Advice please

TC80

I was adopted from Sacred Heart agency in Cork in January 1980.

A few years ago I realised I wanted to try to find out some more information about the circumstances of my birth. At the time my wife was pregnant and I guess it stirred up a number of emotions for me. Also I was concerned about genetic illnesses.

I found the guide online and wrote to the AAI asking for non-identifying information to enable me to do a search. I received a letter directing me to the HSE in Cork. I then wrote to them and got another letter saying my application had been received and I would be contacted in due course.

Two years later I have still heard nothing.

I called them yesterday to update my contact information, because since then we have moved, although we still own the property that was the address we had given them and they had sent nothing to me. I was passed on to the duty social worker. They were very nice and polite and said they would understand my frustrations (what I found interesting was that I had not indicated any frustration at all. I had just said I was calling to update my contact details).

She said they had 700 people waiting and they were all working as hard as they could, which I don't doubt for a second. She wasn't able to give me any idea on how long more I would be waiting.

I guess I wanted to ask two things

1. How hard is it to trace without non-identifying information? I have heard all sorts of horror stories about Bessborough (i.e. births registered on the wrong day or whatever). As I would have to fly home to trace, at considerable inconvenience to a lot of people, I really wouldn't want to have a wasted journey.

2. What do these HSE agencies actually do when you have made an inquiry? What actually happens when you get to the top of this seemingly unending waiting list? Do they trace and contact your birth parents before giving you any information or is it just you have to go in a long queue to meet them for them to assess your suitability to receive even non-identifying information? Surely non-identifying information can be provided quickly?

My adoptive father, who I adore, has recently been diagnosed with dementia and can barely remember what happened 5 minutes ago. This has illustrated for me that there is a time-imprative with this, because for all I know, by the time I get any information and weigh up whether or not I want to trace, maybe my birth parents may have become elderly or infirm too. Or worse.

I would really appreciate any information any of you could provide.

kathy finn

Hi TC 80.
First of all i would recommend you join Adoption Rights Alliance FB page and also you need to send a FOI/DPA request to HSE cork. That is usually back within 40 days. That should give you enough information to trace

Ghekko

It would seem all agencies differ. My husband wrote to Dublin initially and was told his agency was in Mayo. So he wrote to them and asked specific questions which we found on the Tracing Guides on the Adoption Rights Alliance website. He got a letter back in a short time giving his original first name, date and place of birth, mothers and fathers first names and ages. This was enough to then go on to get his original birth cert and his birth mothers too, as we guessed the year she could have been born and worked from there. He had a year wait to actually meet his social worker. She then wrote to his bm - updating him on every little bit of info - and his bm responded quite quickly. All that happened since beginning of April and he met his bm recently. I have to say though that his social worker sounds like one in a million compared to some of the ones I have read about on Facebook page!
If I were you I would write again as suggested by Kathy, and while you may not get a lot of info you may get enough to start your own trace while waiting on them to call you.

TC80

Thank you both very much. Very useful info.