Support after adoption

/media/adults/library/origins_440.jpg There can be a lifelong impact for all those connected to an adoption. Adoption laws have changed over the years to reflect the needs of various people connected to adoption. These laws enable them to apply to be put in touch with the relative separated by adoption.

We are increasingly being asked to find a brother or sister who had been adopted as a baby. People often do not know where to turn to if they want to find a relative who was adopted. Origins offers a discreet confidential service to any adult affected by adoption, regardless of where in England & Wales the adoption was arranged.

After Father Hudson’s ceased arranging adoptions in 2009, we registered as an Adoption Support Agency in order to continue supporting adults affected by adoption, providing access to information from our adoption records as well as an adoption tracing service. Our work is regularly inspected by Ofsted, who have consistently judged the quality of our adoption support agency to be “outstanding”, the highest rating.

We are a member of the Consortium of Adoption Support Agencies, www.casa-uk.org.

Every adoption support agency is required to have a Statement of Purpose and ours can be downloaded at the foot of this page.

Who can apply for which adoption support services?

Advice, guidance and support is provided to all enquirers to our adoption support service.

Support to Father Hudson’s adoptive families with adopted children still under 18 is arranged to be provided by another adoption agency that specialises in working with children in adoptive families. The agency is Adoption Focus, who can be contacted through www.adoption-focus.org.uk

Information from our adoption records can be provided to all those whose adoption was arranged by Father Hudson’s. We provide you with a portfolio of information from our records which will be shared with you by a social worker experienced in adoption. You can choose whether to visit Father Hudson’s offices to access the information or to arrange for us to forward the information to an adoption social worker nearer to you (usually your Local Authority’s Post Adoption Team). There is no charge for this service, although donations are welcomed.

Intermediary services (adoption tracing services) provided by our agency are not restricted to those connected to adoptions arranged by Father Hudson’s. Birth relatives, as well as adopted adults and their descendants or other relatives can apply for intermediary services under the law in England & Wales. The person applying for the service does not need to reside in this country, but the adoption concerned needs to have been legalised within England and Wales. We are particularly mindful of the needs of birth mothers living in Ireland who had their child placed for adoption in England.

If we did not arrange the adoption we have to try and identify any agency that may still have records of the adoption. However, even if no records are located, we can usually still successfully trace the relative. Due to the additional work involved in cases where we did not arrange the adoption we charge a higher fee.

Sometimes we find that the person being sought is deceased. In this case we will try to find out more information and we can try to trace someone who knew them.

How to apply

For an application for adopted persons obtaining information from adoption records, download here.

For an application for an intermediary service to trace and contact your birth or adopted relative, download here.

Any enquiries about our support after adoption can be made by phoning 01675 434000 or by emailing origins@fatherhudsons.org.uk.

Payment for intermediary services

There is no fee for access to information services.

There are fees payable for intermediary services (adoption tracing services). Please email origins@fatherhudsons.org.uk for information about current fees and how to pay.