Abstract
London, 12 December 2018
Dear Editor
The article ‘Full adoption in England and Wales and France: a comparative history of law and practice (1926‒2015)’ by Jean-François Mignot (Adoption & Fostering 41(2): 142‒158) provided interesting comparisons and differences in adoption legislation and practices and the statistics around the number of children placed for adoption in these countries. However, there were several inaccuracies about the adoption legislation in England and Wales in relation to adopted adults and birth relatives.
It was the Children Act 1975, section 26 that gave adopted adults the right to apply for the information they needed to get a copy of their original birth certificate (Mignot, 2017: 146).
The author states that ‘adopted children abandoned at birth find it easier to trace their families in England and Wales’ but this is not the case. Babies who were ‘abandoned’ at birth do not receive a copy of a birth certificate that gives their name at birth, the address where they were born and their parents’ names and address at the time of the birth. ‘Abandoned’ babies who were adopted can, at the age of 18, apply for a certified copy of their birth entry (not a birth certificate), which gives information about where they were found and the name subsequently given to them. All other details, such as mother’s and father’s names, are marked ‘unknown’.
In view of this, the use of the terminology ‘adopted children abandoned at birth’ for children placed for adoption in England and Wales is misleading as very few babies have in fact been abandoned and adopted in these countries. Many birth mothers prior to the 1970s felt that they had no choice but to place their child for adoption owing to the stigma attached to being an unmarried mother and the lack of support available at the time. These children would not be described as ‘abandoned’ babies but as ‘relinquished’.
In addition, the Adoption Contact Register came into force in 1991 and not 1989 as stated, and the register is for adopted people and all birth relatives – not just birth parents. The statement that adopted people have been allowed to access identifying information from adoption agencies’ records since the Adoption and Children Act 2002 is also incorrect. The right was not enshrined in that legislation. This practice had been going on for some years and has developed since the Children Act 1975 gave adopted people the right to apply for information to enable them to obtain a copy of their original birth certificate. Under the Adoption Agencies Regulations 1983, Regulation 15(2), adoption agencies have the discretion to give identifying information to the adopted adult.
Cross-country comparisons can help to broaden our understanding of adoption, past and present, but the facts need to be right.
Yours sincerely
Julia Feast, OBE
Previously at CoramBAAF Adoption & Fostering Academy
41 Brunswick Square
London WC1N 1AZ.