Adopted Children's Names Disclosed on Scotland's People

[carolineasb]

It has always been possible to see the original birth entry/certificate of an adoptee at any Scotland's People centre (not online at home given births only viewable over 100 years and formal adoption only started in 1930). The adopted entry showed on the index as NRH but not viewable at the SP Centre. I only know this as I have two family members who were adopted and marked as such on their original birth entry as per any other RCE entry and, as I know their adopted name, I could see the adopted entry shown as at NRH.

[Forfarian]

It has always been possible to see the original birth certificate of an adopted child if you know the child's birth name. It will be annotated 'Adopted' but it will not tell you the adopted name.

If you only know the adopted name you can see the adoption certificate, but you are not allowed to see the original birth certificate if that is the only information you have.

In my tree I have 58 adoptees born in Scotland, and I have seen 14 of these people's original birth certificates. In most of these cases I have been able to do this because the mother has subsequently married and she and her new husband have formally adopted the child. A few more were traceable because they were adopted by biological aunts or uncles.

[ikas]

I stand corrected. Thanks for the info Forfarian and carolinesb.

However I am aghast at the intrusion into the privacy of an adoptee that represents. Some adoptees, rightly or wrongly, are not aware they have been adopted. I shudder to think of the impact of seeing that revealed on a birth index for the first time. I am struggling to understand why anyone would think that was acceptable practice. I hope this prompts a reconsideration of what should be included in a publicly available index.