Registered Charity Number 1046344
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Registered Charity Number 1046344 |
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[ Home ] [ About NPN ] [ Contacts ] [ Birthparents Rights ] [ Membership ] [ Notice Board ] Birth Parents’ Rights In respect of search and reunion, Section 98 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 gives birth relatives the legal right to request an intermediary service with regard to children who were adopted before the 30th December 2005. At the time of the request, the adopted person, however, has to be an adult (18 years or older) and the birth relative , making the application for an intermediary service, must also be over the age of 18 years (eg., in the case of siblings). Not every local authority and voluntary adoption agency provide intermediary services for birth relatives, but they must point the birth relative to an agency that can provide a service. The agency then has to assess each application and to make a decision about whether or not to proceed with offering a service. If the agency that is providing the intermediary service is not the agency that was involved in the adoption, then it is required to seek the view of that registered adoption agency about providing an intermediary service. There is no automatic right to receive an intermediary service for an approach to be made to the adopted person on behalf of the birth relatives. The intermediary agency has to consider the welfare of all involved and in exceptional circumstances may consider that it would not be appropriate to provide an intermediary service. The agency may be able to provide some information from the adoption record (that was available at the time of the adoption) about the adopted person and the family he/she was placed with, providing it does not disclose any identifying information about the adopted person or the adoptive family. For adoptions that were finalised after the 30th December 2005, birth relatives and interested parties, such as teachers and foster carers, have a right to request information about an adopted person. The arrangements for requesting information and intermediary services are different in these current adoptions, the issues being covered by different parts of the Act. Local authorities should ensure that independent counselling is available. The GRO (General Register Office) holds the Adoption Contact Register. Birth relatives and adopted adults can register an interest in contact or a preference to have no contact. The adopted adult can also register an absolute all-qualified veto with the agency that arranged the adoption. If the adopted person has registered such a veto, this means that the intermediary agency will not be allowed to contact the adopted person. Overall, the adopted adult has more rights than birth parents although the Adoption & Children Act went some way to improving the situation for birth parents.
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