Almost 400 people apply to register under adoption tracing laws

Children's Minister Roderic O’Gorman during a media briefing on the publication of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022 at Government Buildings, Dublin. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Almost 400 people have applied to register whether or not they wish to make contact with relatives under a new law that gives adoptees access to their birth certs and other personal information for the first time.

The Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI) has said it is pleased with the significant response since the Contact Preference Register was opened two weeks ago.

The landmark Information and Tracing Bill, which was signed into law at the beginning of the month, provides a full and clear right of access to birth and early-life information for all persons who were adopted, boarded out, or the subject of an illegal birth registration.

Under the new law, people can state whether or not they want to make contact with relatives, as well as the sharing and receiving of information.

A total of 336 adoptees have submitted applications to the Contact Preference Register since it opened two weeks ago.

Of these, 85% are based in Ireland, 5% are in the UK, 5% in America, with the remaining 5% coming from the rest of the world.

A further 44 applications have been received from relatives of adoptees. The majority of these (70%) have come from people in Ireland; a further 8% from the UK; 8% from the US, and 14% from the rest of the world.

Just 1.6% of applications have been made by post, with most people opting to register their preference details online at birthinfo.ie.

New record

A spokesperson for the AAI said it is pleased with the response, noting the greatest number of applications the authority ever received for the old preference register was 80 in one month.

A public information campaign has also been rolled out, which will include the delivery of an information booklet to every household in the country.

However, the Information and Tracing services will not open until October, in order to give people time to register their preferences.