Adoption Question

[Loopy Linda in La La Land]

Would an outside party, no relation, doesn't even actually know the person, be able to do an adoption search, pay the fee and get the information that the other party 'doesn't want to be contacted'

I think someone I know may have been duped

Linda

[clematised]

I would think Linda that if they approached the GRO adoption section and spoke to them, they would be able to confirm if they had been approached about adoption certificates and information on the adoption, I think the appointed mediators would have to go through them but we do have someone on site who is a professional researcher so may know more. (Anthony M on this board)
It cost upwards of £500 for someone to take on mediation so not a cheap sort of thing to do if you are not involved, for curiosity purposes or so on, at one time adoptees were opted out of a claim against a family will but now they are included so it is one to consider if that was the reason.

Edna

[Olde Crone Holden]

Linda

As Edna says, only accredited adoption agents can access adoption files. No one else can. If the person was not an adoption agent then yes, you are right to be concerned that someone has ripped someone off.

OC

[Loopy Linda in La La Land]

Thanks OC. I think he has definitely been ripped off then, he told me she only charged him for the adoption search fee and then came up the info that the other party didn't wish to be contacted.

He won't disclose how much he paid her.

Linda

[Olde Crone Holden]

Adoption search fee? I wonder what was meant by that? You can search the adoption register till you are blue in the face but unless you know the birth name you cannot connect the two. Only the Registrar General can do that and he will only do that for an accredited adoption agent.

Where did he find this researcher, do you know?

OC

[JudithM]

Was the fee £15 or £30, which is what it costs to add yourself to the Adoption Contact Register if a) you were adopted, or b) you are the birth relative of an adopted person? In which case the adopted person/birth relative who was being searched for may well have registered a wish not to be contacted. https://www.gov.uk/adoption-records/...ntact-register

[clematised]

https://www.gov.uk/adoption-records/...ntact-register you have to pay to go on the register, you have to pay to search the register, I think only a person qualified to access the register can search it, you can state on the register that you do not wish to be contacted.

Edna

[Olde Crone Holden]

But why would you pay a third party to search the adoption contact register when you can register yourself on the Adoption Contact Register? (As both Edna and Judith have pointed out above). If you register on the Adoption Contact Register, THEY do the search, not a third party.

OC

[clematised]

http://www.adoptionsearchreunion.org...ntermediaries/ this site is the one that we have been looking at recently which includes the current legislation and recently we looked at it to do with this question for Sue1 I think but I cant find what I was looking for on it, where you had to be an intermediary to do the search or to ask for the information from GRO but as I cant find it OC I cant be sure what I am talking about sorry

Edna

[Olde Crone Holden]

I think that a birth relative can put their name on the Adoption Contact Register but only the adoptee can make contact and they can only do that through the intermediary.

So, I could pay the fee and put my name on the ACR to say that I wanted to be in contact with a birth relative who had been adopted that info would be flagged against birth relative's name name and SHOULD THEY EVER REQUEST THEIR ORIGINAL BIRTH CERT through the proper channels then the adoption agent would be informed that contact was requested by a birth relative. If they never requested her original BC then she would never get to know I wanted contact.

OC

[clematised]

https://www.adoptionsearchreunion.org.uk/default.htm this was the one I was looking for OC it was on Wallaby's recent thread where she asked for help for an adopted friend check for brothers, it covers new legislation about intermediaries

Edna

[clematised]

I think that a birth relative can put their name on the Adoption Contact Register but only the adoptee can make contact and they can only do that through the intermediary.

So, I could pay the fee and put my name on the ACR to say that I wanted to be in contact with a birth relative who had been adopted that info would be flagged against birth relative's name name and SHOULD THEY EVER REQUEST THEIR ORIGINAL BIRTH CERT through the proper channels then the adoption agent would be informed that contact was requested by a birth relative. If they never requested her original BC then she would never get to know I wanted contact.

OC

Yes OC or the Family member Birth Mother or sibling can do the same but ask for no contact so this is what may have happened in this case where the intermediary has checked and the other party has listed No Contact

Edna

[Loopy Linda in La La Land]

What happened was.... he went on a site on FB asking about his birth parents and someone said they could help him.

Then all I can get out of him is what I posted as the start, he won't say what he paid, or how, but I have now found this person also has a website and is running a business doing searches

Linda

[Olde Crone Holden]

Linda

Well, if he paid either more than £15 or more than £30, he was ripped off because he has paid someone else to do exactly what he could have done himself. A bit like paying Ancestry to order a birth cert for you instead of ordering it yourself for a third of the cost!

I have had a google and there are one or two "adoption search" sites which are a bit misleading in my opinion bcause if you read them very carefully, they do not say they will act as intermediaries, they say they will "help you to approach the correct authority". We do that on here for nothing!

OC

[Loopy Linda in La La Land]

Thank you OC

I will try to find out how much he paid her AND how he got the money to her!!!

Linda

[Olde Crone Holden]

Linda

If you do feel he has been ripped off, you could suggest that he spends another £30 and puts himself on the ACR, be interesting to see if he gets the same result.

OC

[Loopy Linda in La La Land]

Great idea OC

Linda