New birth certificates rolled out across Australia’s New South Wales will allow a child to decide whether they would like to include details about their birth parents and adoptive parents in the document. Information about siblings from birth families and adopted families will also be included.
The Integrated Birth Certificate (IBC) was announced on 16 November and was implemented to reflect the state’s ‘open adoption’ policy, which promotes ongoing connection to a child’s birth family and cultural heritage.
The UK also operates an ‘open adoption’ policy, which means every local authority has a duty to promote a child’s connections with their birth family.
People adopted before 16 November 2020 in New South Wales will be able to apply for an IBC, while those adopted after that date will be issued an IBC automatically, along with a post-adoptive birth certificate.
The IBC can also be used as a legal identity document for people adopted in the state. More information about the document can be found in this Fact Sheet.
Do you think England and Wales should implement its own version of the IBC?
Many thanks to TumTum for alerting us to this development.
Researching Reform 
I question that : Here in Wales that is not the case. Local Authority may well have a duty to promote connections with the birth family – “duty” being the operative word.
3 years ago my grandchildren went through the court process. My Grandson stayed in long term foster care, his sister stolen from us for adoption. The new “parents” signed a promise to allow letter box contact between the full siblings. Now the new parents have made the decision to stop it. Local Authority can not do nothing about this and won’t.
It is evident that potential adopters will do and say anything to get their ( or rather someone else’s) child.
Is there any thought to the child taken from their family? Is there any thought to the child left behind? Where is the duty to promote connections with birth family?
Answer:None. None. None
After being stabbed in the heart, the Local Authority will then twist the knife with the words, “well it is up to the new parents. We have no say at all ”
I wonder where are the Children’s Rights?
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I’m so sorry to hear about your experience.
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There has to be a reason/s provided in writing or/and the natural parents can take matters back to court to apply for contact (better level of) and there are various forms of contact for the child nowadays.
The natural parents would be right to be concerned for the children’s welfare re welfare checks and I believe foster carers, kinship carers, adoptive parents, children’s homes re private/residential all need closer monitoring in these circumstances too. Especially now with the implications with covid involved on top Xx
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Some worrying stereotypes in this sample birth certificate: teenage lone parent / mother with low status job (uneducated?); absent father who is not even known / fear of identification; older (more mature?) couple with professional (educated?) jobs?
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All ,yes ALL adoptions should be open .Keeping the adoptive parents secret so that birth parents never know whether their child is ill or well,alive or dead, married,partnered or single is a wicked crime and perpetrators should be locked up !
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It certainly is, and they should be locked up.
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It says uk have an open adoption policy.
My youngest 2 children who were adopted last year have a closed adoption and 1 letter a year.
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Hi Kitt, I’m so sorry to hear about your children. Open adoption is a very broad term which is interpreted differently across countries but also leads to variations across the UK. This shouldn’t be the case in theory but that is the reality.
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‘Do you think England and Wales should implement its own version of the IBC?’
Absolutely do. It should be the affected child’s choice. They had no choice as a child, no understanding at such young tender ages of what adoption actually really meant for ‘their’ long term future.
This could maybe help them get some control back with ‘their’ rights if it happens where previously those rights were denied to them.
I’ve heard that where adoptive parents are fearful that natural parents are tracking them or natural parents are exposing wrong doing then adoptive parents are getting the children’s names changed by deed poll. Criminal activity is being concealed in some cases where eg a criminal will repeatedly change their name and children without birth certificates are being trafficked easier in some cases because nobody will miss them which is deeply sad and wrong.
Then older children just short of their 18th birthday in England for eg, who struggle to say get a passport, are having their (been encouraged to?) change their name by deed poll too.
I also think this should extend to Ireland. Then Scotland where the adoption order is up by the affected child’s 16th birthday.
We have to remember here, even children whose adoptions have been successful are struggling even if this is in later life where often it’s much sooner.
The parent’s (natural) well this is debatable because in fact how many of these adoptions actually really went ahead? There is no sure way of said parents knowing unless they are aware of said adopter’s name/address or previous address details.
So this urgently needs to change too, or else laws could be being broken with serious breaches in play where adoption order/certificate details are held on Council’s databases where records are meant to be checked and updated periodically.
If there is a discrepancy say 2 records of adoption on file for 2 different years for 1 child or no record of an adoption registered with the general registery office (or place in your area which registers births and deaths) then the natural parent’s should be informed because there may not have really been an adoption take place at all which I believe is what happened re my family’s case (and with written factual evidence for me to believe that which this site has seen.)
Same details are recorded at family Court too and probably Cafcass.
Parents whose children have been adopted/forcibly need to be sent a letter from both their Council and Family Court simultaneously as well as the GRO with dates and names signed with the adoption certificate even if redacted and this should absolutely be mandatory where currently there is no jurisdiction for anything to be done about it post adoption and face to face contact absolutely needs to remain in place where it’s safe to do so (and not stopping it based on hearsay)
All parents need to be told from the time social services becomes involved that where family court (judge) decides adoption, it does not mean said child is adopted as much as that is the intention because then there is an adoption order to follow which gives that parents who still maintain PR up until this point, the rights to apply to appeal.
I’ve heard too from many a parent whose shared with me they’ve been told they can’t appeal. All parent’s should be afforded the same equal rights to apply to appeal to make it a fair trial (article 6 hra 1998)
All adoption does is cover up mistakes and wrongdoing for many families. I thought other options were meant to be being considered some years ago by the family court president?
Thank you Xxxx
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Xxx
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