Birth Family Contact

Contact after a child is adopted could be:

  • A one-off meeting of the prospective adoptive parents and the birth parents
  • Annual exchange of information via our Letterbox scheme
  • Face to face contact between adopted children and their birth relatives organised by their adoptive parents
  • A planned reunion between an adopted young person with a birth relative with whom there has been Letterbox contact
  • or Unplanned contact via Facebook.

At Adoption Support we are regularly involved with adoptive families who are grappling with any of the above scenarios. Contact is complicated. It is important that all parties are well supported and have chance to think through the issues involved. We have assembled useful articles and information about all forms of contact to help adoptive families.

The Important Life Story and Contact

Jill (adoptive parent)'s article [PDF] discusses some of the issues around the importance of life story and contact and how this impacts on the identity of adopted children.

Face-to-face contact in adoption

A previous Letterbox co-ordinator has written 10 Top Tips [PDF] for Contact for adoptive parents.

Sibling Contact

Sibling Contact Within Adoption - 10 top tips [PDF]  for placing siblings by Hedi Argent: a summary of this book which is primarily concerned with face to face contact.

A summary [PDF] of Shelagh Beckett's book, 'Staying Connected' on the best ways of keeping sibling contact.

Sometimes sibling contact can be difficult for young people to maintain. Read the story [PDF] of one young person who reflects on the direct contact she has had with her siblings.

Adoption and Social Networking

This article explains why giving a child their detailed history reduces shame and allows them to build a solid sense of self. It also includes many practical "how to" suggestions for professionals and parents to endure a safe place for therapeutic re-parenting can continue after birth families reconnect via Facebook.

Interview with Helen Oakwater - Emotional fallout of adopted teenagers tracing birth family members online (Health Check Programme broadcast on 20/12/2010 - 6.58 minutes)