In order to register on the Adoption Contact Register for Scotland you will need a copy of your original birth extract. You can obtain a copy of this by contacting the National Records of Scotland, Adoption Unit at adoptions@nrscotland.gov.uk.

The birth extract can provide information about:

• the time and place of birth

• the original name under which you were registered

• your mother’s name and surname and possibly occupation

• your father’s name, if recorded, and

• the name and possibly the relationship of the person who registered the birth.

Court Process

At the time of adoption legal documents are lodged with the Sheriff Court who granted the adoption order. These legal papers are known as the Court Process and the adopted person has the right to see them.

After a certain period (this varies from Court to Court), these records are archived centrally at the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh (NRS). A letter or phone call to the Sheriff Clerk of the Court will enable you to find out the location of your Court Process papers and you can make arrangements to read them. Birthlink staff can help you identify their current whereabouts and suggest how you may access the papers.

Should you wish Birthlink to act on your behalf please complete our Court Process Leaflet, together with a letter of authority signed by you and your NRS reference number if available. Please also send copies of both your identification documents and your full adoption certificate.

Searching for your origins

Are you a birth relative?

In order to register on the Adoption Contact Register for Scotland, looking for an adopted person, you will require a copy of their original birth extract.

You can obtain a copy of this by contacting the National Records of Scotland, Adoption Unit on adoptions@nrscotland.gov.uk.