Initiating trace

Journeys end · 08-03-2014 11:54pm #1

HI everyone, new to boards looking for advice. My husband was born n England in 1966 and adopted in cork through st Anne's adoption society. He didn't know he was adopted until he was 18yrs old (went to get his birth cert in liberty street for summer job to be told they had no record of his birth and to go home and talk to his parents)He felt very hurt whe he was told by his adoptive parents that he was adopted (his sisters who weren't adopted neighbours and cousins all knew he was adopted )The subject of adoption was never brought up again ,the only information he knows is that he was born in England. He expressed no interest in tracing all these years until late jan out of the blue he said that he was going to find out about his past ,he has applied to the hse for general information and has applied to Dublin for his original b.cert.HE got a letter back from hse saying he will be waiting for ten weeks to meet the social worker. Appreciate any advise hope hse will be upfront with information he also has had cancer and is recovered from same tg. Await any practical advice.

LennieB · 09-03-2014 11:29pm

Hi - I was also born in the UK (London) and adopted through St Anne's. I initiated a search with the HSE in Cork back in 2005. When I met with the social worker and got my non-id information I found out that the Catholic Children's Society in London arranged my transfer with my birthmother to Cork - you could try contacting them (you could google them and select their post-adoption services to get details) to see if they have a file on your husband. If so, it speeds things up a lot as he can get his original file from them that would contain all identifying information. Does you husband know where in England he was born? If you need any more info do not hesitate to ask.

Journeys end · 10-03-2014 12:15am

thanks leannieb for your reply.he doesnt know where in england he was born,or his original first name or anything else.But he was definitely born in england ,when we were getting married he got a long cert saying place of birth england all other details wereadoptive parents info.will hse cork definitely give origonal first name and name of english agency associated with his adoption he could then contact them as you said were they very open in england and was their good records kept.my husband is waiting six wks now for hse cork 4 more weeks to go whst was your experience in cork.sincerr thanks for sharing your story.Iwant to support my husband in rvery way i can .

LennieB · 19-03-2014 11:03pm

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you Journey's end...my experience with the HSE South in Cork was very good, I got a wonderful social worker who I dealt with throughout the whole process. I contacted them originally in Feb 2005 and had my first meeting in March to get my non-id info (waiting list was probably shorter then). I waited a while before I decided to contact the CCS in London, again I got an appointment with them quite quickly (July) even though the social worker in Cork told me they had a long waiting list. He should get the name of the hospital and place he was born with in UK and the agency (if any) that his birthmother dealt with. If you need any other info just ask.

Journeys end · 20-03-2014 12:28am

Many thanks for reply Leanne b .good to hear that you had a positive experience with hse cork and London .still waiting For non I'd info 7wks now they did say it could be up to 10 wks .hes finding the waiting difficult ,it should be lot easier to access this information I think at this stage a letter containing information would Be helpful .since we spoke last I met with a person who shared some info re adoptions from st Anne's in the 60s . Apparently a lot of Irish mothers went to London crusade of rescue lad rook grove now known as ccs London .they were known as p f I s pregnant from Ireland (how awful) many mothers had their babies in st Joseph's maternity home formerly known as st pillages it was in34west hill high grove (now apartments) rang ccs London re my husband all files filled under original first name of child which we don't have so must await he's info will keep you updated just wandering Leanne b were you born in a hospital or maternity home .many thanks again

LennieB · 22-03-2014 2:42pm

I was born in St Margaret's hospital in Epping and then went to the Loreto Mother and baby home, Essex with my BM for 6 weeks before she brought me to the CCS and they arranged for her journey with me to Cork (I think 6 weeks was the standard amt of time before the BM and baby would travel to Ireland). I was just looking at my file of papers/forms etc that I got from the CCS and sure enough, "Crusade of Rescue" is written on the forms from the agency. I was amazed by the amount of original documentation that I got from them - handwritten notes on my BM's visits to them, all the forms she filled in at the time, cards from the hospital, letters between CCS and St Anne's and one little piece of paper had "Baby for Cork" written on it with the date I was brought back. I think a nun or a priest from St Anne's met my BM at the airport where she handed me over.
Hope your husband gets the info he needs....it's very emotional and overwhelming at the time and nearly like reading about someone else but best thing I have done - has really gave me a sense of knowing who I am and completes the jigsaw (was always curious about those months before I was adopted).

Journeys end · 22-03-2014 11:37pm

Thanks for reply Leanne b ,it seems being born in England opens a lot more doors! .you really got a lot of information and CCs also kept very good records. A very emotional time as you said ,my hubby is getting worried about what he may find out but feels he needs to know at his stage of his life (48yrs). I think if the story is ok he may o to London to find out more (did you get your original birth cert in London) .The person I spoke to told me that a priest and a social worker met the birth mums from the inishfallon boat and subsequently cork airport and went to st Marie's of the isle convent cork the social worker took a history from the birth mum ,and then the B mum left .got a taxi to the train station or returned to England . Will let you know any new developments sincere thanks for replies .

LennieB · 25-03-2014 10:42pm

I applied for my original birth cert through the GRO website in the UK www.gro.gov.uk - received it in the post.

Journeys end · 16-04-2014 10:06pm

Lennie b sent you a pm

Journeys end · 22-04-2014 6:11pm

Lennie b sent you another pm

Journeys end · 17-01-2015 12:42am

Hi all just to let you know my husband met his birth parents recently , they live in England and are married . Ccs London arranged the meeting we did the search ourselves using the trace guides and forwarded same to ccs London who verified same and made contact with BM .ccs London were fantastic o supportive to my husband still in contact with him . Meeting went very well they were lovely we travelled to England to meet them .my Husband met them together for few hours and I met them at the end it all went so well emotional roller coaster !

Hermy · 17-01-2015 10:15am

That's great to read Journeys end.
I'm delighted for both of you.
Thanks for sharing.

Journeys end · 17-01-2015 8:00pm

Thanks hermy ,early days hubby taking things slowly has siblings who are unaware of his existence he is a lifelong secret and birth parents are frightened of this secret being exposed and how siblings may react to them. They plan on telling them in the near future ,very difficult for them hopefully they will have th courage to do so .

Initiating trace

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