for information. You will be able to get generic or 'non-identifying' details about your birth parents. Information that could identify your birth parents is not shared without their permission. Your information, such as your name and address, is not shared with your birth parents without your permission.
There are two steps you can take to being the process
- Join the National Adoption Contact Preference Register. Even if you are not ready for contact, we encourage you to think about joining the National Adoption Contact Preference Register. The Contact Register is a way of letting us know your wishes about contact with your birth relatives. Joining the Contact Register is voluntary and contact will only happen where both the adopted person and their birth relative wish to have contact. The Contact Register is not a tracing service, nothing happens unless the other person joins.
- Contact the agency who placed you with your adoptive parents. To begin a search, you will need to contact the adoption agency which dealt with your adoption and ask them to assist you in tracing your birth mother or other family member. If you know the name of the agency you can contact them directly. If you are unsure or don’t know you can ask us for this information. Many of the adoption agencies are closed and the records for the majority of them have been transferred to other bodies such as Tusla/the Child and Family Agency. You can check their website to see if they are holding the records for the agency you are looking for at https://www.tusla.ie/services/alternative-care/adoption-services/tracing-service/
If you do not know the name of the agency please contact the Information and Tracing Unit, Adoption Authority, by email or letter and attach some identification, and we will write back to you with the name of the agency and their contact details.
Although we do not have accurate figures, many women placed more than one child for adoption. There is always the possibility that other brothers or sisters were also adopted. We are only able to link adopted siblings if they both join the Contact Register, or if the birth mother gets in touch with us and lets us know.
Information for Adopted People
You may be thinking about taking the first step towards contacting your birth relatives, for example your birth mother, birth father or siblings. All agencies welcome any contact from adopted people searching for information. You will be able to get generic or 'non-identifying' details about your birth parents. Information that could identify your birth parents is not shared without their permission. Your information, such as your name and address, is not shared with your birth parents without your permission.
There are two steps you can take to being the process
- Join the National Adoption Contact Preference Register. Even if you are not ready for contact, we encourage you to think about joining the National Adoption Contact Preference Register. The Contact Register is a way of letting us know your wishes about contact with your birth relatives. Joining the Contact Register is voluntary and contact will only happen where both the adopted person and their birth relative wish to have contact. The Contact Register is not a tracing service, nothing happens unless the other person joins.
- Contact the agency who placed you with your adoptive parents. To begin a search, you will need to contact the adoption agency which dealt with your adoption and ask them to assist you in tracing your birth mother or other family member. If you know the name of the agency you can contact them directly. If you are unsure or don’t know you can ask us for this information. Many of the adoption agencies are closed and the records for the majority of them have been transferred to other bodies such as Tusla/the Child and Family Agency. You can check their website to see if they are holding the records for the agency you are looking for at https://www.tusla.ie/services/alternative-care/adoption-services/tracing-service/
If you do not know the name of the agency please contact the Information and Tracing Unit, Adoption Authority, by email or letter and attach some identification, and we will write back to you with the name of the agency and their contact details.
Although we do not have accurate figures, many women placed more than one child for adoption. There is always the possibility that other brothers or sisters were also adopted. We are only able to link adopted siblings if they both join the Contact Register, or if the birth mother gets in touch with us and lets us know.
NATIONAL ADOPTION CONTACT PREFERENCE REGISTER
The National Adoption Contact Preference Register
Application for an Adopted Person Seeking Relative
Application for a Relative Seeking Adopted Person
The National Adoption Contact Preference Register Information Leaflet
The National Adoption Contact Preference Register Data Privacy Statement
The National Adoption Contact Preference Register was set up in 2005 as a way for people affected by adoption to make their wishes known about having contact with their birth family members.
If you are an adopted person, or a member of the birth family of an adopted person, you can choose to put your details on the Register. You can state who you would like to have contact with, or who you would like to share information with. You can select the kind of contact you would like or you can select not to have any contact at all. Further down this page you can see what levels of contact you can choose.
When you join the Register, your details are checked against other people on the Register to see if there is match. In other words, this check will find out if there is someone on the Register who is looking for you, or is willing to share information with you.
ORIGINAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE REQUEST
Steps followed by the Adoption Authority where an adopted person has requested a copy of their original birth certificate.
Under existing legislation, an adopted adult has no automatic access to their original birth certificate. This is because all birth certificates contain personal information about the birth mother and her right to confidentiality must be respected.
When the Adoption Authority receives your request for the release of your original birth certificate and has verified your ID, we will acknowledge your request in writing and provide you with the contact details for the adoption agency that will be assisting us with your request. Where the original adoption agency is closed we will give you the contact details for the agency which now holds the files for the closed agency. In most cases this will be one of the offices of Tusla - Child and Family Agency (CFA). You will need to contact the adoption agency directly to inform them that you have lodged a request with the Adoption Authority to release your original birth certificate request.
The Adoption Authority will also write to the adoption agency and ask them to provide us with a report which will assist us in making a decision about the release of your birth certificate. A social worker in the agency will be assigned to your case. Their report to us will include the following:
- Details of their contact with your birth mother and with you and your birth mother's views on the release of the birth certificate;
- Details of your hopes and expectations about getting your birth certificate and the information which may be on the certificate. This is of particular importance in cases where your birth mother may not be open to contact, or where she may be opposed to the release of identifying information;
- A recommendation from the social worker about the release or non-release of your birth certificate based on their findings during the process.
If your birth mother cannot be located the report must outline all the efforts that have been made to find her. If it is discovered that your birth mother is deceased, a copy of her death certificate must be provided with the report.
Generally, the Adoption Authority will release birth certificates where a birth mother has agreed in writing to the birth certificate being released, or where it has been confirmed that she is deceased and there are no other issues arising.
In all other cases the request and social work report is referred to the Board of the Adoption Authority for a decision.
The Adoption Authority may refuse to release a birth certificate where a birth mother has been consulted and is opposed to the release of the birth certificate or where it considers a birth mother’s privacy or safety might be put at risk by the release of the birth certificate.
When a decision has been made by the Adoption Authority the social worker who has provided the report will be informed of the decision. If the birth certificate is being released the social worker will post the birth certificate directly to you.
Provision of Information
We are happy to talk to people on the phone but requests for information must be made in writing and the person making the request must provide identification. No personal information will be provided over the phone.
We require one of the following forms of identification with a written request:
- Passport
- Drivers Licence or Learner Permit
- Public Services Card
- Student Card
- Pension Book
- Senior Citizens Travel Pass
- Medical Card
Photocopies of your chosen form of identification can be sent by post, or a scanned copy can be emailed to us. Please do not send original documents to us with your requests.
There may be a number of terms or expressions used in this website which are unfamiliar to you. To assist we have produced a glossary which explains the most frequently used ones. Please click here
The address for email requests is tracing@aai.gov.ie
The address for postal requests is:
Information & Tracing Unit,
Adoption Authority,
Shelbourne House,
Shelbourne Road,
Ballsbridge,
D04 H6F6
Dublin 4
OR
P.O. Box 9957
Dublin 4
