The decision to search for your birth parents is not easy to make. If you were placed for
adoption at a very young age, you might have many questions about the people who brought you into this world. So, why might you want to contact your biological parents?
Health Reasons
Adoptees searching for their birth parents might be trying to understand a health condition that they’ve developed. This could range from complications associated with alcohol in pregnancy to the emergence of congenital diseases like Huntington’s.
Not only could finding your birth parents allow you to understand the likelihood of developing illnesses in the future, but it could also help them and any biological siblings you have. It could alert them to the possibility of sharing a disease that you have.
Meeting Long Lost Family Members
The only way most people could know for sure if they wanted to build a relationship with their biological family would be if they met them in real life. Not only do adoptees have biological parents, but you could also have aunts, uncles, brothers, or sisters that you know nothing about.
By allowing yourself to meet these biological family members, you are giving yourself the opportunity to connect with a family you may never have known you had.
Tracing Your Heritage
If you’re curious to know about your family tree, it won’t be easy to find out much without the help of your biological parents. Many people ask for help with finding their birth family because they want to know about their ancestry. Your parents might be able to give you information about their parents and grandparents, which will provide you with the information you need to move forward with your family tree.
Steps You Can Take
The adoption contact register is held by the general register office in England and Wales. It’s available to biological parents and adoptees over the age of 18. It allows the adopted person and the biological parents to register a contact wish. They act as an intermediary between adoptees and their biological parents.
A search of social media can uncover the answers to some initial questions you have. Depending on the details you have about your birth parents and how publicly available their identifying information is, you can determine whether you want to proceed with attempting to make contact.
The tools you have at your disposal will vary depending on the circumstances of your adoption. In the past, closed adoptions were the norm, which meant that adoption records legally had to be kept sealed. 1976, all adoptees were given the right to access their original birth certificate, removing the need for a court order to unseal these documents.
In general, it’s usually a bit easier to find your birth mother than your birth father. This is
because biological fathers aren’t always recorded on your birth certificate, particularly if your parents weren’t married. It’s also possible that nobody knows for certain who your birth father is. Fortunately, however, your birth mother will almost always be included somewhere on your birth records.
Some people are placed for open adoption, which means that, although the adoptive parents have full legal custody of the child, they still have contact with their biological parents. Social services usually supervise this contact.
How a Private Investigator Can Help Find Your Biological Parents?
A private detective has several beneficial tools for adoptees looking to find their biological parents.
Background Checks
You might be hesitant to put in an application for contact through the ACR for many different reasons. For example, you might not want to make contact because you fear that you may not like your parents. Fortunately, it’s possible to find out a wealth of information without ever having to make contact.
PI UK offers private background checks, which provide a complete profile of a given subject. If you want to make a more informed decision about contacting your biological parents, this is an option for you to consider.
Tracing Services
Sometimes, people seem to drop off the face of the earth, but they are happily going about their daily lives, unaware that anyone is looking for them. Even if the ACR has lost touch with your biological parents, they may still want to meet you.
A private investigator can conduct a trace on your biological parents to find out where they are now. Usually, the information contained on your original birth certificate will be enough for a successful trace.
Surveillance
If we manage to trace your birth parents, but you’re still unsure about approaching them, you might consider conducting surveillance. Without being noticed, a private investigator from PI UK can follow your parents to build up a character profile. Once we have some details about where they go and what they do, you can make an informed decision about how to proceed.
Private Investigations UK is passionate about reuniting families. For a free, no-obligation consultation, please call 0800 002 0898.