Family information networks and discovery service Victoria
Family information networks and discovery service Victoria
To receive this publication in an accessible format phone(03) 8608 5700, using the National Relay Service 13 36 77 if required, or email
Authorised and published by the Victorian Government, 1 Treasury Place, Melbourne.
© State of Victoria, Department of Health and Human Services May, 2017.
ISBN/ISSNReprinted 2009 (0690201)
Available at
Contents
Victoria: leading the way
Family information networks and discovery
Introduction
Community education
Rights and entitlements of applicants
Adoption information register
Release of information
Fees
Rights
Adopted persons
Adult children of adopted persons
Natural parents
Adoptive parents
Natural relatives
The interview
Searching
Contact and intermediary services
Deciding to seek information or contact
Adopted persons
Children of adopted persons
Natural parents
Natural mothers
Natural fathers
Natural relatives
Adoptive parents
About reunions
Preparing for a reunion
Making contact
Post-reunion
Adopted persons
Individual experiences
Children of adopted persons
Natural parents
Natural relatives
Adoptive parents
Further information/contacts
Adoption information services in Victoria
Adoption support and resource services
Victoria: leading the way
Victoria wasthe first state in Australia to pass legislation allowing people affected by adoption to obtain information about the adoption.
The information provisions of Victoria’s Adoption Act 1984 came after more than ten years of community consultation. The law had bipartisan political support. Today all Australian states have some form of legislation for access to information. Between 1928 – when the first adoption laws were passed in Victoria – and the end of 2004, there were approximately 64,530 legal adoptions in Victoria.
The effect of each adoption spreads like a ripple to the families of both relinquishing and adoptive parents, the spouse or partner of the adopted person and their families and children.
One in six families in our community has had adoption experiences. This booklet aims to raise community awareness and understanding of adoption issues, the rights of those involved in adoption and the services available to them.
Family information networks and discovery
The DHHS Adoption Information Service (AIS), now called Family Information Networks and Discovery (FIND) was established in 1985 to implement the information provisions of the Adoption Act 1984. Adoption Information Services in Victoria are also provided by Catholic Care Catholic Family Services, Anglicare, and Connections. The service helps those people separated by adoption who want to obtain information or contact one another.
Through the Adoption Information Services above, people place their names on a register, obtain information, search and make contact. Intermediary, counselling and support services are also available.
See page 34 for agency contact information.
Introduction
Community education
Staff fromThe Departmentof Human Service’s Family Information Networks and Discovery can discuss arrangements to speak to community organisations and schools, about services.
FIND offers workshops onadoptionissues at the requestof individuals or community groups. Contact FIND on (03) 8608 5700.
Rights and entitlements of applicants
Under Victoria’s laws, adopted people,natural parents,adoptive parents, some natural relatives and adult children of adopted peopleare entitled to apply for information.
Adoption information register
The Department of Health and Human Services and the three approved Adoption Information Service agencies (see page 34) maintain a register of information about parties to adoption. People on the register may request, in writing, that their names, addresses and wishes in relation to obtaining or providing information be recorded. People canapply to include or access information on the register.Those who apply have different wishes and needs––some wantto registerin casesomeone else is looking for them,some want informationonlyand some want to find people from whom they havebeen separated.
Release of information
The provisions of the AdoptionAct1984require thatagencies mayonly release information they believe is reasonably likely to be true, and whichdoes not unreasonably disclose information relating to the personal affairs ofanother person. The names and addresses of peopleon the register cannot be disclosedwithouttheirwritten consent.
Fees
There is no fee to register for adoption records. Fees were waived following the Victorian Government’s apology in October 2012 to those impacted by past forced adoption practices during the closed adoption era.
Rights
Adopted persons
Adult adopted persons (people over eighteen years of age) may apply for:
•a copy of their original birth certificate; and
•information contained in court, agency and ward records
Adult adopted persons are entitled to identifying and non-identifying information about natural parents, siblings and half siblings that is included in these records. This identifying information enables adopted people to conduct their own search and to make contact themselves if they wish. Examples of non-identifying information include descriptions of physical appearance, health, interests, schooling or occupation of family members. Adopted people under eighteen can apply for identifying or non- identifying information. The permission of each of their adoptive parents is needed before non- identifying information from records can be released. The written agreement of the natural parent is needed before identifying information can be given to adopted persons under eighteen.
