Where can adopted people go to find support?

Membership

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. 

Based on this collaboration we can now offer the community of adopted people a space to come together and access support and resources through our brand-new membership.

Find out more

Helpline

Adopted people are always welcome to call the Adoption UK helpline and speak to one of our advisors. 

Access the Helpline

Family Connect

If you were adopted and you are thinking about whether to trace your birth relatives this website is an excellent source of information to get you started:

Other organisations for adoptees in the UK

• PAC- UK
  Offers a specialist support service in England for adults adopted as children and for adults otherwise permanently placed as children.
  
  
• UK Adult Adoptee Movement - Adult Adoptee Movement
  

  A group of UK adoptees, challenging attitudes to historic adoptions, striving to change the narrative on adoption. The Adult Adoptee Movement campaigns for rights and appropriate services for adult adoptees. Our website is packed with resources and blogs written by adoptees. We run regular adoptee-only events and meet-ups to help adoptees understand, articulate and heal.

• The Dunbar Project
  The Dunbar Project (formerly Adoptee Futures) is the first UK adoption organisation made by adopted people, aimed at everyone involved in adoption with adoptees at the centre. The Dunbar Project aims to help create a better future for adoption by reclaiming the adoption narrative, reframing the world's view on adoption, and helping adult adoptees heal through their trauma to evolve into the best versions of themselves. The Dunbar Project is a registered mental health CIC and provides various training, workshops, support groups, coaching, and events.
  
  
• How to Be Adopted
  How To Be Adopted is a UK-based organisation run by and for adopted people. Started as a blog in 2017 it has grown into a large community. Through face-to-face and virtual meet-ups and retreats, adoptees can connect and share with one another, improving their wellbeing and sense of belonging. How To Be Adopted also works on a national level to influence UK adoption policy specifically around the provision of support for adult adoptees. Join the mailing list or follow on social today!
  
  
• Counselling and Therapy focused on adoption.
  There are currently very few support services which do not assume that adopted adults will be wanting to search for their birth relatives.  However, we know that adopted people also need other forms of support including counselling and therapy to help them cope with the strong emotions which may come with being adopted
  
  In December 2010, amendments were made to the Adoption and Children Act 2002 to ensure that individuals affected by adoption in England and Wales are provided with support and services from practitioners who hold the proper qualifications and experience. The impact of this amendment has been that many counsellors and therapists feel they would be in breach of that law if they work with adoptees around adoption.  Consequently, there are very few opportunities for adoptees to get support in this way.  
  
  Adoption UK supports the recommendation in the Violation of Family Life report urging the government in England to ‘consider as a matter of urgency how to make sure that the necessary regulations to protect standards do not prevent mothers and adult adoptees getting the support they need. We hope the promised consultation on this issue will help make the case for change in other UK nations.
  
  
  
• Barnardo’s LINK Adoption and Family Support Service
  Barnardo’s provides therapeutic services to anyone affected by adoption. This includes adopted adults. Barnardo’s offers a modular training service designed to provide sufficient learning to enable therapists to undertake adoption support therapy. Once trained, therapists will still need to register with OFSTED in England or CIW in Wales or with an Adoption Support Agency (ASA) to undertake any adoption therapy. Barnardo’s also hold a register of the therapists who have undertaken this training.
  
  
• Transracial Adult Adoptee Network
  TAAN is an independent network and support group for transracial adoptees which host regular meet ups in London.
  
  
• Hertfordshire Adoptees Together
  If you live in Hertfordshire, this group meet in person on the first Tuesday of every month.
  
  
• Services which focus on accessing birth information
  Most Adoption Agencies across the UK will provide some sort of service for adopted adults who were adopted through their agency.  This varies from a very basic service to enable adoptees to access their birth records, to a complete post adoption service including locating birth relatives, counselling, reunion services and support.   It varies widely and it isn’t possible to link all of them here.   If you know the agency who handled your adoption you can google their website and ask them what support they are able to offer.
  
  
• General Registry Office (GRO)
  The GRO is part of Her Majesty’s Passport Office. It oversees civil registration in England and Wales and holds all the birth records for people born in England and Wales. It is possible to access your birth records (original birth certificate) from there if you don’t have it because you were adopted. You need to be over 18 to do this.  
  
  
• Adoption Contact Register for Scotland
  This is a register operated by Birthlink which is a means for those separated by adoption to express a mutual wish to be in touch with each other.
  
  
• FamilyConnect  
  Family Connect helps adults who have been adopted or in care find answers to questions about their origins. Finding out about your background and family members can help you understand inherited health risks, make important life choices and understand more about why you were separated from your birth family. Lots of people aren’t aware of their legal rights when accessing their birth and care records, or what they can expect to receive and how to go about searching for information in the first place.
  
  
• adopt ni
  Adopt NI has been supporting adults linked to the adoption triangle since 1989. Adopt NI is an independent registered charity established in 1989. Their main priority is to support any adult impacted by the lifelong journey of adoption. During 2008 they extended their services, to adults separated from their family of origin through foster or residential care. They are based in Belfast but work on a regional basis and offer a range of confidential support.
  
  
• Adoption Matters
  'On the 3^rd Wednesday of every month, an adult adoptee group is hosted by Adoption Matters on Zoom. To join that meeting people need to drop an e-mail to [email protected] and ask to be put on the zoom invitation and link up. Meetings start at 7.30 and adoptees are welcome from anywhere in the world.'
  

Support for adoptees who were adopted from another country.

• Intercountry Adoptee Voices (ICAV)
  Has a mission to educate, support, connect, collaborate, galvanise and give voice to intercountry adoptees from around the world. 
  
  
• CACH (Children adopted from China)
  Was founded in 1995 by a small group of families who had adopted young children from China. Pre-empting the many challenges that both they and their children would face in the coming years, they built a network that would facilitate the support and information that they believed they would need.