Review finds potentially 20,000 illegal birth registrations

Minister Roderic O'Gorman

A review of a sample of illegal birth registrations in Ireland has found there could be potentially up to 20,000 suspicious cases.

The independent review advised against a full government inquiry noting it could cause more trauma to those involved, however, the government has not ruled an inquiry out.

The report was commissioned in 2019, following Tusla’s discovery in early 2018 of evidence of illegal birth registrations in the files of the St Patrick’s Guild adoption society.

As part of this review, Tusla and the Adoption Authority Ireland (AAI) separately examined records from more than 30 agencies.

The Irish Examiner previously reported that the department was told about illegal birth registrations by the AAI as far back as in 2011, and again in 2013, before the St Patrick’s Guild scandal.

These agencies included adoption societies, nursing homes and boarded out records. 

Between them, both agencies examined a total of 1,496 records, in respect of 1,493 children, there would appear to be a greater number of boys than girls within the records sampled noting "in a rural agricultural-based society, boys may have been more sought after than girls."

They cannot provide proof of illegal practices; rather it highlights the potential for illegality in relation to the registering of birth records.

The reviewers sought out "markers" or "suspicious wording" on birth records that could potentially identify them as false records.

Adoption campaigners have repeatedly said that the review would be largely cosmetic in nature if it was confined to searching for markers rather than a forensic examination of records for all forms of illegal adoption.

They have also stressed that — as illegal registrations were usually carried out to circumvent adoption law — it is unlikely that adoption agencies signposted that fact using markers or labels in any systematic way.

Other forms of illegal adoption include cases of falsified or questionable consents, where the mother consenting was a minor; adoptions granted in the absence of birth certificates of any kind; and in the case of children whose parents were married and instances of correct birth registrations which resulted in illegal adoptions.

AAI sampled 452 case files, the wider conclusion reached by AAI is "that a range of markers, or wording suggestive of markers, or deemed suspicious, by those reviewing records was found in 89 of the 452 records examined. 

If this finding were extrapolated to the total number of records (4,359) it would represent up to 1,080 case records. 

A significant number of records may, therefore, have information contained within them which may indicate a potential for illegality in relation to the registrations of births."

Tusla conducted a review of records across 30 agencies using the agreed 26 markers, Tusla holds 70,000 records in a range of formats in respect of former adoption societies, Mother and Baby Homes, and boarded out records which were deemed pertinent to the current review, a sample size was selected of 1,082 records; just over 1.5% of Tusla’s records.

A total of 176 terms or markers suggestive were identified, if the number of unique records that contained wording suggestive of a marker or records that Tusla deemed as suspicious were extrapolated to its 70,000 records this would be in the region of 12,040 cases. 

Given the 90% confidence level and the 10% margin of error, this would be 18,900 records.

The findings suggested that the practice was most prevalent in the 1950s to the 1970s and was reducing through the 1980s and 1990s to the point that after 1994 no markers were identified.

The report concluded that: "A great wrong has been done to those robbed of their right to identity and family.

"The State and its agencies ensure that birth records are corrected, wherever possible... and The Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2016is amended and enacted to provide adopted persons and those affected by illegal/incorrect birth registration with the right to access information relating to their births."

Minister Roderic O’Gorman has requested the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, Professor Conor O’Mahony to examine the significant complexities and challenges associated with the matter, and set out proposed next steps for the Government.

Maree Ryan O'Brien, founder of Adoptee Identity Rights group Aitheantas says a further inquiry is required.

They say a thorough hand search across files that are cross-referenced is the only way a full picture of the issue can be drawn.

Ms Ryan-O'Brien said the review mirrors what happened in the recent commission of inquiry, due to a limited remit, the result is also limited.

"There's clear evidence that this happened, we have first-hand testimony that this happened and it was widespread.

"They need to go through every file, it's the least that adoptees deserve, it's a basic human right to know your place in the world.

"We can't keep dealing with this on a piecemeal basis we need to face up to this, our shared past on both sides of the border.

"We're just perpetuating the shame, taking half the medicine won't cure anything, we need people to know widespread, this was endemic.

"People who are tracing and looking for information tell us that the shame is still very much alive and if it's not tackled at source it'll perpetuate.

"Our history is incomplete, we only have part of the story."