Help finding my girlfriends Bio-Mother.. [for medical history]

Heathen

Hey all,

My girlfriend is adopted and this year wants to find out info on her biological mother..
She is now 26 years old and would be happy enough just finding out medical history more so that meeting with her.
Her biological mother left (ran away from) the institution where she was born before signing any of the medical papers, so my girlfriend never knew anything about her medical history.. this is what she is mainly interested in as she considers her adopted parents to be her folks as they raised her.

we have no idea where to start.. do we go to the institution where she was born to ask for records?
do we send off for info to some government body? or write a letter that can be forwarded to her?

i will read through some of the threads here and visit some of the useful links so see what i can find
but if anyone has any guidance it would be great, cos it might save us hitting dead ends

cheers
H

kathy finn

hi heathen,
first of all does your girlfriend know which agency handled her adoption, if not or if the agency has closed down she will have to get intouch with the adoption board and they will be able to tell her who has her records.
next contact the agency or health board and ask them for her medical info, if she wants up to date info they will have to contact her birthmum.
hope this helps.....kathy

The_Conductor

Hi Heathen-

In the first instance your girlfriend should contact the agency who handled her adoption- or if she is unsure of this- she should contact the Irish Adoption Authority- who will guide her to the appropriate agency.

Medical information, such as it exists, is normally exceedingly sparse in detail, and very often incorrect. I would not automatically assume that there is relevant medical information on file anywhere- or if there is- that its accurate......

Adoption is specifically excluded from the Freedom of Information Act- your girlfriend has no entitlements to any information whatsoever from the agency who handled her adoption, or from any government department or agency (such as the Adoption Authority). In recent times- they have been more willing to release a brief paragraph or two of 'non-identifying information'- unless there was something extremely major that her birthmum insisted on imparting- this will be useless from the perspective of medical information.

If your girlfriend has not already done so- she should complete the Adoption Contact Preference Register- and if a match with her birthmum is made- they would check the contact both prefer and organise the necessaries. Link to the register here.

At the end of the day- it really is the case that if you want accurate medical information- the birthmother is going to have to be contacted, and it is her perogative as to what information (if any) is released. She may also request contact with your girlfriend at this stage- which is something that has to be considered.

Adoption unfortunately is still in the dark ages in Ireland- there are no entitlements to information, regardless of how important it may be.

Shane

Heathen

Thanks for the info shane

unfortunately her birth mother only left a firstname, that we dont even know is real or not.. the county where she was from, which again we dont know if its true, the age she was when she gave birth, and other than that nothing, as she ran away as soon as she was born its kinda cruel alright, but she understands that she might not want to meet or whatever, but she really would just like to get some kind of medical history, i will ahve a read of that contact preference form and print if off for my girlfriend.. cheers for the help mate

H

The_Conductor

Your girlfriend might be a little more understanding towards her birthmum- and perhaps curious- if she reads up on some of the Mother and Baby homes. A good start is June Goulding's book- 'A light in the Window'.......?