Adult children of adopted persons
People who are over eighteen years old and are the children of adopted persons have the same rights to information as adopted people.
The adopted person must be notified by the agency of their child’s inquiry. If the adopted person is deceased, evidence of their death must be supplied.
Natural parents
Natural parents may apply for:
•identifying information which includes the name of their adopted child following the adoption
•identifying information, with the agreement in writing of the adoptive parents if the adopted person is under eighteen
If the natural father is not listed as the registered father then the Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages cannot release information. If the natural father is not listed on the birth record but is named in the Court records, the Registry can release information and will advise FIND that the natural father can apply to be added to the pre-adoptive birth record. The natural father can apply to the Registry to be added to the pre-adoptive birth record by providing a statutory declaration signed by the natural mother naming him as the natural father or, if there is no contact with the natural mother then a statutory declaration from a close family relative of the natural mother (mother, father, sibling) naming him as the natural father.
Adoptive parents
Adoptive parents may apply for:
•non-identifying information from records; or
•current and identifying information with the written permission of the natural parent
If the adopted person is over eighteen, the agency must notify them in writing before identifying information is disclosed to the adoptive parents.
Natural relatives
The Adoption Act 1984 allows grandparents, brothers, sisters, uncles and aunts of the adopted person to register. A natural relative may apply for:
•non-identifying information from records about the adopted person; or
•identifying information, with the agreement in writing of the adopted person or of the adoptive parents, if the adopted person is under eighteen. In addition, in accordance with the law, the agency needs to be satisfied circumstances exist that make the release of identifying information desirable.
The interview
It is a requirement of the Adoption Act that applicants attend an interview before they receive information.
At the interview, applicants are advised of their rights, the services they can use, and if anyone has applied for information about them.
The interview is not a personal assessment. The Adoption Act gives people rights to information and those rights are unconditional – limited discretionary powers apply only in relation to natural relatives.
Many people find that discussing their thoughts and expectations helps to prepare for the search. The interview provides an opportunity for the applicant to become aware of their own rights and needs and also those of others in the natural and adoptive families.
Applicants can choose to attend an individual or group interview. A telephone interview can be arranged if applicants are overseas, interstate, or there are other access difficulties such as disability.
Searching
Adult adopted people and the adult children of adopted people are entitled to identifying information therefore they may conduct their own search at their own pace. Support is available to them from several sources:
•Adoption Information agencies.
•VANISH, a self-help organisation which is fully funded by DHHS. Search and support services are free.
•Support groups in Victoria.
•The Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
Although most adult adopted people conduct their own searches, the agency can search on their behalf with the consent of the adopted person. Agencies also carry out searches on behalf of all other applicants.
The success rate for locating a person is generally high. For various reasons however, there is a small percentage of people who cannot be found.
People adopted through intercountry adoption may also apply for information.
Searching for natural parents in other countries however, can prove more challenging due to different countries’ legislation and record-keeping practices. FIND and the Department’s Inter Country Adoption Service provide assistance to adopted people seeking information from records, search or reunion.
Contact and intermediary services
The support, assistance or counselling that people need varies. Short term counselling about adoption issues can be provided by FIND or AIS agencies. Referral for longer term counselling or assistance can be made on request.
Self-help and support groups offer opportunities to discuss adoption issues. Information about these groups is given to all applicants and to people with whom the agencies make contact.
The agency writes to the person sought by the applicant, advising them of the inquiry and inviting them to discuss their response. The counsellor from the agency then acts as an intermediary, being equally responsive to the wishes and needs of all parties. Intermediary processes usually result in exchange of information and sometimes in reunions depending on the wishes of those involved. The success of a reunion will depend partly on the preparation of the parties. The reunion process and how to prepare for it are discussed in the next section.
See page 34 for agency contact information.
Deciding to seek information or contact
For many years adoption practices throughout the world were dominated by beliefs that secrecy was essential to protect all parties, and natural parents and adopted people did not need information about each other. These beliefs were based on myths that natural parents would forget their relinquished child, and an adopted person would not seek information or contact with natural parents if they really loved their adoptive parents.
