Adoption Rights Alliance

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About Us

Adoption Rights Alliance campaigns to ensure that the Irish government enshrines the rights of the adopted child and Ireland's 50,000 adult adopted people in legislation. The 2010 Adoption Bill passed without a single provision for the people affected most by adoption - the adopted child and adopted adults.

Adoption Rights Alliance believes that the following changes should be made:

Access to Birth Certificates
Access to Adoption Files
Statutory based information and tracing services
Strict regulations for adoption agency practice and procedure
The deregistration of all church based adoption agencies
Safeguarding of all adoption files
The right to know you are adopted
Inquiry into illegal adoptions
Inquiry into vaccine trials
Adoption Authority operations under Freedom of Information & Ombudsman’s Acts
Stricter regulations for intercountry adoptions & the abolition of bilateral agreements
Inquiry into the treatment of women in Mother and Baby Homes
Information rights for those conceived by assisted human reproduction/embryo adoption

In 2003, along with other people affected by and interested in adoption, a group of adult adopted people took part in an extensive adoption legislation consultation process arranged by Brian Lenihan TD, the then Junior Minister with responsibility for children. The consultation process was designed to gather the wishes of adopted people on the important subject of post-adoption rights and services; an area almost completely ignored by the primary 1952 legislation. Hundreds of submissions were made and the overwhelming message was for state funded and state run search and reunion services and for new legislation enshrining the rights of adopted people to obtain their birth certificates and to trace natural family members.

The 2010 Adoption Bill sponsored by Minister Barry Andrews at the Department of Health and Children completely ignores post adoption rights and services and reduces adoption from a “life-long event” to a base contractual process and does not include provision for adopted people to know that they are adopted!

The legislation has merely shoehorned the provisions of the Hague Convention concerning intercountry adoption into the old 1952 statute and adopted people continue to be denied access to their birth certificates, early hospital records and family histories. Equally disturbing is that there is zero provision for post-adoption support services for families who have recently adopted.

On June 12th 2009 the Irish government pledged to cherish all the children of the state equally but the 2009 Adoption Bill but the 2009 Adoption Bill, a bald Charter for Adoption under the stewardship of Minister Barry Andrews, allows 57 year old statute to continue discrimination against 50,000+ adopted people and their families.

If you agree that adopted people should have equal rights visit this link to learn how to help.

Click the links for our Mission Statement , Aims & Objectives and Public Disclosure Statement