Depending on your circumstances, you may wish to locate your birth parents for a variety of reasons, including to learn why you were placed for adoption or to acquire relevant medical information related to them.
If you are an adopted child and you are 18 years of age or older, you may begin a search for your biological parents. It is legal for a biological parent to inquire about their child, but the information will only be provided if the child and adoptive parents have agreed in writing. In the past, biological parents were not permitted to search for their children, but this legislation has since been amended.
A request for information about the child from the biological parent will be relayed to the child once the child requests records.
It is the responsibility of the National Department of Social Development in Pretoria to register all adoptions in South Africa. There is a 70-year retention period for these records. The following records are maintained:
- The consent form.
- Application of adoptive parents.
- Report on the adoptive parents prepared by the social worker.
- An assessment of the birth parents by the social worker (if it exists).
As soon as a child is adopted, an updated birth certificate will be issued. The names of the adoptive parents will appear on this certificate rather than those of the biological parents. If the child’s name has been changed, the revised birth certificate will also include their new name.
Original birth certificates are sealed once adoptions have been finalized, making them inaccessible to the public. Only the adoptive parents and the child may access adoption records.
At Doc Assist, we help South Africans obtain legal documents such as unabridged birth certificates fast and efficiently. For more information, get in touch with the team today.