Access my Birth Information
Birth and Early Life Information
If you were adopted, boarded out, subject to an illegal birth registration (or suspect you were) or spent time in a Mother and Baby or County Home Institution as a child, the Birth Information & Tracing Act provides you with clear and guaranteed access to information and records about your birth and early life, where this information is available.
Where are my records held?
Many societies, institutions, or agencies that held records in the past on people who were adopted, boarded or nursed out, had their birth illegally registered, or who resided in a mother and baby home as a child, have since closed.
At the time of closing, available records were transferred either to the Adoption Authority or Tusla for safekeeping. Please review the list of societies, institutions and agencies below. If you already know who holds your information you can follow one or both of the links below to apply.
How do I apply for my information?
The Adoption Authority and Tusla are separate organisations (data controllers) that each have separate responsibilities to ensure your personal information (data) remains safe. For this reason you will need to make an application to either one, or both, depending on which agency holds the records you are seeking access to.
In some cases, it is possible that both Tusla and the Adoption Authority may both hold information and records that you are requesting and, in those situations, you will need to make a separate application to each organisation to find out what information exists.
What type of information might be available?
The information available will vary from person to person, depending on the type, quality and number of records held by the Adoption Authority or Tusla. For some, this could mean there are detailed records available, while unfortunately for others, there may be little or no information available.
The Act guarantees you will get unrestricted access to all of the following information, where it is available:
Birth Information (including Birth Certificates)
Birth Certificates and Birth Information can include:
- The date, place, and time of the person’s birth.
- The person’s assigned sex.
- The person’s forename(s) and surname.
- The forename(s), surname, birth surname, address, occupation, date of birth, and where applicable, former surname of the person’s mother, and the birth surname of the mother’s mother.
- The forename(s), surname, birth surname, address, occupation, date of birth, and where applicable, former surname of the person’s father, and the birth surname of the father’s mother.
- Photograph of a parent.
Care Information
Where the person was under care of the State, or in care arranged by the State, such as who arranged it, where and when it took place.
The name of a person who cared for the relevant person as part of a care arrangement. This could include:
- The name of a person in charge of an institution or part of an institution;
- The name of a person to whom a person was boarded out or nursed out;
- The name of foster care parents who fostered a child before they were adopted.
- The location where that care was provided;
- The duration for which the person was cared for at a given location;
- The name of any person who arranged for the relevant person to be nursed out or boarded out, fostered prior to their adoption or resident in an institution.
Early Life Information
- Where he or she lived, and for what dates.
- Information on their baptism, or any other similar spiritual or religious ceremony, including, but not limited to:
(a) The date and place of the ceremony
(b) A baptismal certificate (or equivalent document in respect of a different ceremony)
(c) An entry in a baptismal register (or equivalent document in respect of a different ceremony)
- Their birth weight.
- A photograph of the person.
- Information on their health, physical or emotional development.
- Information on any medical treatments, procedures or vaccinations.
- Information on how long their birth mother remained with him or her in the same place of residence.
- Information on whether the person and their birth mother left their first place of residence (e.g. Mother and Baby Home Institution) separately or together.
- Information on visits, communications, or inquiries by any person, including where available the relationship to the person and their and their name.
- Information on whether arrangements were made for an adoption, including the name of the person who made the arrangement.
- Information on whether an adoption took place, including the name of each adoptive parent
Medical Information
Any information relating to a person’s own medical history including vaccinations given or information on vaccination trials
Medical Information of a genetic relative
Means information contained within records, where:
- the information involves a genetic or heredity medical condition, and;
- is relevant for the maintenance of the relevant person’s health.
This information will be made available to you through your nominated GP.
Illegal Birth Registration Information
Information in relation to a person who is or has been the subject of an illegal birth registration (or suspects they may have been).
- the circumstances under which the person became the subject of an illegal birth registration
- the name of the person who made arrangements for the illegal birth registration
Provided Items
Any item held by the Agency or the Authority, which was provided by a relevant parent, carer or other family member. The item could be a:
- Letter;
- Photograph;
- Memento; or
- other document or object
It could have been provided historically or could be an item, which was lodged through the statutory Contact Preference Register.
What happens next?
Once your application is accepted you will receive an acknowledgment. Prior to release of birth information the contact preference register will be checked to see if there is a preference registered in respect of you (either for contact or no contact). Where there is a preference for no contact registered, this will be communicated to you in an information session prior to the release of information. More detail on what an information session means can be found in our FAQs.
A preference for no contact on the Contact Preference Register will never prevent your information being released to you once this process is complete.
Most people will receive their information within one month, but in some cases it may take up to three months.
What if I need more help?
If you have reviewed the list and you are still unsure about which organisation you need to apply to, we'd recommend you apply to both.
If you are having any difficulty in completing either of the forms, please do not hesitate to contact either the Adoption Authority or Tusla, using the options below, and they will be happy to assist you.