In order to start a step-parent adoption, you must first get assessed for a Declaration of Eligibility and Suitability. In order to arrange an assessment, please contact your local Adoption Services in Tusla - The Child and Family Agency or relevant Accredited Body. To find the address of your local Adoption Services you can click here. You should also read the information in the Step Family adoption section of this website.

No. Under the terms of the Adoption Act 2010, children of marriage are not eligible for adoption, except for very specific circumstances. These circumstances include where the child of marriage has been deemed by the High Court to have been abandoned, and where the child of marriage has no living parents. A child who still has a living parent who has care of the child cannot be adopted.

No. An adoption can only be effected in Ireland if the child is under the age of 18 years at the date the Adoption Order is made. There is no provision in current legislation to adopt anyone over the age of 18 years.

The General Register Office in Roscommon maintains the Adopted Children Register. To request a copy of the Adoption Certificate, please contact the General Register Office on 0906 – 632900 or 1890 252076

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Please note that original Birth Certificates for adopted children cannot be returned, as these have been superseded upon the making of an Adoption Order.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.

In order to start an application to adopt, you must first get assessed for a Declaration of Eligibility and Suitability. In order to arrange an assessment, please contact your local Adoption Services in Tusla - The Child and Family Agency or relevant Accredited Body. To find the address of your local Adoption Services you can click here. You should also read the information in the Domestic Infant Adoption section of this website. If you are considering adopting a child from outside of Ireland, you will need to be assessed for a Declaration of Eligibility and Suitability. You should also read the information in the Intercountry section of this website.

There are no direct fees charged by the Adoption Authority of Ireland or Tusla - Child and Family Agency or relevant Accredited Body to apply for adoption in Ireland. As part of the Assessment process you may have to pay your General Practitioner or other medical personnel for reports regarding your health, or pay for a copy of your Marriage Certificate or Birth Certificate from the General Register Office, but these are private expenses, and are not adoption fees.

As each application is completely different, indicative time frames cannot be provided. Circumstances which impact on the duration of the application process can include: The length of the waiting list for assessment; The nature of the relationship between the birth mother and the birth father; whether the birth father can be contacted in order to ascertain his views on the proposed adoption; whether the birth mother is willing to consent to the proposed adoption; the speed at which documents are provided by you to your assessing agency or to the Adoption Authority of Ireland. If you are concerned at the length of time your application is taking, you should contact your Assessing Social Worker.

If you are considering placing your child for adoption, you can click here for further information, or contact Tusla - Child and Family Agency or Here2Help

There are two different types of certificate available from the General Register Office upon the making of an Adoption Order, this is similar to the situation with Birth Certificates. There is an abridged version of a certificate and a long version of a certificate. The abridged version of a certificate contains very basic information. Most government departments or other agencies require the long version or full version of Adoption Certificate (in the same way that they require a long version of a Birth Certificate for people who are not adopted). The certificate is in fact an extract from the Adopted Children Register. If you wish to receive your full Adoption Certificate, you should call the General Register Office and request a copy of the full extract from the Adopted Children Register. The General Register Office can be contacted on 0906 632900 or 1890 252076.

Records are held both by the Adoption Agency and the Adoption Authority.
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.

If you are unsure if a formal adoption order was made for you, you can write to the Information & Tracing Unit, provide some background details and some ID. We will check our records and confirm whether or not there is a formal adoption order made for you.

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.

The first step for Intercountry adoption is to get assessed. Please see Information for Prospective Adopters for more information.

For information on who can adopt a child or children from abroad please see Information for Prospective Adopters and Country Information

Prospective parents looking to adopt a child from abroad can adopt form a number of different countries. Please see Country information for more information.

The trends in profile of children available for intercountry adoption is always changing. For current information on the various different countries please see Country Information. If you are working with an adoption agency in Ireland or abroad, they may also be able to advise you on recent trends in child profiles, based on the referrals they see coming in.

The costs of intercountry adoption vary from country to country. Please see Country Information for more information on country specific costs.

Please see Register of Intercountry Adoption (RICA) for more information and the relevant forms.

The Adoption Authority of Ireland has no involvement in the issue of passports. Please see the website of the Department of Foreign Affairs www.dfa.ie for information. However, in order to apply for a passport, you will need to have registered your foreign adoption in Ireland and get a certificate of intercountry adoption. For information on how to do this, please see Register of Intercountry Adoption (RICA).

No. Only resident in Ireland can apply to adopt a child back into Ireland.  If you are living outside Ireland, you will need to be assessed for adoption in the country you are currently resident in and go through their adoption process.  The Adoption Authority would always advise you seek independent legal advice.

Please see Register of Intercountry Adoption (RICA) for information on how to apply to have a foreign adoption recognised and registered in Ireland.

• 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.

Please see our section on Pregnant and Thinking About Adoption. If your question is not answered in this section please call the Social Work Duty line 01 2309 306.

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.

There are a number of steps you can take to begin this process. Please see the National Adoption Contact Preference Register page on this website.

There are a number of steps you can take to begin this process. Please see the National Adoption Contact Preference Register page on this website

To adopt a child in Ireland, contact your local Tusla - Child and Family Agency Adoption Service.  Your local Tusla office will advise you on all aspects of adoption and fostering in Ireland. You can also find some information in the Domestic Adoption section of this website

To adopt a child abroad, contact your local Tusla - Child and Family Agency Adoption Service.  Your local Tusla office will advise you on the process involved.  You can also find information in the Intercountry Adoption section of this website