It is now universally recognised that adult adopted people have a right to identifying information about their natural relatives. Research and evidence support their need to have information and indicate that disclosure of information does not disrupt otherwise happy adoptive families – rather, it may promote greater understanding between the parties involved.
The following is a summary of facts on the most common perceptions, feelings and outcomes experienced by each party to the adoption process in regard to the issue of information about, or contact with, a natural relative.
Adopted persons
Interest in one’s origins is born of a natural curiosity and desire to establish an integrated identity. This holds true, perhaps even more so, for adopted persons. Research indicates that most adopted people decide to search after stages or events in their lives that intensify their curiosity and interest in acquiring further information about their genealogical background. These include:
•Late adolescence, when feelings about identity become more intense and questions increase.
•Partnering, engagement or marriage, where a focus on the future creates a desire for knowledge of the past.
•Parenting––from conception through the stage of child rearing can bring to the fore questions about hereditary matters such as health and medical history. Curiosity about other traits of a psychological nature, for instance, can also emerge.
•Mid-life for many people is a time of reviewing and reflecting upon their lives. During this time they may broach the issue of their origins, now with greater life experience and maturity.
•Death of an adoptive parent may bring forth a number of reasons to seek adoption information and contact with the natural family. A sense of the initial loss of one’s natural parent (through adoption) may emerge at this time, perhaps triggering a desire to make a re-connection. It may also serve as a reminder that natural parents too may die if one leaves the search for too long. The loss of an adoptive parent may relieve the adopted person of the burden of concern or guilt about hurting them if they searched for their natural parent.
Some adopted people never feel the need to seek information or make contact, or do so later in their lives following a particular crisis or event. Fear of hurting the adoptive parents is extensively documented. The decision to seek information may create feelings of disloyalty toward the adoptive parents. Many people face the dilemma of searching now and perhaps hurting the adoptive parents, or waiting until later – when it may be too late.
Adopted people often fear their natural parents’ reactions and are worried about hurting them. Fear of rejection is almost always present. Some people are also afraid of what they might discover about their natural families.
Some adopted people aged 18 to 25 years have little or no desire to seek information or search for natural parents. This may be due to the above
constraints and fears and it is typical for people of this age to be more interested and involved in the important matters of establishing their own adult lives and identities. Often they are enjoying a growing independence from their adoptive families and perceive the addition of a second family as an unwanted complication at that stage.
Children of adopted persons
The child of an adopted person has some of the same concerns about health and identity as the adopted person. They may want to give their children information about their family background.
The search may be initiated when the child of the adopted person marries or has children, or after the death of the adopted person. The making of family trees is a popular activity which may stimulate a search by the child of an adopted person.
Natural parents
Natural mothers
Little was known about the feelings of natural mothers towards access to information until comparatively recently. Society tended to believe that natural mothers would want to remain anonymous––having embarked on ‘new lives’ they would not want their identity revealed. Studies and practice have shown this assumption to be untrue for most natural mothers.
It has also been established that mothers do not forget their child. Most go on thinking about their child for the rest of their lives, while many continue to have severe feelings of loss, pain and mourning, intensified by not knowing what has happened to their child.
Natural mothers yearn in particular to know about their child’s welfare––is their child alive and happy?
Although natural mothers may want and need information, their anxieties and fears often mean they are reluctant to initiate a search. Natural mothers are concerned that their child will never understand the reason for relinquishment and may have grown up feeling rejected and abandoned, or that their child will think poorly of them and may be angry and resentful at having been placed for adoption.
Natural mothers do not want to hurt the adoptive parents and feel that they have no right to intrude into the relationships of the adoptive family. However, natural mothers usually respond positively to requests for contact initiated by the adopted person.
The experiences of natural mothers at the time of relinquishing their child for adoption are of paramount importance in understanding their often conflicting emotions about searching for the child.
The natural mothers of adopted people who are now adults often had little or no choice in placing their children for adoption. The stigma of illegitimacy, before single motherhood became more acceptable, and the prospect of economic hardship (the single mothers’ pension only commenced in 1975) meant that many women were pressured by families or society into making a decision to relinquish even before the birth of the child. In the past, the assistance and counselling available to single pregnant women from professionals was, on the whole, biased towards adoption as the only alternative.