Unofficial adoption

[Val6264]

If the lady is still alive, she may not know she was adopted, and/or she may not want to be reminded of her past?
Whatever - it's her decision.

If she has died, maybe her family don't know of her past?
And maybe they don't want to know.

No worries, we have absolutely no intentions of contacting the person or her family and if I do find anything out I would go through official channels before disclosing it to anyone else. I fully appreciate the sensitive nature of this enquiry.

[dawnsh]

I can offer a really tiny glimmer, not hope exactly.

The government has introduced plans for the descendants of deceased adopted people to have access to the adoption files through an intermediary so that they can trace the family trees of their birth families.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/relatives-of-adopted-adults-now-able-to-trace-family-tree

I don't know if this will work in reverse though for the families where the child was adopted out.

It could be worth while making your own investigations. Maybe try BAAF and their services

http://www.adoptionsearchreunion.org.uk/default.htm

[ScouseBoy]

It is unlikely that the birth date would be changed.  The GRO would create a new birth record ( I believe)      showing the new adoptive parents surname.

So if you examine the index for that registration district, you could look for a birth on the same date with the same first names and same gender.

The way that I understand the system, that may work.

I wouldn't assume that the forenames remain the same!

True.  But I suppose it depends on the age of the child  at adoption?

If the child has been called Tommy all his life  until adoption at the age of 5  or older,     Surely it would confuse him even more  to be  given a new  name, it would take his sense of identity away, wouldn't it?

[Val6264]

Thank you for the links Dawn, that's very helpful, much appreciated. Val.

[Val6264]

It is unlikely that the birth date would be changed.  The GRO would create a new birth record ( I believe)      showing the new adoptive parents surname.

So if you examine the index for that registration district, you could look for a birth on the same date with the same first names and same gender.

The way that I understand the system, that may work.

I wouldn't assume that the forenames remain the same!

True.  But I suppose it depends on the age of the child  at adoption?

If the child has been called Tommy all his life  until adoption at the age of 5  or older,     Surely it would confuse him even more  to be  given a new  name, it would take his sense of identity away, wouldn't it?

We think this child was adopted before the age of 3 months therefore it's highly unlikely they would have kept it's original names unfortunately.