Applications open for access to birth information from today

People seeking information about their birth, early life, medical information or who want to trace their origins will be able to do so from today (Monday).

A statutory tracing service will enable those who wish to make contact with birth relatives to register their information.

In June, the Birth Information and Tracing Act was signed into law, providing those with questions about their origins, access to birth certificates, early life, care and medical information.

The following month a Contact Preference Register was established. This enabled people to register whether they wanted to make contact with birth relatives or request privacy.

Over 16,600 adopted people, birth parents and other relatives had registered their preference, by September.

From today, applications can be made for access to birth, early life, care and medical information and for tracing services.

Information requests can be made to the Adoption Authority of Ireland and Tusla through the bespoke website birthinfo.ie.

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman, along with the Adoption Authority of Ireland and the Child and Family Agency, Tusla has welcomed the news.

Minister O'Gorman said: “I welcome the opening of applications for birth information and tracing services through the Adoption Authority of Ireland and Tusla. I am acutely aware of the long and difficult road so many had to travel to get to this point. I am pleased and thankful though, that the day has arrived where people can with certainty and confidence access what is rightfully theirs. I wish to thank all those who campaigned for this change, and acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the Adoption Authority and Tusla in bringing this into operation.”

Speaking about the opening of the new services, Adoption Authority of Ireland CEO Patricia Carey said: “This is a historic moment. The new birth information and tracing services are about bringing comfort and understanding to the many families in Ireland who have been touched by adoption. They are about providing thousands of adopted people with information that they’ve wanted for a very long time – information that was always their own but which only now they are legally entitled to receive. They are also about helping individuals and families to connect, to share information and make contact with birth relatives who wish to do the same.

"I urge anyone seeking guidance about how to apply for their birth information, how to request a tracing service, or how to add their details to the Contact Preference Register to visit the Birth Information and Tracing website at www.birthinfo.ie.”

Siobhan Mugan, National Manager - adoption and birth information and tracing services at Tusla, said of the new service: “With our colleagues in the Adoption Authority of Ireland and the support of the Minister and his Department, we have advocated for this legislation for many years. To that end, we look forward to implementing it and have actively planned for today by putting the additional resources we need in place to provide information and tracing services on a statutory basis to people who wish to receive a service.

"We have recruited additional staff for our contact and support centre, who will help people with their information and tracing requests. We have also put in place small, dedicated locally based teams across the country to provide information to people, and we have enhanced our tracing services which will support people in getting timely and efficient access to tracing a relative, including genealogical support when that service is needed”.