Welcome to Birthlink
Our aim is to enhance the well-being and promote the welfare of all people affected by adoption with a Scottish connection.
How can we help?
If you have been affected by an adoption with a Scottish connection as a child, parent or relative, and are either looking for somebody, some information, or just someone to talk to, we can help you.
Are you an adopted person?
We can help at any and every stage of your search…

Adoption Contact Register
Finding connections through the Adoption Contact Register (ACR) for Scotland

National Records of Scotland
Locate your original birth extract, adoption certificate and access your court process papers

Mediation
Birthlink can facilitate an exchange of letters and photographs until the people involved feel ready to proceed

Accessing records
There are many types of records relating to your adoption and we can help in sorting out which ones are which

Search services
Using our experienced volunteers we are able to conduct a search to trace a birth relative on your behalf

One-to-one service
Giving you the opportunity to talk with professionals who are specialists in after adoption work
Are you looking for information and advice? Our
After Adoption Information Line
is for everyone connected to Adoption: the adopted person,
birth relative or professional
Call:
0131 225 6441
Monday to Friday 9am – 4pm

Are you a birth parent or relative?
At Birthlink we can help with…
Finding the original birth extract through the National Records for Scotland (NRS) Adoption Unit

Finding connections through the Adoption Contact Register (ACR) for Scotland

Are you an in-care survivor?
Our Care Connect service helps adults who have been in care to find information about their past or trace estranged family members.
Care Connect
We are currently working in partnership with Future Pathways, to locate and access in-care records

Words of appreciation
Read what our service users say…
Our latest news
Podcast tells gripping story of Esther’s journey to find her birth mother
In April Spotify released an eight-episode podcast entitled ‘Looking for Esther’ and it tells the story of Esther Robertson, who was born in 1961 and is the daughter of a white...
Looking for Esther
Looking for Esther is a Spotify Original podcast that follows Esther Robertson's journey to piece together her past and her identity. Esther was adopted at birth and had three...
110 years by Gary Clapton
We are one of the oldest Edinburgh charities in existence. We’ve been stymied from celebrating our 110-year anniversary so often in the last year that we’ve decided to go ahead...