Octogenarian and child of five among adopted children or parents applying for unrestricted access to early years data
Of the 891 who have registered the AAI said the oldest person to request their data was 81, and the mean age of applicants was 50. The youngest was a five-year-old whose adoptive parents had registered on their behalf.
This reflects pressure on unmarried mothers in Catholic Ireland to give up their babies for adoption, but who went on to have more children later in life.The 81-year-old seeking their birth data would have been informally adopted, as adoption was not legal until 1953 – presenting a challenging task for anyone seeking to find their birth parents before the new legislation.
Those who were informally adopted before 1953, a process known as “boarded out”, or who had their birth illegally registered, can also apply for their data.to reach adult adoptees who were taken into families in the UK, the US and elsewhere. The Birth Information and Tracing Act allows adoptees or relatives to register their preference for contact with a parent of child until October, when the tracing process can legally start. In October they can apply to obtain the data.