Important Notice
Support for families
To help adoptive families, Adopt London provide advice, guidance and counselling.
The agency can also complete an assessment of support needs and offer workshops, training and support groups for adoptive parents, with opportunities to meet other adoptive families.
Support for adopted children
If you have just discovered you are adopted, or already know and have just turned 18, it is completely natural to want to know about your origins. This does not always mean you are unhappy with your adoptive family. Whatever your reasons, it is always helpful to talk about your feelings with a trusted friend or relative.
If you know your birth name, you can get a copy of your original birth certificate from the general register office. This will have the name of your birth mother and possibly your birth father. You can then contact our post adoption worker or begin the search yourself.
For every adoption, there is a file that contains interviews from your birth family, social workers and your adoptive parents. It should also have information on your birth and adoption, including what decisions were made and by who.
You should find out if your birth parents or family have registered on the adoption contact register and entered their details in the hope that you will make contact. The service will let them know you are trying to reach them. For a fee, you can also register your wish for contact.
The search for your birth family can be emotional and you will need to be prepared for all possibilities. You may feel apprehensive, scared of rejection, angry, or you may just want to confront your birth parents on the decision.
Adoption support workers are trained social workers who can provide counselling and give advice on who can help you further. They will help you to prepare for when you do meet your birth family.