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Information for adopted people
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Your rights
If you are an adopted adult, the Adult Information Act 1985 gives you the right to information about the adoption. The Act recognises that people in the adoption process may feel more complete when they have knowledge of their origins and each other.
The Act also gives you the right to maintain your privacy. You can choose how much information other people will be able to obtain about you.
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Your birth certificate
Once you turn 20, you can write to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriage (PO Box 10 526, Wellington 6143) to get a copy of your original birth certificate (section 4 of the Act). Further information on this process is available from the Registrar-General's website
You must give the Registrar-General:
- your full name
- your place of birth
- your date of birth
- the full name(s) of your adoptive parents
- your address and telephone number
- your signature
- the fee needed to obtain the birth certificate
- the name of the counsellor or agency you have chosen (see Counselling).
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Counselling
If you are resident in New Zealand you must choose a counsellor or agency to issue your certificate to you. Counsellors and agencies have been specially appointed by the Minister under section 12 of the Adult Adoption Information Act 1985. You may choose a counsellor who is independent of Child, Youth and Family Adoption Services or you may elect to have your certificate issued by an adoptions social worker at Child, Youth and Family.
Please call your nearest adoptions social worker on phone 0508 FAMILY (0508 326 459) for details of the counsellors and agencies available in your area. You must choose a name or an agency from the list given to you by the social worker and give that name to the Registrar-General. If you wish to have your certificate issued by an independent counsellor, but there are no independent counsellors in your area, you have the choice of travelling to a centre where a counsellor is available.
The Registrar-General will send your birth certificate to the counsellor or agency you have chosen.
The counsellor or agency will contact you and arrange for you to receive the birth certificate (section 5 of the Act).
A counsellor is involved to give you information and support, to help make decisions that are right for you. The counsellor is not there to try and make you change your mind about a decision you have made. The counsellor does not have the right to withhold information you are legally entitled to.
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Searching for or contacting your birthparent(s)
Once you have your original birth certificate, you may wish to search for and contact your birthparent(s).
You can discuss with your counsellor or social worker how to search and how to make a sensitive approach. You may want to contact your birthparent(s) yourself, or you may wish to use someone as a mediator. A social worker can be asked to mediate (section 10 of the Act).
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Updating your original birth certificate
If the name of one or both of your birth parents is not recorded on your original birth registration, but you can find out who they are, their details can be added to the registration entry. This is usually done with the consent of the particular parent. Contact the Central Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages for further information about this process.
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Information from Child, Youth and Family records
If you want to know whether Child, Youth and Family holds any information about your adoption, you should call or write to your nearest Adoption Services office of Child, Youth and Family and supply a copy of your original birth certificate (section 9 of the Act).
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If a veto has been placed
If there are no details of your birth parent(s) on the birth certificate, either the name has not been registered or the birth parent(s) have placed a veto.
The birth certificate will show your place of birth, your date of birth, your sex, and your original first names if they were put on the register. It will be sent to you directly with a list of counsellors. You may want to discuss the situation with your chosen counsellor.
You can also write to:
Adoption Services
Child, Youth and Family
Private Bag 6901
Marion Square
Wellington 6141.
Ask if the person placing the veto has left a letter of explanation for you, and if non-identifying information is available. A veto is in place for ten years, but can be lifted at any time. A veto expires if the person who places it dies, but your original birth registration entry may not be automatically updated to remove the veto.
You can ask the Registrar-General at any stage to verify if either or both of your birthparents’ deaths are recorded in New Zealand. A fee applies for this service. Otherwise, if you know that your birthparents are dead, please advise the Registrar-General of this fact when applying for your original birth certificate.
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Placing a veto on the birth registration
If you are adopted and you do not wish to have contact with your birth parents, you can, once you turn 19, write to the Registrar-General to say that you don’t want information that would identify you to be given to your birth parents (section 7 of the Act). The veto is in force for 10 years, but you can change your mind and reverse the veto at any time.
When you write to the Registrar-General to place a veto you must give your full adopted name and your date of birth. Talking to a counsellor may help. However, you don’t need to see a counsellor if you don’t want to.
If you decide to put a veto on identifying information about yourself, please consider leaving with Child, Youth and Family some other information or a letter explaining the reasons for your veto. This will make it much easier for the other person to accept and understand the situation.
A veto does not mean you will never be found, it just means that anyone trying to trace you won’t be able to get identifying information from the Registrar-General or from Child, Youth and Family.
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If you live outside New Zealand
If you are an adopted adult and live outside New Zealand, you have the same rights, but counselling is not a necessary step. Your birth certificate will be sent straight to you on request, along with the address of Child, Youth and Family.
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If you were adopted in another country
Child, Youth and Family is the NZ affiliated bureau of International Social Service. This organisation can help in tracing, contact and mediation across countries. Contact your local Adoption Services office if you would like to find out more about this service. The Adoption links section also contains links to adult adoption information contacts in Great Britain.
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How do I contact Adoption Services for more information?
You can contact an Adoption Services office directly - click here to see a full list of details.
Alternatively, email Adoption Services. Remember to give as much detail as possible in your message, and state your location and contact details so that the appropriate team can help you.
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Services 
