Tracing your birth parents

This advice applies to Scotland. See advice for See advice for England, See advice for Northern Ireland, See advice for Wales

If you've been adopted in Scotland, you have the right to access information relating to your birth and adoption when you turn 16.

You can get a copy of your:  

  • original birth certificate 

  • adoption records.

Original birth certificates

If you were born in Scotland, your birth certificate should show: 

  • the place and time of your birth 

  • your original name 

  • your birth mother's name. 

 Your birth certificate might also show:   

  • your birth mother’s job 

  • your biological father's name 

  • the name of the person who registered your birth, and their relationship to you. 

You can get a copy of your birth certificate from the National Records of Scotland (NRS) Adoption Unit if you’re aged 16 or over.

Find out how to order a certificate on the National Records of Scotland website 

Adoption records

These are court records about your adoption. Your adoption records might provide details on the circumstances leading up to your adoption and the names of your birth parents. 

Some adoption records have more information than others. They should include: 

  • a copy of your birth certificate 

  • a report made to the court by an independent person, such as a solicitor or social worker 

  • the adoption petition from the adopting parents 

  • the name of any adoption agency involved 

  • confirmation from the birth mother that the adoption can go ahead (and sometimes from the birth father). 

You can view your adoption records if you're 16 or over and were adopted in Scotland, or 18 or over and were adopted in England or Wales. 

Where to find your adoption records in Scotland

Your birth certificate might say where your adoption records are. 

If you know the name of your adoption agency, you can ask them to see your adoption records or help you access them. 

If your adoption was less than 25 years ago

Your records should be held by the court where the adoption order was made. If you know you were adopted in a particular city or area, contact the Sheriff Court for that area. You can find a list of Sheriff Courts on the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service website. 

If your adoption was more than 25 years ago

You can order a copy of your adoption records from the National Records of Scotland website. 

If you don’t know where to find your adoption records

If you’re not sure where to find your adoption records, you can use the Locating Adoption Records database on the Adoption Search Reunion website.  

Contacting your birth relatives

There are services available to help you contact birth relatives, such as:

  • contact registers 

  • search or tracing services 

  • mediation services.

If you know the name of your adoption agency, they might be able to help find or contact your birth relatives. 

Contact registers

A contact register is a database which can help link you to your birth relatives who want to be contacted. You can also use it to leave information to birth relatives, even if you do not wish to be contacted. You can decide if you would prefer limited or no contact. 

You might have to pay a fee to add your details to a contact register. 

Find out more about the Adoption Contact Register for Scotland on the Birthlink website.

Search or tracing services

If your birth relatives aren't registered on a contact register or with the adoption agency which arranged the adoption, there are other ways of trying to trace them. 

You can conduct your own search by consulting the electoral roll or public registers of:  

  • births 

  • marriages  

  • deaths 

  • wills  

  • census records. 

For a small fee you can access public records through the Scotland’s People website. 

You can also get help to trace relatives through a professional search service. Find out more about Birthlink’s search service on the Birthlink website.

Mediation

A mediation service can help you contact your birth relatives. This might also be called a go-between service.  

Mediation can be useful even if you have done your own search for birth relatives. It can give relatives time to think carefully before making a decision about contact.  

You might have to pay for a mediation service.  

Find out more about Birthlink’s mediation service on the Birthlink website.  

Support and counselling if you’re affected by adoption

As an adopted person, you have a legal right to receive counselling when you request or view your original birth certificate. You can ask for counselling from any local council in Scotland or the adoption agency that arranged the adoption. 

You might also consider counselling when you access your adoption records, as these could contain upsetting information. You can get support, advice and counselling from a charity or from the adoption agency that arranged the adoption.  

Birthlink is a charity that helps people who’ve been separated by adoption. It offers services such as: 

  • help to access public records 

  • searching services  

  • the Adoption Contact Register for Scotland 

  • mediation between birth relatives 

  • counselling. 

Find out more on the Birthlink website. 

Bernardo’s Scottish Adoption Service

Bernardo’s offers advice, support and counselling to anyone affected by adoption. Find out more about Bernardo’s adoption service on the Bernardo’s website.   

If you were born or adopted in England or Wales

You must be at least 18 years old before you can get a copy of your original birth certificate. Check how to get a copy of your birth certificate on GOV.UK. 

You can add yourself to the Adoption Contact Register at the General Register Office. Find out more about the Adoption Contact Register for England and Wales on GOV.UK.  

If you were born or adopted in Ireland

You can access information about your birth and early life if you’re at least 16 and you were: 

  • adopted 

  • boarded out 

  • the subject of an illegal birth registration 

  • born in a Mother and Baby or County Home Institution. 

You can use a Tracing Service to help you contact or share information with birth relatives. You can also decide if you would prefer not to be contacted. 

You can find out more about records in Ireland on the Birth Information and Tracing website. 

If you were born or adopted outside of the UK and Ireland

If you were adopted in another country, The Coram Intercountry Adoption Centre (Coram IAC) can help find your records or contact your birth relatives. They may charge a fee for this service. Find out more on the Coram IAC website.