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You can request that these documents are returned to you by writing to Domestic Adoption Unit, Adoption Authority of Ireland, Shelbourne House, Shelbourne Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 D04H6F6 or by emailing domestic@aai.gov.ie
Please note that original Birth Certificates for adopted children cannot be returned, as these have been superseded upon the making of an Adoption Order. An Adoption Certificate is available from the General Register Office.
Click this link for a list of Accredited Bodies and Tusla - The Child and Family Agency
If you don't know which agency handled the adoption, or if the adoption was organised through an agency other than those listed, please contact our Information and Tracing Unit for assistance Tel: 1800 309 300.
Normally, it is the agency that arranged your adoption that traces your birth family.
However, we can help you make contact and reunite you with family members if your adoption was:
- Arranged by St Therese Adoption Society, Whitefriar Street, Dublin 8 (also known as Father Flanagan)
- If the adoption was third party (for example, if an adoption was not arranged by an agency)
- If the adoption was a direct placement (for example, your birth mother placed you with your adoptive parents)
- If the adoption was a family placement (for example, you were placed with relatives)
- If the adoption was a step-parent adoption (for example, you were adopted by your step-father or step-mother)
Please note that the Adoption Authority holds records for legal adoptions that took place in Ireland only from 1953 onwards.
The NACPR or the National Contact Preference Register is a register that checks for connections between an adopted person and natural family member.
Click here to find out more
Application Forms
Information Booklet
If you cannot print a form from the website, you can write to us or email us and we will send one to you in the post.
- What is an entry in the Rica?
The recognition of an ‘intercountry adoption’ or a ‘foreign adoption’ by the Irish State
- Who can apply for entry?
The adopted person, a person by whom the adopted person was adopted and any other person having an interest in the matter
- Who cannot apply for entry?
Those not covered by above criteria.
- What kind of entries are refused?
Adoptions, the effects of which are not broadly similar to those of an Irish domestic adoption.
Adoptions abroad by persons resident in Ireland who have not been issued with a Declaration of Eligibility & Suitability to Adopt.
Adoptions by persons living abroad but whose adoptions are not Hague Convention adoptions or where those persons are not habitually resident in the country where the adoption was effected
- What are the main proofs required in order to review an application?
An adoption document that bears the seal of the court or other authority of that country, for example an original court order or a certified-copy-of-an-entry of an adoption. The AAI may also request proof of marital status, proof of residency status and other relevant documents such as an affidavit-of-laws.
Forming your family through adoption will have been a very personal matter and life-changing journey and experience for your family. How to talk to your child about their adoption is one of the most common questions asked and there is no single answer. Parents talking with their children have used different methods. Talking with other families who have experience of adoption has been useful for some people to gather ideas on how to tell, while retaining their child's personal information solely for the child. Using memorabilia, photos, documents, videos, books and facts generally interwoven into the family's direct experience is also commonly used. Giving children factual and truthful information appropriate to their age and development in a sensitive manner is important.
Many people find it helpful to talk with other parents who have adopted. Join a support group or speak to a social worker experienced in this area. Appropriate supports will assist your reflection and decision-making process around what will work for your family in the context of your individual experience and the facts of the adoption.
You can also contact your local adoption social worker or you can speak to one of the Adoption Authority social work team, telephone 01 2309 306 to discuss your family's experience of adoption and for assistance in how to tell your child about their birth circumstances.
People have a right to base their identity on factual information. Therefore, your phone call to the social worker about this matter is of fundamental importance to you and to your child.
