A support group has strongly attacked the new Adoption and Children Bill saying it will do nothing to help millions of adults whose lives have been affected by adoption.

The Bill which had its Second eading in the House of Commons yesterday could have serious implications for people seeking access to their adoption records, says the National Organisation for Counselling Adoptees and Parents (NORCAP).

Pam Hodgkins, the founder of NORCAP, said the group was "bitterly disappointed" by the new Act adding that it had failed to meet their expectations after hopeful signs in the earlier adoption White Paper that issues affecting adult adoptees and birth parents would be addressed in the new laws.

"All Members of Parliament need to be aware that there are more than two million adults in England and Wales whose lives have been directly affected by adoption," said Pam.

"Some were adopted under the present legislation in recent years, others as long ago as 1927. Thousands of these people have been waiting for new adoption legislation to enable them to have the opportunity to reach out to relatives from whom they were separated by adoption.

"Many are elderly, they saw this as their last chance. The Bill before the House will not meet their needs or their hopes. This is our major concern.

"Whilst adoption today is about securing family life for children who would otherwise grown up in the care of local authorities, this is a fairly recent use of adoption.

"For the first 50 years from 1926 to 1976 adoption was used, almost exclusively, to avoid the stigma of illegitimacy and extra-marital births.

"Unmarried mothers had little choice but to relinquish their babies to adoption. Half a million women went through this experience.

"Told to forget and get on with their lives, we now know most found that impossible. They have grieved an unending, unfocused grief not knowing even if their son, their daughter was alive or dead."

She said many of these birth mothers feel discriminated against because now, even mothers who may have abused their children can be allowed some form of contact whereas they, who have never harmed their children were being denied any form of access.

"In many cases their placements were made by private individuals when such placements were lawful, so there is no adoption agency they can approach to ask for an intermediary service," explained Pam.

"These mothers, together with many fathers, brothers and sisters all need an active service now."

Other countries now allowed birth relatives as well as adopted people access to their records, provision. "Britain is alone in offering a one sided service," she said.

"This Bill will be the last chance for a generation to put this right. For the mothers who parted with babies born during the second world war, for elderly brothers and sisters who remember a baby being born and then being gone this is the last chance. MPs must ensure these people have their opportunity."

NORCAP believs that "simple measures" could be put in place to protect those adopted adults who would prefer not to be contacted.

"However, fear that a tiny minority of people would not wish to communicate with birth relatives is not a sound reason to fail to provide the opportunity to the vast majority for whom it would be a source of joy ending decades of heartache," said Pam.

She attacked the planned modifications to the Adoption Contact Register (clause 65-67)saying they did not effectively address the needs of people that NORCAP represented while other amendments would make it "almost impossible" for people to use the courts to obtain information from the Registrar General.

Other areas which cause us concern include a proposal that adopted people while being entitled to specific information about themselves from courts and adoption societies, will specifically not have any entitlement to information about their birth family members.

"MPs need to consider carefully what information they have that they perceive to be personal data but which could be construed as being 'third party information' eg their brother's name, their mother's birthday. This is the information adopted people want and need to form their own sense of identity," said Pam.

Another clause in the Bill as it stands will result in adoption indexes, presently available in bound volumes at the Family Record Centre being removed and not available to the public, says NORCAP.

Instead records will be accessed by computer which will make it easy for an adopted person to identify their own entry but make it impossible for anyone to search for an adopted person if they do not know the adopted name of the person they are seeking.

This could place serious restrictions on th way birth relatives can currently conduct searches.

NORCAP is also advocating that in circumstances where an adopted person cannot access their own birth records or place their name on the adoption contact register it would be appropriate for a next of kin could do so on their behalf.

An adopted person who died in childhood cannot appoint another person to access information on his/her behalf and an adopted adult with severe learning difficulties may not be able to register themselves on the adoption contact register so there needs to be provision for their adoptive parents or carer to do so on their behalf.

NORCAP also believes that many people wish to access information and intermediary services from agencies independent of the social services or a placement agency.

The adoption White Paper proposed that suitable organisations could be licensed to undertake this work which could also free up social workers' time in statutory and voluntary adoption agencies to meet the placement needs of today's children.

NORCAP also attacked provision in the Bill for the "most disadvantaged group of adopted adults" - abandoned babies who remain unable to use the Adoption Contact register because they have no birth certificate.

The group also criticised no provision in the Act to allow unmarried couples to adopt jointly.

"MPs may be concerned that provision for adoption orders to be made to couples who are to parent a child together but are not married to each other would be interpreted by their constituents and others as promoting adoption by gay couples," said Pam.

"This is not the key issue," she stressed uring MPs to re-examine the issue from a child's perspective.

"This is not an issue about any adult having the right to adopt. It is all about the adopted child's right to have the same, equal, and lifelong relationship to both adults who act as parents rather than the quality relationship conferred by adoption to one of the adults and a lessor, temporary one to the other 'parent'.

"This is like asking a child to tell you who he loves most- Mum or Dad? It should not happen. There is no legislation requiring that children may only be placed with married couples or single people who live alone.

"Placements with unmarried couples both heterosexual and gay are made because after careful assessment they are shown to be the best placement for a particular child. If they are the people who together can meet that child's needs then the child needs to be adopted by both of them."

NORCAP representatives are aiming to discuss their concerns about the Bill with Health Minister John Hutton who expressed his willingness to meet the group when responding to a question at last week's meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Adoption.

Those wishing to comment to NORCAP on the Bill should e-mail them or call 01865 875000.

See also:

Adoption Bill pledges support