Since 1991 The General Register Office GRO) for England and Wales has operated an Adoption Contact Register. The Register allows adopted adults and their birth relatives to register their wishes for contact or no contact.
The adopted person and the birth relative would both have to register a wish for contact in order for a link (match) to be made. The GRO has recently undertaken a policy review of the evidential requirements for entry onto the Adoption Contact Register.
The review found that it was often difficult for a birth relative, wishing to apply for entry onto Part 2 of the Contact Register, to prove their relationship to an adopted person - tracking down documents can be
difficult and expensive and even impossible if the link is broken when a birth father is not named. The GRO has now moved to a declaration based application which does not require documentary evidence.
New forms and guidance notes are available on the new gov.uk website. The GRO will continue to accept old forms in circulation for some time.