Genealogy Chat

My stepdad only ever had a short certificate and that was adequate to get him a passport. Lisa

Sorry Alice, didn't mean to state the obvious! I remember seeing mine when I was a child, I don't really know why my parents had it as it wasn't necessary. I applied a few weeks ago out of curiosity and it came very quickly, but did cost £11.50 as I did not have the ref. number. Liz x

Liz, i think i understood that- i have never had a FULL post adoption cert so wouldnt be able to produce mine either!! Alice x

Alice, Joanne, From my understanding of Glen's explanation of his predicament, his employer is demanding he provide his full certificate, not his original certificate, rather than his short certificate. His employer probably has no idea that he is adopted. Eileen, The following quote is from the GRO website on the page that gives details of the Adopted Children's Register: 'The Adopted Children Register is not open to public inspection or search' It can be found at: http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/adoptions/adoptedchildrenregister/ I have never attempted a search myself, so I do not know if this is a recent policy or not. Liz

to Jay thanks, I obviously got the name wrong - blame age and impending senility of a 1944 model (lol) next question, where has St Catherines House gone now then? When I looked up my original birth cert. it was around 1967 ish and it was all in beautiful handwritten registers in Somerset House. Quiet and dignified. When I went to St Catherines House around 15 years ago it was all badly typed, filthy dirty and reeking of cigarettes and horribly stuffy with no elbow room for anyone. What is it like now? I am moving back South from Scotland shortly and hope to go again. But where to Eileen P S - Anyone reading this happen to be born 22.9.45 -birth names Jennifer Ann - born in Woking Maternity Hospital, mother resident in Bisley. If so, you are my sister, please get in touch

I don't think anyone has access to adoption information apart from the adoptee themselves, even if they are deceased. Jay

Hi I'm sorry to but in on your thread but can someone help me re birth indexing. My 2 x great grandfathers sister was born in 1850c in Ireland, not sure exactly where yet. It dosen't look like her parents married until they came over here in 1853. Her birth wasn't registered but I have been told that she had her birth legitimised on 01/011/1927. My queries are, surely that is the date for the new adoption laws, I didn't think that the way of a legitimising a birth altered then, surely she left it abit late ie when she was 77, would I be able to see the papers ie new birth certificate if I am not a direct descendant?. Thanks for your time A confused half pint

Eileen, I too looked up my friend's entry at St Catherine's (see earlier post) but it was not in the actual adoption register, which is the linking document and so obviously not on public display. I thought the document I used was called 'Index of adoptions' - it was on an open shelf and was arranged chronologically (sp?) according to court proceedings. perhaps it is no longer available now the stuff has gone to the FRC. Jay

to Lizloojay I am confused that you say that the Adopted Child Register cannot be searched. I searched the register about 15 years ago when the records were held in St Catherine's House. It only gave our 'new' names and obviously has no reference to our 'old' names, but you could look your new name up if you wanted to get a rough date for your adoption if you did not know it. The names are put in every three months I think, so each set of records would be for a quarter. Has it changed, are you now not able to even look in these registers? I have not been there since as have been living in Scotland. Hope you can put me right Eileen

hi glen it would be registerd in your birth name and then just the ref number is changed iv just found me and my sisters on 1837 and this is what they have done to our entery hope this helps angie x

Hi Working in banking I can safely say that for adults a birth cert is not proof of ID - a passport confirms who you are and a driving license or a utility bill no more that 3 months old can be used for address ID Reason birth cert is no good for adults is that you can get them for any Tom Dick or harry. We also have to check new employees for residence ( illegal immigrants ) and a passport and driving license is sufficent if he can prove who is who from a cert maybe he should be a guest on this website and he can save us all a lot of time. My hubby is adopted and didn't get his original birth cert until he was in his 30's, so if any employer had wanted this prior to his 30's he would never have got any job - I also know what he would say if employer asked him for it, he is not who it says on his birth cert he is someone else and has been since 6 weeks old, so no good checking his birth cert as the person named on it no longer exists.

Thanks all,i had to go away and vent off a bit of steam before i got a bit too excited. Will let you know the outcome,think this one going to run and run. Glen

If you are leaglly adopted NO-ONE , not even the police are entitled to demand your ORIGINAL birth cert. You , once adopted legally become John Smith (or Who ever) and that is your legal identity.He has no right to demand an Original one ,

Hi Glen Go to the Citizens Advice they will get you a copy of your adopted birth cert. Your new boss should take the short version as it is legal. good luck in your new job. Best wishes Sandra

Fully agree with you Vicky,this chap has references from two employers going back nine years,i have 2 years worth of payslips with NI numbers etc. He is quite happy to see me drive £200 k worth of truck and £700k worth of load,without even seeing me drive,but flaps cos i can't show him where i was born. The other half slogs herself daft in a factory where only 12% of the workforce are born in the uk.No disrespect to some of the 'foreigners' but how the hell can they sign up for work straight 'off the boat'.

Just today my son (14) opened a savings account with his short cert as proof of identity. The long one does not prove identity any better than the short one. I have used my driving licence and passport as proofs of identity before, as well as my credit card. Though of course none of them PROVE who I am really! nell

off topic, it is now the employers duty to check the people they employ are not illegal & do have the right to work here (ie not on a student visa or whatever) In my opinion some employers have taken this too far. Hubby has an NI number issued 35 years ago, and can show you P60s from the first couple of jobs he ever had. He also has his original GCE certificate & God only knows what else.... He is looking for a new job & has signed up to several job search agencies. One wanted to see his birth certificate before they would let him register. (He refused) They act only as an intermediary - they wouldn't even be employing him!!! Reading between the lines again, and I know its not PC of me to say so (I'm having a very non-PC day) he is as English as they come, & anyone who has ever met him would be in no doubt. Its understandable that you might want to check up on someone looking or sounding foreign, so those of us who are 100% English (or Scots Welsh Irish etc) have to put up with this nonsense too. If employers used their common sense, the NI number (perhaps on an income tax letter!) ought to be good enough proof.

Talk about ridiculous! Imagine the stress if you didn't know that you were adopted? Surely a passport of driving licence would be adequate. I laugh at work when we accept birth cert as a form of ID with the little message underneath. AsI keep telling everyone I can order one quite easily over the internet and bring it in. Silly fools.

Well he's got a choice,shortie and my licence or a wait and a bill for £11.50. I would have thought his biggest worry is whether i can actually drive 65 foot of car transporter,not where the heck i was born. AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH

Mandy, Its the Adoption cert Glen needs, and they have to be ordered without the ref as the index is not searchable. His original birth cert is not legally valid. Liz :-) Hmm, we are overlapping ;-)