Looking for birth mother

srchr

Hi,

I'm a male that was born on the 4th of September 1978 and given up for adoption. I knew all along that I was adopted and never really gave it a whole lot of thought. This past week I accidentally came across some non identifying details about my birth parents whilst looking for some unrelated documents at home and it's really turned my world inside out. I never knew until now that any of this information even existed.

My birth mother was 18 years old at the time and from an urban background, my birth father was 20 and also from an urban background. I was adopted through the St. Annes Adoption Society.

I've signed up to the Adoption Contact Preference Registry and I have contacted the HSE regarding non-identifying information, but was told that it would take at least 6 months to get that information. I think what I found at home is all the information that I'm likely to get from them (age, familiy details, hobbies etc.), it was originally sent by St. Annes in 1992.

I also found a note to my adoptive parents that I believe was written by my birth mother, just a small note regarding my feeding and sleeping and that she hoped my adoptive parents would be very happy with me.

I think I was born in Cork, a Dr Cussen approved me for adoption on the 12th of September 1978 and I have found that a Dr. G H Cussen was a Neonatologist in Cork at the time.

I am considering going to Dublin to search the records in Joyce House, but I don't have even a first name for my natural mother. Can anyone here advise on what steps I can take? Is it worth searching the records when I don't even have a first name? Do I need to make an appointment? What information am I likely to find?

Thanks

Hermy

Hi srchr and welcome to Boards.

Like you I've known all along that I was adopted and hadn't given it much thought until something occurred to change all that and I've been searching on and off for a few years now.

First off, to source a record of your birth you need to go to the GRO in Werburgh Street rather than Joyce House. There you can go through the birth indexes - without appointment - trying to identify a likely entry for your birth. If you find one the corresponding research cert will cost you €4 and you can now order up to 8 certs per day (The previous limit was 5). If you bring someone with you then the limit is 16 and it's good to have a second pair of eyes for the work.

If you haven't already I would recommend you have a read of the Trace Guide and also have a look through the various threads in this forum which may also help you with your search.

Although you don't have a first name for your birth mother (nor a surname I presume) you do have your date of birth. I wonder do you also know your original forename. If so this may be enough to help you.

Feel free to post any more questions or PM if you'd prefer.

srchr

Thanks Hermy.

I don't have a forename for either of us, in fact I didn't even know I would have had one! I suppose it makes perfect sense since I have a baptism cert (with my 'new' name) for the 8th of September and a note saying I was fit for adoption on the 12th.

I will take a trip up to the GRO this week to see what I can find. I suppose the HSE might have some more information for me whenever they get back to me.

Thanks again

Hermy

Without a forename or surname to go on it does make things a bit trickier but it is still worth checking the book for 1978 for all births on September 4th where the surname and mothers maiden name are the same, paying close attention to any that match your 'new' name or birth place of Cork.

srchr

Thanks, that's a good tip I probably wouldn't have thought of. I'll be up on Wednesday anyway, curious now to see how I get on.

Hermy

Best of luck.:)

Hermy

Just a heads-up srchr. All index books after 1877 are divided into four quarters - Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun, Jul-Sep & Oct-Dec - and also, there may be some handwritten late entries on the inside back cover of the index book.

srchr

So that was a bit tougher than I'd imagined, I searched the book for my D.O.B and I'm sure I must have missed quite a few records as it's really hard to keep the attention span going. I found 3 potential leads, all born in Dublin, nothing from Cork though but that was only a hunch based off the Doctors name in a report. You kind of start to question everything then, even your D.O.B! And when you factor nuns into the equation...who knows whats true!

I'll need to wait to see if I get some more info from the HSE over the next few months. It was a nice experience though, I feel like I've done something at least.

Thanks for all your help!