RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => Topic started by: queencorgi1 on Thursday 01 March 18 08:22 GMT (UK)
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This is a long shot, but any information would be welcome. In the 1970s my mother worked at an adoption agency in Knightsbridge near Harrods. I remember distinctly going with her on a number of occasions when she would disappear inside a building and come out with a baby. My job, sitting in the back of the car, was to hold the baby while we then drove to somewhere else and handed it over to 'its parents'. Being very young I simply thought how nice it was to see how pleased the people were with their babies: I don't remember ever wondering where the babies had come from and I'm not even sure I knew what 'adoption' meant! I can't remember the name of the agency and I don't know what my mother's role was apart from this transportation of the babies. If anyone knows anything more I should be very interested. I should also like to add that I now feel deeply sad for the mothers of those children, many of whom may never have seen them again. A memory very much of its time!
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I had a quick look in "Where to find adoption records" by Georgina Stafford.
One entry stood out.
Listed as The Knightsbridge, but that's a colloquial name for the National Childrens Adoption Association. They operated from 1917-1978 at various addresses including 71 Knightsbridge.
I googled "National Childrens Adoption Association" and not surprisingly there were several hits.
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Thank you! Yes, it was 71 Knightsbridge! So now I know it definitely was the NCAA. Most grateful.
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Hi There
My Mum had a baby on 13th July 1966 (before she met my Dad and had me and my brothers) and the baby girl was adopted through this agency. I found all the paperwork after my Mum passed away and I would love to find my half sister.
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Dear JWatt
Thank you for replying and I am so interested to hear about your half-sister. Yes, I do remember distinctly that the boss was Mrs Halpin, so this is the agency my mother worked for.
I do wish you every success with finding your half-sister. It is a painful situation for everyone concerned.
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Hi Jwatt1975,
Your best bet is to take a DNA test.
If your half sister is looking, she might have already taken one.
Ancestry have a 25% Mother's Day offer on at the moment, and so worth a try.
Best Wishes, Romilly.
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Hi Jwatt
Welcome to Rootschat ;D
Our guidelines for posting contains links for finding living people
http://www.rootschat.com/help/posting_guide.php
However, unless you know her name after adoption there is no way of finding her by the normal methods.
If you haven't done so already, register with the GRO in the hopes that she is looking for her birth family
https://www.gov.uk/adoption-records/the-adoption-contact-register
or here
http://www.adoptionsearchreunion.org.uk/default.htm
or here
http://www.missing-you.net/categories/adoptions.php
The chatters here aren't trained intermediaries and adoptions were usually of a sensistive nature, any advice we give can only be general.
It might also be worth asking the adoptions team at your local council if they can give you any advice.
Dawn
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I was adopted through this agency.
The letter (above) is almost identical to one that my dear birth mother received some months after I was relinquished.
Sadly, despite words to the contrary, no photograph was included.
She had to wait for nearly fifty years before I was able to locate her and reunite.
She lived her life feeling guilty for what she had been encouraged to do.
My adoptive mother, now approaching 100 years of age, still remembers collecting me - a smartly dressed nurse, carrying me, emerged through a door into the 'waiting room' and handed me over.
She remembers having to send in photographs of me during the first nine months, until the adoption was formalised, but presumably they were destroyed rather than being shared with my birth mother as promised. There were certainly no such photographs amongst my records.
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Hello,
I too was adopted through the NCAA IN Knightsbridge in 1954. My parents kept all the letters from that time, they were passed onto me. Sadly we had a flood and some were water damaged but of course still remain a precious link to my past.
My parents went to the office to (check me out )haha. Apparently a nurse carried me out to them, I was told I gave my dad a big grin and that sealed the deal. I had the best parents I could have ever wished for.
I did a TV documentary programme for the BBC IN 1974, it was called “Who was my mother” the programme helped to change the law in parliament that now’s allows adopted children easier access to their birth records.
I did trace my birth mother, but she had remarried and hadn’t told anyone about me and wanted it left that way. She did have a 14 year old son when I was born so I knew I had a half brother somewhere.
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I also was adopted from the National Children Adoption Association in Knightsbridge, London in 1951 and have an identical letter that was sent to my birth mother after the adoption had been finalised. I don't know if she got a photograph although the letter says one is enclosed. I only received my adoption file 8 years ago when I discovered I was adopted. I was 65 years old then and am still very traumatised by the secrets and lies.
I was adopted by my mum and dad who lived in Liverpool and when I was about 5 years old a man and a woman visited us at home. The woman picked me up and seemed very pleased to see me. It was only a short visit, I don't think they even took their coats off. I have since found out that my birth mother married an American less than a year after my adoption and they returned to live in the US in 1957. I wonder now if she somehow found me and wanted to see me before she left. She had no more children.
Another thing that makes me wonder is that when I was about 8 years old a lady came to talk to my mum. I was made to leave the room. Soon after a little girl who was a year older than me came to stay with us. I was told she was my foster sister and her parents were unable to look after her for a while. She was with us for best part of a year. As I said, we lived in Liverpool but the little girl, Susan, was from London. Could she have been something to do with the NCAA?
I found my birth mother's family. I have 4 uncles still alive in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand and about 25 first cousins scattered far and wide. I'm still searching for my birth father's family. I can't begin to say how hard this is.
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Hi Shelagh Teresa,
There are lots of Facebook Groups that help people to research their birth parents, I don’t know if you’ve tried this?
There’s also Search Angels, who will assist you if you ask. I would enter Search Angels into the search facility on Facebook and see what comes up.
Best of luck with your search,
Romilly.
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Hi Romilly
Thank you for your reply.
I have tried a few Facebook groups and various people have tried to help me. I have also done DNA tests with Ancestry and 23&me, uploaded my data to My Heritage and GEDmatch and FTdna. My birth parents were both from Ireland and Irish records are not the easiest to search.
I have a first cousin match on my birth father's side but he was also adopted. I'm pretty sure I've found his birth father (deceased) but still can't find mine. In fact if I wasn't here I'd say he didn't exist because I can't even find a birth record!
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My brother was adopted through this agency. When he married, my mother offered him the correspondence with the agency, but he turned it down, saying that our parents were the only parents he wanted. Much later in life he regretted this and after our parents died he set about finding his heritage. We had a great deal of help from various sources, including RootsChatters, and he was able to make contact with his birth mother's brother and various cousins.
I was the miracle baby who was born to my parents later, after they had been told that they would never be able to have children. One elderly aunt inquired whether my parents would be sending my brother back, now that they had one of their own! We were a very close family and my brother was my hero. I also became friends with my brothers cousins in those later years.
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Shelagh Teresa,
Something that might be worth trying is to upload to the Living DNA Site. I’ve tested with them, in addition to Ancestry and 23andme. Like you, I’ve also uploaded to My Heritage, FTDNA and Gedmatch.
The reason that I am suggesting Living DNA is because they give the most detailed breakdown of British Isles ethnicities,and this might help you to pin down exact areas of Ireland to concentrate on.
If you could persuade your 1st cousin on your Birth Father’s side to also upload to that Site, it should assist you with sorting matches.
Another thought is, - have you tried doing a ‘Quick and Dirty Tree’ on Ancestry using your DNA matches? I’m a novice to this, but am in the process of doing one to try to identify my ever elusive Paternal Grandfather. Try googling this, and it will explain it better than I can!
Best wishes Romilly.