What procedures do I follow if I don't know my birth name?

What procedures do I follow if I don't know my birth name?

Julia Feast (Search and Reunion Consultant) gives expert video advice on: Have adoptive people always been able to access data about their origins?; Will adoptive parents have any information about birth parents?; At what age can I obtain my birth records? and more...

If an adopted person doesn't know their birth name, then they would have to apply to the registrar general. If they were adopted before November 1975, then they would have to apply for what's called access to birth records. Arrangements must be made for them to see an adoption worker at a local authority or an adoption agency so they can get the information to enable them to obtain a copy of their original birth certificate. If an adopted person was adopted after 12 November, 1975, then they would not be required to have a meeting with an adoption worker in order to get a copy of their original birth certificate. They would be offered the option to do so if they so wished.