On this page you will find information for adopted people who are aged 18 years and older.
Commissioned service for adult adoptees
One Adoption West Yorkshire has a contract with PAC-UK to provide services for adults who are impacted by adoption; this includes adult adoptees. In particular PAC-UK can assist with accessing adoption records (see below) or search and reunions with birth family members (there may be an additional charge for this). Additionally they provide peer group support for adult adoptees. More information can be found at: www.pac-uk.org
Accessing records
From the age of 18 years, adult adoptees can request access to their adoption records and their social care records. If you live in West Yorkshire you can access your adoption records with the support of an experienced worker from PAC-UK (see above) or you can contact us directly at: fileaccess@oneadoptionwy.leeds.gov.uk. You will need to provide your birth name, date of birth and any other information you may have about your adoption (such as date of adoption order and name of the court that made the order). You will need to provide confirmation of your identity.
In order to access your social care records (these are social work records that relate to any social services involvement or time spent in the care of the local authority) you will need to contact the Information Governance Team for the Local Authority who were involved at the time you came into care/were adopted. There is usually a small administrative charge to accessing these records.
Here are some links to contact the local authority to request access to social care records:
Email Kirklees council or Log in to Kirklees website as a guest here
Email Bradford council or visit the website here
Adoption Support Fund (ASF)
The ASF provides funds to local authorities (LAs) and regional adoption agencies (RAAs) to pay for essential therapeutic services for eligible adoptive families and adopted people. Funding can be applied for by adoption social workers following an assessment of need, for adopted young adults up to the age of 21 years, or for those with an EHCP up to the age of 25 years. More information can be found at: www.gov.uk/guidance/adoption-support-fund-asf
To request an assessment of support needs contact OAWY’s adoption advice line or complete an enquiry form below and select ‘Adoption Support’.
Supporting Connections service
For most adoptees there will have been an arrangement for Letterbox exchanges to take place between birth family members and adoptive parents. Where these arrangements have been working well and there is a desire for the arrangements to continue beyond the age of 18 years, this can be put in place – new agreements will need to be drawn up to include the adoptee as an adult in the arrangement. For discussion about this or other contact matters please contact the Adoption Advice line (details below).
Where a Letterbox arrangement was in place, but is no longer active, we will hold copies of any correspondence that we have been unable to forward on. For access to this a request can be made via the file access email address: fileaccess@oneadoptionwy.leeds.gov.uk
For adoptees who maintain connections with their birth family via other means or would welcome opportunity to explore how they might do that after the age of 18 years a request for further discussion can be made via the Adoption Advice line (details below).
Registration of an ‘Expression of WISH’ in relation to birth family contact or searches
Some adoptees may wish to have placed on record that they would welcome an approach from a birth family member(s) in the event that OAWY is contact by that birth family member. This is known as an ‘Expression of Wish’ (we can also record if a birth family member is happy to have an approach made by the adoptee). For further discussion around this contact the Adoption Advice line (details below).
OAWY Adoption Advice line
OAWY runs an advice line which is open Monday – Fridays from 10am until 2pm: tel – 0113 378 3535. Voicemail messages can be left outside these times and a worker will respond as soon as they are able. The advice line is staffed by a small group of experienced support workers. Contact can also be made by email: adoptionadvice@oneadoptionwy.leeds.gov.uk
Useful links
https://adultadoptee.org.uk/ - Advocating for Adult Adoptees; a group of UK adoptees, challenging attitudes to historic adoptions, striving to change the narrative on adoption. Includes various links and resources, as well as news and events.
https://www.gov.uk/general-register-office - The General Register Office holds records of births, deaths, marriages, civil partnerships, stillbirths and adoptions in England and Wales.
https://www.pac-uk.org - Our purpose is to provide anyone who has been affected by adoption or other forms of permanent care, as well as the professionals who support them, with expert, independent advice and counselling.
Leeds office Advice Line: Tel 0113 230 2100 (Mon, Thurs & Fri 10am-1pm; Tues 4pm-7pm; Weds 1pm-4pm)
https://www.adoptionuk.org - Join us as a member and become part of a supportive community of adopted people. Our Adopted Person Membership is for:
People who have been adopted as a child who are now 18 years and over.
Over the last year we have used a series of workshops and surveys to listen to adopted people and find out what their experiences were and what was most important to them.
We set up an advisory network of over 100 adopted people to help us to develop new ways of working and we have made significant changes to Adoption UK to bring adopted people into the centre of the organisation.
TAAN - a new independent network and support group for transracial adoptees. The group meets in person in London. For more information generally about TAAN please email TAAN at transracialadultadopteenetwork@gmail.com.