Who is a Prescribed Relative?

Prescribed relatives include the children of the adopted person, parents, wider family members and step-parents legally related to the adopted person after the adoption took place.

Both birth and prescribed relatives under the Children and Families Act 2014, enables the provision of facilitating information and/or contact between persons legally related before and after an adoption to an adopted person.

Depending on when the person was adopted, there are two different options to find information about an adopted person or explore and/or arrange contact:

Adoptions after 30th December 2005

If the person was adopted after 30th December 2005 and you live in our region which includes Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton local authorities, we provide an Intermediary Service between the adopted person and a family relative(s). This means we provide a regulatory service where we are responsible for managing your enquiry and may act as a ‘go-between’ for both parties should contact be agreed. If you live outside our region, please contact the local authority you live in or your Regional Adoption Agency to begin your search.

For more information on gaining information or contacting an adopted person please visit our contact page.

Adoptions before 30th December 2005

If the person was adopted before 30 December 2005 and you live in the Adopt South region, we may be able to provide an Intermediary Service, but you may be required to gain further information before we can facilitate potential contact.

Please don’t worry if you don’t have this information. We will do our best to help you in any way we can.

If you wish to gain information on an adopted person that has died, the service and advice we offer is the same. You may, however, be asked to provide further information on the deceased.

Depending on when the person was adopted and where the adoption took place, can affect the likelihood of finding or obtaining information. In some situations, an independent tracing service may be required to establish whether contact details are available. This is usually independently taken by the relative (s) and there is normally some form of a fee involved. We can explain this to you and provide you with information.

We understand that this can be quite an emotional time, especially anticipating or receiving news. In some cases, it can be disappointing or upsetting if contact cannot be established or the adoptee does not want to progress.

For more information on gaining information or contacting an adopted person please visit our contact page.

Please contact us on 0300 3000 001 or you can arrange for us to call you back.